McIntosh MHT300 AV Receiver

[WestSideWarrior]

We can retake it from the noise floor part. After recollecting a bit information about past McIntosh releases, I do wonder about some elements:

-Is it due to management change that McIntosh is now contradicting the words of Ken Zelin, their representative? In a couple presentations in the past, Zelin stated that Mac does not like to develop AVR´s as it would imply wasting perfectly functional amps when the processing (codecs, HDMI version, room correction...) changes. That is a valid point, but this product makes it quite moot.

-Processors such as the MX123 or the MX100 are said to be Denon/Marantz clones. Is this AVR a clone too? If we get them to the bench, should we expect a similar performance to Sound United releases?

-The literature says it´s 4K-120hz compatible, also has eARC and 18 gbps. That is clearly HDMI 2.0 territory, even more so when features such as ALLM or VRR are not present. It seems McIntosh is very aware of the outdated standard yet they cloud the fact under the specs. Is the supply chain for up to date boards in such a bad state? Did they want to use the board stock they had for the MX100? It´s a strange decission, considering that last year, they upgraded the boards of the MX123 and even released a new top processor also with HDMI 2.1.

-No word on amplification. I guess it´s class D and probably from Hypex, considering their past class D releases. No complain in that area, even if the output is a bit limited.

-Is the assembly a Frankenstein taken from the MX100? Because it really seems like an impromptu product from it.

-And last but not least: what about future changes in their processors? Will they go Dirac on their processor refreshes abandoning Audyssey? Will they keep using Room Perfect for the top model?

I honestly think McIntosh has the capacity to do much, much better than this product.

- McIntosh did produced AV receivers (MHT100, MHT200) back in the early noughts. I guess this is their return to this product segment after nearly two decades of absence.
- Definitely would love to see bench tests from ASR or reputable publications as well. Sound & Vision used to bench test previous Mc products like the MX134/MC206 and the MX121/MC8207 home theater separates.

McIntosh MX134 Preamp/Processor & MC206 Amplifier HT Labs Measures

HT Labs Measures: McIntosh MX134 Preamp/Processor The above chart shows the frequency response of the left (purple), center (blue), LFE (red), and left-surround (green) channels at the preamp outputs of the Dolby Digital decoder. The left, center, and surround channels are all flat, +0.01/-0.38...

www.soundandvision.com

Dreaming the Not-Impossible Dream HT Labs Measures

HT Labs Measures McIntosh MX121 A/V Control Center Analog frequency response in Pure Direct mode: –0.25 dB at 10 Hz –0.08 dB at 20 Hz –0.06 dB at 20 kHz –0.41 dB at 50 kHz Analog frequency response with signal processing: –0.64 dB at 10 Hz –0.20 dB at 20 Hz –0.19 dB at 20 kHz

www.soundandvision.com

- As for HDMI version, I do hope that it is a typo on the site considering that finalized specs isn't out yet.
- As for the room correction software, we'll probably need to see how it goes. Dirac seems to be promising as numerous AVR manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon already.

Just my $0.02.

 

[Vacceo]

64 DB SINAD on something from 2002. After two decades, it will have hopefully improved.

 

[mhardy6647]

I can't wrap my head around a product like this. Technically it isn't competitive and there are no blue meters so what is the point?

Good point: No Blue Meters is the death knell.

There must be some kind of weird "under new(ish) management" subtext to this product, but danged if I can suss out what it might be.
I really want to think "last gasp", but as hep as I am on McSchadenfreude, I kind of doubt that's what we're observing.

 

[prerich]

McIntosh MHT300 Home Theater Receiver

The McIntosh MHT300 Home Theater Receiver (AVR) is an uncompromising 8K/60Hz, 7.2 channel home theater powerhouse that delivers 120 - 150 Watts to all channels.

www.mcintoshlabs.com

Available March 2023 with an MSRP of $8,000 USD.
The back panel looks so minimal though!

I own McIntosh...but, this would be a big pass for me (at $8k). It seems that they're going to only HDMI inputs. McIntosh also never tells you which dac chip they're using, probably doesn't matter anymore anyway....why publish it. However this would be they type of item I could see @Amir testing as a DAC as there are no analog inputs - this is basically a full fledged dac with all the trimmings....right?

 

[prerich]

McIntosh MHT300 Home Theater Receiver

The McIntosh MHT300 Home Theater Receiver (AVR) is an uncompromising 8K/60Hz, 7.2 channel home theater powerhouse that delivers 120 - 150 Watts to all channels.

www.mcintoshlabs.com

Available March 2023 with an MSRP of $8,000 USD.
The back panel looks so minimal though!

It's basically a dac with all the trimmings.

 

[prerich]

Very little information on the amplifier or weight. Would be interesting if it had HypeX NCx500’s.

