MCINTOSH MCD600 SACD/CD PLAYER

McIntosh has introduced a new SACD/CD player, the MCD600. It features a newly-designed digital circuit at the heart of which is an 8-channel, 32-bit PCM/DSD DAC that’s used in Quad Balanced mode, with four channels allocated to each of the left and right audio channels, and all PCM signals are up-sampled up to 32-bit/384kHz before processing.

McIntosh is at pains to point out that the MCD600 doesn’t just play back SACDs and CDs, but can also play back music files burned to CD and DVD data discs as well as from USB flash drives. Most file formats are accommodated including AAC, AIFF, ALAC, DSD (up to DSD128), FLAC, MP3, WAV (up to 24-bit/192kHz) and WMA.

The McIntosh MCD600 has both fixed and variable balanced and unbalanced outputs; the variable outputs are combined with its volume control allow the MCD600 to be connected directly to a power amplifier without need for a preamplifier, which can be a great cost-saver Coaxial and optical digital inputs and outputs are fitted and the headphone output is powered by McIntosh’s ‘High Drive’ headphone amplifier. As you’d expect, the MCD600 is styled identically to all other current McIntosh products, with a polished stainless steel chassis, a black glass front panel with LED backlighting, and that classic green-illuminated McIntosh logo. For more information, contact the Australian distributor, Synergy AudioVisual, on (03) 9459 7474 or at www.synergyaudio.com