McIntosh annouces a Streaming Amplifier and I want one!

MCINTOSH DEBUTS MSA5500 STREAMING INTEGRATED AMPLIFER

And to me this is the one to get. I’ve review ed the MA 5300 and that integrated amplifier is special. First and foremost, it sounds good, secondly its rife with connectivity. But. And there’s a but in my eyes, there wasn’t a dedicated subwoofer out, which for me was a bit of a bummer. There’s a workaround mind you, but its a workaround. Not a perfect solution.

The MSA 5500 on the other hand comes equipped with a dedicated sub out. It also has HDMI ARC and streaming built right in!

The MSA5500 is compatible with an assortment of leading streaming technologies and platforms, including Apple® AirPlay® 2; Bluetooth®; Chromecast; Spotify® Connect; and TIDAL® Connect (including TIDAL HiFi Lossless Quality). It also has physical inputs, including a turntable and the aforementioned HDMI ARC.

Of course, the folks at McIntosh Labs made sure the MSA5500 employed an audiophile-grade DAC, a next generation, Quad Balanced, 8-channel, 32-bit DAC to be exact. Bluetooth 5.0; the high bitrate Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) standard; Qualcomm® aptX™ HD for hi res audio playback; and Qualcomm aptX Adaptive, a robust solution that delivers high resolution, uninterrupted audio over Bluetooth. It’s Roon Ready—side note, I really need to hop on this Roon train— and of course the MSA5500 comes with 7 digital and 5 analog audio inputs for all of your gear, including a Moving Magnet phono input.

Oh, it has tone control too. If I didn’t love it enough already

McIntosh Standard stuff
The MSA5500 spits out that legendary sound that I have fallen head over heels for and pumps out 100 Watts per channel into 8 Ohm speakers or 160 Watts per channel into 4 Ohm speakers. And lastly you get the full arsenal of other McIntosh technologies is included that will contribute to the MSA5500's longevity and reliability, including Power Guard®; Sentry Monitor™; Monogrammed Heatsinks™; Home Theater PassThru; Gold-plated Solid Cinch™ speaker binding posts; Headphone Crossfeed Director (HXD®); and Power Control.

The MSA5500 will be available starting in December through authorized McIntosh dealers with an MSRP $8,000 USD / $11,200 CAD / €9,990 EUR / £9,995 GBP.