Mis à jour le 25 February 2021.
The iconic American brand renowned for its high performance electronics and VU meters with blue backlighting launched the McIntosh MX100 , an 11.2-channel home cinema pre-amplifier. It Dolby Atmos and DTS: X compatible and can also handle 4K UHD HDR (Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG) video streams. This processor is accompanied by a brand new 7-channel power amplifier, the McIntosh MI347 . The brand described this pairing as an infallible home theater system, with very high level performance.
McIntosh MX100: 11.2 channels, Dolby Atmos and DTS: X
Marketed at €6,850, the McIntosh MX100 home theater processor inherited the luxurious aesthetic of McIntosh electronics, with a glass front, a black metalic frame and a backlit logo in green. The VU meters on this model have been replaced by a two-line screen displaying the essential information of the source. Designed to provide sound to a dedicated home theater room, the McIntosh MX100 can be placed in a cabinet or integrated into a rack thanks to its two removable brackets.
The audio section of the McIntosh MX100 preamp supports the latest multi-channel formats up to 11.2 channels, as well as Dolby Atmos and DTS: X tracks up to 7.2.4 channels. It can also upmix stereo formats or lower than 11.2 using Dolby Surround and DTS Neural: X technologies. The McIntosh MX100 takes advantage of seven high-performance DACs to provide signal processing worthy of the best hi-fi electronics and thus guarantee optimal audio playback on all of its 13 fully balanced outputs.
To optimize its reproduction, the McIntosh MX100 home cinema processor integrates the Audyssey MultEQ XT32 calibration system. The use of the microphone allows various measurements to be made in the room to analyze more than ten thousand control points. Thanks to the collected data, the McIntosh MX100 is able to compensate for any acoustic defects in the listening room and / or speakers.
On the video side, the McIntosh MX100 features four HDMI inputs capable of handling a very high speed of 18Gbps. This ensures to take full advantage of 4K UHD video streams (up to 60Hz), as well as wide dynamic range programs encoded in HDR10, Dolby Vision or HLG. Its HDMI output, also 4K HDR compatible, supports ARC and eARC protocols, which allows the soundtrack of the program viewed on the television to be recovered, including in Dolby True HD, DTS-HD, Dolby Atmos and DTS: X .
McIntosh MI347: optimized power depending on the channel
The McIntosh MI347 power amplifier is a 7-channel model marketed at the same price as the McIntosh MX100. Like the latter, it adopts a metal frame with a glass front and a backlit logo in green. It is also possible to place it on a piece of furniture or to mount it in a rack.
Under its sleek chassis, the McIntosh MI347 features highly sophisticated Class-D amplifier modules that are coupled with rugged power supplies to deliver a level of performance rarely seen in a home theater system. It has the particularity of providing a different amount power depending on the channel. It should be noted that in a home theater installation, the most important channels are the front left, front right and center speakers. It is on these three channels that the majority of the dialogues are reproduced and the ones with the highest sound level. It is thus quite naturally that the McIntosh MI347 is able to deliver up to 250 watts into 8 ohms or 300 watts into 4 ohms to each of these three channels. The other four channels of this McIntosh power amplifier are intended to drive surround speakers or Atmos speakers. While also important for producing enveloping sound, they are less energy intensive. The power supplied is thus “limited” to 125 watts into 8 ohms or 200 watts into 4 ohms.
Each channel of the McIntosh MI347 benefits from two analog inputs: an unbalanced RCA and a balanced XLR. It is the latter which must be used to connect the McIntosh MX100 processor. This set McIntosh MX100 + McIntosh MI347 can also be supplemented by a second McIntosh MI347 power amplifier in order to supply the 4 additional outputs of the MX100 and thus benefit from an 11-channel system.
