The MTI100 is an integrated turntable from McIntosh Laboratory that combines a belt-driven record player, a vacuum tube preamplifier, a shielded phono stage and a stereo power amplifier in one chassis. It was announced in January 2019 at a US price of USD 6,500. Only a pair of speakers is needed to build a full system, and the unit also accepts digital and Bluetooth sources.
Key specs that matter
The amplifier section is Class D and delivers 50 W per channel into 8 ohm or 80 W into 4 ohm across 20 Hz to 20 kHz, with a damping factor above 200 at 8 ohm and above 100 at 4 ohm. Dynamic headroom is 1.0 dB into 8 ohm and 1.3 dB into 4 ohm, and amplifier distortion stays within 0.2% up to half power. The turntable plays at 33 1/3 and 45 rpm with 0.1% wow and flutter, and its signal to noise figure is 35 to 40 dB. The supplied Sumiko Olympia moving magnet cartridge has an elliptical stylus on an aluminium cantilever and produces 4 mV into a 47 kilohm load, covering 12 Hz to 30 kHz. The unit is 48.9 cm wide, 17.15 cm high and 35.6 cm deep, and it weighs 15.2 kg.
Engineering and use context
A permanent magnet AC synchronous motor drives the 3.18 kg machined aluminium platter by belt, and speed is changed manually on a two-step pulley. The platter turns on an inverted hardened steel shaft with an axial ball arrangement and a bronze bushing. The machined aluminium tonearm uses a cardan bearing with ball bearings for lateral movement and sapphire and tungsten for vertical movement, with a concentric counterweight and anti-skate but no user adjustments. The main preamplifier runs two 12AX7 vacuum tubes, while the phono stage sits in its own shielded box. A 9.5 mm glass top panel matches McIntosh amplifier faces and carries an illuminated logo, and the base is a 6.35 mm metal plate. Two knobs handle power, volume and input selection, and a remote is supplied. Connections include one unbalanced stereo input and output, coaxial and optical digital inputs, a subwoofer output, Bluetooth 4.2 with an external antenna and a front headphone jack fed by a High Drive amplifier. No dust cover is included.
Pairing
Its power reserve means the MTI100 can drive most bookshelf and floorstanding speakers directly. The subwoofer output adds a powered subwoofer, and the digital inputs accept a CD transport, TV or streamer.
Alternatives
The McIntosh MT5 is a separate Precision turntable with a magnetically suspended silicone-acrylic platter, three speeds and a Sumiko Amethyst moving magnet cartridge, intended for use with an external phono stage and amplifier.