McIntosh MHT300 AV Receiver

[Mr. Widget]

...and Audioquest could market their megapalooza mini XLR adapters for those thirsty for more snake oil.

 

[wseroyer]

it's a McIntosh ...

It does not target gaming audience, and it certainly will be expensive.

the A1H isn't for gamers, its just what the current spec is.

 

[wseroyer]

Gee, that's going to be blinding during movie night!


Hands down, the A1H is easily the flagship powerhouse receiver. Reminds me of Denon's mega receivers during the 2000s (AVR-5805, AVC-A1XV, AVC-A1HDA, to name a few).

I do agree that the MHT300 coming in at 8k (no pun intended) has a poor value proposition when it comes to features offered, but the slimline form factor and aesthetic might appeal to a certain niche. It does come with Dirac out of the box though, whereas for Denon it is an optional upgrade.

Edit: I did find some inconsistencies in the product page. They did explicitly mentioned 8K60/4K120 on all ports but only 18Gbps (HDMI 2.0) bandwidth?!
View attachment 261491

I think I was confused by the 18Gbps of bandwidth, those are the numbers I look for since HDMI 2.1 means nothing now days apparently. The Dirac upgrade is $300 for the A1H, I don't think that's going to be much a deal killer for somebody looking at $6,500 - $8000 AVR's. Also people will laugh at me but I don't think Audyssey is that bad, if you know how to correct the problems it tries to cause (Midrange compensation, Low Bass levels, flat bass curve) I run Audyssey using the MultEQ app on my x4700h then use REW to set my levels and a program called ratbuddyssey to set the bass curve because trying to do it will my finger on my phone is dumb.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/announcing-ratbuddyssey-a-tool-for-tweaking-audyssey-multeq-app-files.3006886/

 

[Vacceo]

I think I was confused by the 18Gbps of bandwidth, those are the numbers I look for since HDMI 2.1 means nothing now days apparently.

Naming conventions for it are as messy as USB 3.2., you´re right. But if you go down the specs, 18 Gbps and the lack of ALLM and VRR clearly points out at outdated HDMI. The 2.1 standard should, at least offer 40 Gbps.

 

[GXAlan]

Naming conventions for it are as messy as USB 3.2., you´re right. But if you go down the specs, 18 Gbps and the lack of ALLM and VRR clearly points out at outdated HDMI. The 2.1 standard should, at least offer 40 Gbps.

And this suggests against a D&M design.

 

[Vacceo]

And this suggests against a D&M design.

To me it feels like a wearhouse cleaning with the HDMI MX100 boards.

 

[Flak]

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.

Really nice useful feature!

 

[dlaloum]

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

Given past experience, where various prepro's used the exact same circuit boards as the AVR's, and then tacked on a Balanced out XLR board (while deleting the power amp circuits).... I take the claime of better gear = XLR with a large pinch of salt.

It's an alternate interconnect... which has some specific advantages in specific cases (long line level signal runs, avoidance of ground loops) - but in many (most?) cases, does nothing other than add cost, and take up rear panel real estate.

 

[Chrispy]

Maybe. But look what the top panel does.

View attachment 261344

Made me spit beer thru my nose as I scrolled thru....awesome.

 

[Mr. Widget]

Given past experience, where various prepro's used the exact same circuit boards as the AVR's, and then tacked on a Balanced out XLR board (while deleting the power amp circuits).... I take the claime of better gear = XLR with a large pinch of salt.

It's an alternate interconnect... which has some specific advantages in specific cases (long line level signal runs, avoidance of ground loops) - but in many (most?) cases, does nothing other than add cost, and take up rear panel real estate.

You forgot to mention that while they were removing the amplifier section they were also jacking up the price.

I wasn't suggesting that XLRs promised better performance, but they are generally considered a marketing requirement. That said, almost all of my gear is truly balanced and is quieter than much of the lower priced singled ended alternatives. In my case I do take advantage of being able to run longer signal cables and can hide the bulk of my equipment without performance degradation.

 

[OldHvyMec]

I wasn't suggesting that XLRs promised better performance, but they are generally considered a marketing requirement. That said, almost all of my gear is truly balanced and is quieter than much of the lower priced singled ended alternatives.

I will say this, it is a better connection. When you feel a click it's plugged in. No different than a twist lock or a Cat 8. Those plug types are superior.
You can use well built pro XLRs and never have an issue. You can have the best built RCA and the silly thing will come loose if you don't LOOK and
make sure the locks are tight. I recheck and look a dozen times. I hate to mess up my routing with cable changes. It's an art. LOL

 

[Xulonn]

Maybe. But look what the top panel does.

Even more exciting when viewed as a video!!! (If it doesn't show as an embed on ASR, click on YouTube to view)

 

[Mr. Widget]

I will say this, it is a better connection. When you feel a click it's plugged in. No different than a twist lock or a Cat 8. Those plug types are superior.
You can use well built pro XLRs and never have an issue. You can have the best built RCA and the silly thing will come loose if you don't LOOK and
make sure the locks are tight. I recheck and look a dozen times. I hate to mess up my routing with cable changes. It's an art. LOL

No argument here.

XLR and BNC connectors are far superior to RCAs, in fact prior to the brilliant invention of HDMI connectors, I would have voted RCAs as the stupidest connector out there.

 

[GreatDaneAV]

That is my guess with the MX100. On the other hand, I'd not discard a refresh of that processor further down the year.