It’s also unclear who their OEM for the AV electronics front end will be. Could be ATI/Monolith given the absence of Audyssey. Historically they have only gone with Lyngdorf and D&M. I imagine in the pre HDMI and pre room correction days, they would have done it in house.

The remote doesn’t look like anything I am used to seeing.

McIntosh has been moving towards Class D as of late. I do not know the modules used.

 

[Vacceo]

I guess they are not stupid since they also manufacture a digital phono and cd transports, so you should be covered in case you wanted both sources. On their shoes, I´d even release a U rack version of both components to match these ones.

McIntosh has been moving towards Class D as of late. I do not know the modules used.

Hypex Ncores. At least on the MI amps. @WestSideWarrior kindly gave us the pics to prove it.

 

[prerich]

Very little information on the amplifier or weight. Would be interesting if it had HypeX NCx500’s.

It’s also unclear who their OEM for the AV electronics front end will be. Could be ATI/Monolith given the absence of Audyssey. Historically they have only gone with Lyngdorf and D&M. I imagine in the pre HDMI and pre room correction days, they would have done it in house.

The remote doesn’t look like anything I am used to seeing.

Marantz and Denon has added Dirac as an option.....McIntosh and Marantz used to be closely related inwardly (on the prepro side). I expected McIntosh to do the same thing and ultimately switch to Dirac.

 

[prerich]

It’s odd to release a high-end AVR that can drive only 7 speakers when every modern format requires at least 9 speakers (plus sub).

You can sell more amps that way. McIntosh has a plethora of Class D amps available.....that they would like you to purchase with your new receiver .

 

[GXAlan]

Marantz and Denon has added Dirac as an option.....McIntosh and Marantz used to be closely related inwardly (on the prepro side). I expected McIntosh to do the same thing and ultimately switch to Dirac.

Yeah. McIntosh was once part of the same D&M group.

Lately, their high end systems have been built around Lyngdorf and RoomPerfect, so it is still unclear their relationship with Sound United. The McIntosh gear with Audyssey does not support MultEQ-X or the MultEQ iOS app as far as know. We also don’t know how the Masimo acquisition has changed or not changed the D&M collaboration. There aren’t any other hi end audio companies licensing D&M AVR tech for their own products…

 

[sarumbear]

You can sell more amps that way. McIntosh has a plethora of Class D amps available.....that they would like you to purchase with your new receiver .

Then why not make it an AVP? That way their clientele can have 15 VU meters facing them

 

[sarumbear]

Then why not make it an AVP? That way their clientele can have 15 VU meters facing them

 

[Vacceo]

Then why not make it an AVP? That way their clientele can have 15 VU meters facing them

They make three actually. No VU meters, though.

 

[sarumbear]

They make three actually. No VU meters, though.

The VU meters are on the amps I meant.

 

[prerich]

You are an outlier from the market segment.
Not defending them in any way, I would not buy from McIntosh given their price. I absolutely agree they should have made an avr with hdmi 2.1. But their target market is home theater enthusiasts and there is certainly less demand for 2.1

Of course it could probably be just an oversight from their part

Oversight....as I'm not a gamer, but would still like the option of HDMI 2.1. If my PC motherboard is HDMI 2.1 compliant...McIntosh should make sure their devices are at least up to par. Most people who own McIntosh would at least want two HDMI outs as well.

 

[jhaider]

Then why not make it an AVP?

It is, actually!

Seriously, look at the back panel - it has jumpered preout/main in loops. That’s unique in today’s market. You can use the internal amps for any channel as a result.

 

[Mr. Widget]

It is, actually!

Seriously, look at the back panel - it has jumpered preout/main in loops. That’s unique in today’s market. You can use the internal amps for any channel as a result.

I thought that was its best feature. Everyone should do this, but rear panel real estate is usually pretty tight.

 

[dlaloum]

I thought that was its best feature. Everyone should do this, but rear panel real estate is usually pretty tight.

As the legacy connections start to disappear, rear panel real estate might become more available in the next generation ....
And it would be nice to see this sort of feature become "standard" - very useful!

 

[Mr. Widget]

As the legacy connections start to disappear, rear panel real estate might become more available in the next generation ....
And it would be nice to see this sort of feature become "standard" - very useful!

Good point, but most of the better gear use balanced XLR connectors for the analog outputs and AES/EBU digital which are space hogs.

 

[GXAlan]

Good point, but most of the better gear use balanced XLR connectors for the analog outputs and AES/EBU digital which are space hogs.

I wonder if there is an opportunity for introducing mini XLR as a standard. I could see it with companies offering free adapters early on. I don’t think interconnects benefit from the beefier XLR connectors over mini XLR.

On the other hand, bigger is better for marketing…