McIntosh has been always associated with high quality and beautiful styling, producing vacuum-tube amplifiers since its early days, including the famed MC275 stereo amp, that was (and still is) a big hit among audio enthusiasts. With most of the amps in the company’s current catalog relying on solid-state transistors, McIntosh went for a different approach these days, designing its first hybrid integrated amplifier.
Called MA252, this two channel integrated amplifier employs vacuum tubes for the preamplifier stage and solid-state transistors for the power stage, boasting 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms or 160 watts per channel into 4 ohms. It may sound complicated, but it’s pretty easy to understand.
This configuration allows the tubes to add their characteristic sonic warmth, while still retaining the precise reproduction of the transistors.
The new McIntosh amp offers two unbalanced inputs, a balanced input, and a moving magnet phono input for turntables; it even has a dedicated subwoofer output to add some gravitas to the low-end of the frequency range. Also worth mentioning are the signature monogrammed heat sinks, the power guard technology, and the Sentry Monitor.
From an aesthetic point of view, the amp doesn’t disappoint either. Each vacuum tube is housed within a protective cage and it’s lit with LED lights. The unit sits on a polished stainless steel chassis marked by two front-panel knobs and McIntosh nameplates of course. Priced at $3,500, the McIntosh MA252 looks and sounds like it’s worth every penny.
