- 7 digital and 5 analog audio inputs, hi-res streaming and HDMI ARC
- 100 to 160 watts per channel
- $8,000 USD / $11,200 CAD / €9,990 EUR / £9,995 GBP
McIntosh, maker of reassuringly expensive audiophile equipment (and as of November 19, under the acquisition of Bose, along with fellow luxury audio brand Sonus Faber), has officially announced its new MSA5500 Streaming Integrated Amplifier for all your audio needs.
I really do mean all your audio needs: with integrated streaming (including lossless) as well as turntable and HDMI ARC connectivity, it's an impressive do-everything home entertainment device.
The new MSA5500 has seven digital and five analog audio inputs to connect all your audio components as well as the aforementioned HDMI for your TV. The turntable connection is a moving magnet phono input.
McIntosh MSA5500: key features and pricing
The spec-sheet here is impressive. There's a next-gen eight-channel 32-bit DAC that McIntosh says is "audiophile grade", and the Bluetooth 5.0 streaming supports AAC, aptX HD and aptX Adaptive. The amp is Roon Ready too.
The MSA5500 is designed to be compact, but there's plenty of power to drive your speakers: 100 Watts per channel for 8 Ohm speakers or 160 Watts per channel with 4 Ohm speakers. And the amp also features a collection of proprietary capitalised features including Power Guard; Sentry Monitor; Monogrammed Heatsinks; Home Theater PassThru; Gold-plated Solid Cinch speaker binding posts; Headphone Crossfeed Director; and Power Control.
The MSA5500 is designed to be your do-everything amp, but it's also intended to last a long time – so if you decide to upgrade to an even more powerful amp in the future, you can bypass the internal amp and use the MSA5500 as a streaming source and pre-amp.
The MSA5500 will be available starting in December through authorized McIntosh dealers with an MSRP of $8,000 USD / $11,200 CAD / €9,990 EUR / £9,995 (so around AU$12,430, give or take).
