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The signature McIntosh glass front panel exemplifies a commitment to craftsmanship and a proud tradition of excellence. The laborious cutting and screening process spans several days and requires proprietary machinery. The glass allows for illuminated nomenclature that is easy to see and never wears. A like new appearance is just a spray of glass cleaner and a cloth wipe away. |
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All solid state amplifier output circuits work best into an "optimum" speaker load, for example, 8 ohms. A departure from the optimum can cause anything from mild distortion to a shorter life expectancy for the amp. The exclusive McIntosh output autoformer is a hand crafted transformer with seperate outputs for 2, 4, and 8 ohms, allowing an ideal impedance match. |
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The illuminated, peak reading wattmeters that beckon from most McIntosh amplifiers provide more than a pretty glow. Output in watts is not easily determined as it depends on speaker impedance, which varies continuously with the frequency content of music. Conventional meters may display "watts" but actually measure voltage because they assume a fixed impedance. McIntosh wattmeters display real output in watts and thus indicate the real output in watts, and thus the real power required to drive a speaker. |
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You won't see any robots building McIntosh equipment. Craftsmanship is an integral part of the McIntosh engineering story, as it should be for a company that creates investment quality products. All chassis and metal structural pieces are cut, stamped, punched, and formed in the machine shop from 18 gauge steel. The pieces are then treated to a five step, one hour finishing and painting process that produces a durable, long lasting finish. |
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All McIntosh controls contain state of the art silent electromagnetic switches. Each switch consists of a glass tube containing oxygen free gas and two signal leads seperated by mere thousands of an inch. The tube sits in a multilayer copper coil and the entire assembly is encased in a shock absorbent plastic. When a DC voltage is applied to the coil in response to a switching command, current flow creates a magnetic field that causes the leads to bend and contact one another, completing the circuit. The inert gas eliminates corrosion of the contacts, ensuring a low resistance, distortion free switch that never needs cleaning. |
The Creation of a McIntosh product generates a vast amount of documentation that is ultimately distilled into a "Technical Profile." Here you will find a detailed study, from front panel controls to rear panel connectors. It is enlightening, if not exactly light reading. It delivers a strong message: McIntosh technology is the sum of numerous engineering solutions that make every product perform better and last longer. The exceptional longevity of McIntosh products owes to a conservative design philosophy established with the very first McIntosh amp. To wit: No electronic component is ever operated at or near its stress point.
The exclusive Power Assurance System is another technology that improves performance and reliability. Among its many elements, the most famous is Power Guard, which with absolutely no audible side effects ensures that a McIntosh amplifier will always deliver full power without clipping distortion.
The quality of a McIntosh product speaks for itself. To experience the McIntosh difference find your nearest McIntosh Dealer and simply listen. 50 years of quality runs like a pure blood line in a fine race horse in every piece of McIntosh. No one knows how long a McIntosh product will last, Why? A simple question to answer, there are still McIntosh products performing to their original specifications after more than Fifty Years.
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Like most of the products that PMA represents McIntosh is a dynamic and constantly improving company. If the information you seek is not available in the PMA section on McIntosh we suggest that you go directly to the Factory Website.