McIntosh Introduces Its Smallest Integrated Amp

Solid-state, that be. McIntosh is here with a bomb of an announcement, which has the company unveiling a two-channel integrated amplifier designed to deliver big sound from a very small package.

At $5,000, it is not for everyone.

But if you want the company’s smallest solid-state integrated amp in terms of physical size and rated power output, then the MA5300 is your best bet. It offers two powerful choices — either 2 x 100 watts into 8 ohms, or 2 x 160 watts into 4 ohms.

The amplifier features a direct-coupled architecture, and makes use of signature blue power meters that have now become the highlight of McIntosh devices. It displays output wattage at both 4 and 8 ohms, and looks great doing so.

The classic Mac look is defined by a black-glass front panel, illuminated logo, along with aluminum end caps to complete the stylish package.

In terms of input, the amp is very well connected with twelve — six of them analog, and six digital.

Analog connections include four unbalanced, one balanced, to go with one moving-magnet phono input. On the digital side of things, there are two coaxial, two optical, one USB, and you also get a proprietary MCT input that can be used with the McIntosh MCT series of SACD/CD transports.

All inputs can be assigned user-friendly names to simplify system control and configuration.

The company also offers the replaceable DA1 Digital Audio Module, which houses all the digital connections in the back, and comes with a 32-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that supports DSD files up to DSD256 and DXD PCM files up to 384 kHz/24 bits.

Gold-plated speaker binding posts round out the back panel of the MA5300.

More information about this deluxe amp is available on the company’s official website here.