Description
MA7000 was the biggest so far McIntosh integrated amplifier. It is also one of the heaviest – almost 45 kg! It is a classic McIntosh design. The front panel is made of thick glass. In the upper part, we can find blue illuminated power output Watt meters – calibrated to show even the smallest power output. Meters are there just to satisfy customers… Between them, you will find two red LEDs that are indicators of one of the company’s unique patents – Power Guard. This is a circuit that protects the device from overdriving the power. It doesn’t simply cut the power but gently compresses power peaks so that the signal waveform, Power Guard is comparing, stays the same and there are no audible distortions. Below you will find a nice row of controls – two bigger ones at the sides, and five small in the middle. On the left side, there is a balance control, on the right volume control. Small controls in the middle are in fact complex equalizer controls. Equalizer is considered to be unnecessary or even harmful nowadays, but when correctly designed it might come in handy surprisingly often. The real reason for avoiding equalizers is simple – no magic about it – well designed equalizer costs a lot, especially like this one with five frequencies: 30/150/500/1500/10000 Hz. There is no on/off button – it doesn’t process the signal if control is in the middle position. Beneath there is a row of push-buttons – input selector (6 linear inputs and one MM phono input), mono, output (x 2) and ‘mute’. Rear panel connections are placed in two groups. One is located in the lower part of the chassis, and the other one is in the upper part. The lower part consists of gold finished RCA connectors and XLR preamplifier’s output and in the upper part two balanced XLR inputs with two RCA unbalanced right beside them, plus excellent WBT speaker terminals – like in tube amplifiers separate for different loadings – 2/4/8 Ω. Preamplifier and amplifier sections are connected via jumpers – I would prefer if it was done with electro-magnetic switch somewhere inside the device.
Technical data:
- Power Output per Channel: 2 x 250W/8, 4, 2Ω (20-20 000Hz)
- Output Type: Autoformer™
- Unit Weight: 44,3kg
- Dimensions: 444,5 x 239,7 x 558,8 mm
- Made in USA
- Come with original remote control and packaging.
