MC257 | New From McIntosh
Bring your home theater dreams to life with the new McIntosh MC257 7-Channel Power Amplifier. Experience the latest blockbusters and favorite movies at home like never before with the sound quality and power only McIntosh can deliver.
The MC257 is highlighted by McIntosh's new eye-catching, 15" (38 cm) wide TripleView™ Power Output Meter that independently indicates the real time power reading of the amplifier’s three front channels. Instead of three separate meter windows, each housing a single meter, the TripleView features three traditional mechanical meters in a single meter enclosure.
While a totally new design, each of the three pointers in the TripleView meter have the same inviting motion that McIntosh meters are known for and perform at the same high level as all of their meters. The captivating look and glow of the TripleView meter is sure to be a conversation starter, but its trademarked blue lighting can be turned off so as not to compete with your TV or movie screen.
In addition to the new TripleView meter, the MC257 features many other upgrades. When using just the front left, center, and right channels, power output has been increased by 25% from 200 Watts per channel to 250 Watts per channel. When using all 7 channels, each will receive a healthy 200 Watts per channel. Regardless of how many channels are used, the full 200 or 250 Watts is delivered to either 4 or 8 Ohm speakers via McIntosh's Dynamic Power Manager® (DPM) technology.
Filter capacity has been increased by 20% which has produced an amazing 94% increase in dynamic headroom from 1.7dB to 3.3dB as well as improving low frequency performance – both key features in a home theater amplifier.
Also new to the MC257 are five McIntosh Monogrammed Heatsinks™ that efficiently and silently cool the amplifier. As a result, noisy cooling fans that can interfere with the soundtrack are not needed. A quiet, specially wound toroidal isolation power transformer also helps keep noise to a minimum. Other updates include upgraded speaker terminals, the addition of McIntosh's power management system, and direct LED backlighting.
Besides all these upgrades, the MC257 comes with steadfast McIntosh technologies like Power Guard® and Sentry Monitor™. Both balanced and unbalanced inputs are included to connect the MC257 to your home theater processor.
There are many ways to use the MC257. It can power a 7-channel home theater by itself, it can be paired with either the MI128 8-channel or MI254 4-channel digital amplifiers in home theaters that have more than 7-channels, or it can be used in 5-channel home theaters with 2 of its channels available to power a second audio zone.
The MC257 replaces the MC207 and has an MSRP of $10,000 USD. Shipping is expected to begin in early fall; visit Paragon today to place your pre-order.
