CD/SACD-проигрыватели и транспорты — McIntosh MCT500

The MCT500 is a two-channel SACD/CD transport from McIntosh Laboratory, the company founded in 1949 in Binghamton, New York. It is a digital-only unit with no converter inside, so it reads discs and files and passes the bitstream on to an external DAC or to a McIntosh component with a suitable input. McIntosh announced it in February 2018 at USD 4,500 and GBP 5,995, with US shipping from February and UK deliveries from March or April of that year. The maker now lists it as retired with limited availability.

Key specs that matter

McIntosh fits four digital outputs - balanced XLR, coaxial, optical and the proprietary MCT connector. The XLR, coaxial and optical outputs carry signals up to 24-bit/192kHz. The MCT output carries CD audio at up to 24-bit/96kHz and DSD128 from SACD and data DVD. Supported discs are SACD, CD, CD-R/RW and DVD-R. From user-generated CD or DVD data discs and USB flash drives the unit plays AAC, AIFF, ALAC, DSD up to DSD128, FLAC, MP3, WAV up to 24-bit/192kHz and WMA, with the USB socket on the front panel. The chassis measures 44.45 x 15.24 x 48.3 cm and weighs 11.8 kg.

Engineering and use context

The mechanism uses a twin-laser optical pickup, an advanced digital servo and a die-cast aluminium tray. Disc data is read at twice the normal speed, which gives the servo and error correction more time to recover from difficult discs. Because the DSD layer of an SACD is not passed over standard coaxial, optical or XLR links, SACD playback works only through the MCT output, which must be connected with the supplied cable to a McIntosh product that has an MCT input, such as selected preamplifiers and integrated amplifiers. Standard CDs can go to almost any outboard converter over the three industry-standard outputs. Leaving the conversion stage out lets the owner change the DAC later without replacing the transport. The finish follows the house style with a polished stainless steel chassis, black glass front panel, illuminated logo and aluminium end caps.

Pairing

For CD and file playback any external DAC with an AES/EBU, coaxial or Toslink input will work. Owners who want SACD need a McIntosh unit with an MCT input, and the MDA200 converter has one alongside its coaxial, optical, USB and HDMI ARC inputs. That converter also offers a variable output mode, which lets the pair run straight into stereo power amps with volume set on the DAC.

Alternatives

The McIntosh MCT80 is a two-channel SACD/CD transport with coaxial, optical and MCT outputs.