The not so logic part is just a single HDMI out. Them being 2.0 (no allm or vrr shows the version)

Gee, that's going to be blinding during movie night!


Hands down, the A1H is easily the flagship powerhouse receiver. Reminds me of Denon's mega receivers during the 2000s (AVR-5805, AVC-A1XV, AVC-A1HDA, to name a few).

I do agree that the MHT300 coming in at 8k (no pun intended) has a poor value proposition when it comes to features offered, but the slimline form factor and aesthetic might appeal to a certain niche. It does come with Dirac out of the box though, whereas for Denon it is an optional upgrade.

Edit: I did find some inconsistencies in the product page. They did explicitly mentioned 8K60/4K120 on all ports but only 18Gbps (HDMI 2.0) bandwidth?!
View attachment 261491

McIntosh has confirmed all hdmi inputs are 40Gbps and HDCP is 2.3

 

[Vacceo]

Then, why no ALLM or VRR? Those are technically inherent HDMI 2.1 features.

 

[GreatDaneAV]

I can only imagine McIntosh’s AVR target market doesn’t include gamers. The MX180 and MX123 do include those features.

 

[wseroyer]

I can only imagine McIntosh’s AVR target market doesn’t include gamers. The MX180 and MX123 do include those features.

McIntosh is probably not targeting gamers, but lots of gamers like myself who buy HiFi products, want to use their home theater for everything. Part of it is a generational problem a lot the people who run these Hi-Fi companies are of a older generational and don't take video games seriously, they think video games are for children still and think we are playing Super Mario still. Some of the best surround sound experiences that I've had have been in video games, surround sound works really well in video games because they've always used positional audio, its not a new thing in the world of video games. Games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare II that have a native Atmos sound track built into the game its self, pretty much everything made by Microsoft on the Xbox One X has Atmos and Dolby vision.

Also HDMI 2.1 is the current standard and should be supported whether or not its for gamers or people who want to watch 8K in the future a lot of this "it's only for gamers" just sounds like a huge excuse to me HDMI 2.1 was released in 2017 and its taken an absurd amount of time for these companies to support it LG has had it on their OLEDs on all 4 ports since the C8.

 

[WestSideWarrior]

McIntosh is probably not targeting gamers, but lots of gamers like myself who buy HiFi products, want to use their home theater for everything. Part of it is a generational problem a lot the people who run these Hi-Fi companies are of a older generational and don't take video games seriously, they think video games are for children still and think we are playing Super Mario still. Some of the best surround sound experiences that I've had have been in video games, surround sound works really well in video games because they've always used positional audio, its not a new thing in the world of video games. Games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare II that have a native Atmos sound track built into the game its self, pretty much everything made by Microsoft on the Xbox One X has Atmos and Dolby vision.

Also HDMI 2.1 is the current standard and should be supported whether or not its for gamers or people who want to watch 8K in the future a lot of this "it's only for gamers" just sounds like a huge excuse to me HDMI 2.1 was released in 2017 and its taken an absurd amount of time for these companies to support it LG has had it on their OLEDs on all 4 ports since the C8.

If Hi-Fi / home theater manufacturers actually cared about gamers, DisplayPort should definitely be on their priority list as well.
AVR of the yesteryears actually had VGA D-Sub or DVI for PC compatibility, but those connections had long been deprecated in the modern format world and was superseded by DP and is universally available on all late model GeForce/Radeon GPUs, but no modern AVR had them.

 

[GXAlan]

If Hi-Fi / home theater manufacturers actually cared about gamers, DisplayPort should definitely be on their priority list as well.
AVR of the yesteryears actually had VGA D-Sub or DVI for PC compatibility, but those connections had long been deprecated in the modern format world and was superseded by DP and is universally available on all late model GeForce/Radeon GPUs, but no modern AVR had them.

That’s a great point! My understanding is that the actual signaling format is similar which is why you have cheap converter dongles. I have always heard that licensing is cheaper but DisplayPort 1.4 caps out at lower GBps than currently shipping HDMI 2.1. I don’t think DP2.0 electronics are really out yet.

The main weakness of HDMI is the fragility of the connector but maybe it’s cheaper to replace broken cables as opposed to broken connectors.

 

[Vacceo]

I can only imagine McIntosh’s AVR target market doesn’t include gamers. The MX180 and MX123 do include those features.

Getting them ready cost McIntosh nothing.

If Hi-Fi / home theater manufacturers actually cared about gamers, DisplayPort should definitely be on their priority list as well.
AVR of the yesteryears actually had VGA D-Sub or DVI for PC compatibility, but those connections had long been deprecated in the modern format world and was superseded by DP and is universally available on all late model GeForce/Radeon GPUs, but no modern AVR had them.

Consoles are a far, far bigger market than PC. Those use HDMI 2.1, just like modern GPU's. Not much of a loss to use HDMI over DP.

12506"]
That’s a great point! My understanding is that the actual signaling format is similar which is why you have cheap converter dongles. I have always heard that licensing is cheaper but DisplayPort 1.4 caps out at lower GBps than currently shipping HDMI 2.1. I don’t think DP2.0 electronics are really out yet.

The main weakness of HDMI is the fragility of the connector but maybe it’s cheaper to replace broken cables as opposed to broken connectors.
[/QUOTE]
This weekend I had to find a new GPU as mine just died. I got one with DP 2.0, but I don't think there are monitors with that connector.