- in Gear , Hardware , Video by Bobby Owsinski
The Making Of McIntosh Amplifiers
There are certain products that are iconic and remain that way over time, regardless of the trends of the industry that they’re in. This describes McIntosh hi-fi products, especially the amplifiers to a T.
McIntosh have also been thought of as the Rolls-Royce of power amps, noted for their high power and extremely low distortion, and even though the specs on many of today’s modern amps look a lot better on paper, it’s difficult to actually find one that sounds better.
Even though they’re hi-fi amps, MacIntosh has continually found their way into pro sound systems over the years. From the famous Grateful Dead “Wall of Sound” (driven by forty-eight 300-watt-per-channel McIntosh MC 2300 solid state amplifiers at a then over the top 28,800 watts of power), to the more recent James Murphy and 2ManyDJs Despacio sound system with forty-eight McIntosh amplifiers for close to 50,000 watts of power that averaged 100db on the dance floor, these amps provide nothing but big, clean power.
But they’re expensive, with the 150W per side Model 152 at $4,500 for example, you can get a lot more bang for the buck elsewhere, but not necessarily the quality. For a look behind the scenes at why these products cost so much, have a look at a video on how they’re built.