McIntosh Introduces C1100 Controller With Tube Preamplifier And Two New Preamps With DSD and DXD Support

McIntosh Laboratory, has announced three new preamplifiers – the C1100, C52 and C47 – all made at the company's factory in Binghamton NY, following the brand’s signature design. The C1100 features a separate controller and tube preamplifier, and the C52 and C47, offer phono preamps and built-in DACs, featuring PCM, DSD256, and DXD up to 384kHz.

Since 1947, when McIntosh introduced its power amplifier design using its patented bifilar-wound dual-primary output transformer, the brand’s power amps have been considered the performance standard. The MC75 in considered one of the best tube classic amps of all times, while the C22 Preamplifier is the perfect “control center”. Now McIntosh decided to bring back those two classic designs.

The new edition from audioXpress is available, and there are many reasons to quickly get to it. Our main cover article is an in-depth review of the Benchmark AHB2 Stereo Power Amplifier by Gary Galo. If you are interested in amplifiers, this review will clearly explain why you should listen to this one. On another serving from our series on Wireless Audio development platforms we focus on CSR. And much more…

TIDAL, the Norwegian High Fidelity lossless music streaming service with HD music videos and curated editorial, announced it will launch its service in 22 new countries during the first quarter of 2015. The company also confirmed twelve home audio integration partners are already live with TIDAL, namely, Sonos, Bluesound, Linn, Simple Audio, Auralic, Mirage, Squeezebox, Amarra sQ, Mcintosh, Wadia, Electrocompaniet and Meridian.

At the 2015 International CES in Las Vegas McIntosh presented its first-ever headphone, the MHP1000, targeted at those not minding paying extra for “the legendary McIntosh sound”. At the Las Vegas Show, McIntosh also launched its new D150 digital preamp/DAC, a high-performance digital ‘hub’ capable of replaying today’s high-resolution DSD and DXD audio files.