McIntosh MCD1100 SACD/CD Player

SACD capability and a clever variable output make the McIntosh a strong performer

The SACD won’t go away because enough of us realise that it sounds fabulous. It still has an important market in Japan, and supporters in unlikely places which keep the software flowing. McIntosh is one: as traditional a manufacturer as you can name, and not tempted towards controversy. Mac’s approach to SACD is almost matter-of-fact: it eschews 5.1; and clearly understands its markets.
McIntosh has amplified the appeal of the MCD1100 by adding variable output in addition to fixed. A proper headphone amplifier is another nice touch, reinforcing its role as a full-blown ‘control unit’. And it has added a host of digital inputs and outputs for full integration with computers, multiroom installations and other digital systems that can be accessed by coaxial, Toslink, XLR, BNC or USB. A wonderful concoction thus emerges that’s a full-on SACD/CD player plus five-input digital preamp.
To accomplish this, McIntosh has fitted four of its True Quad balanced DACs per stereo channel, both the PCM audio and the external digital inputs being treated to 32-bit/192kHz D/A conversion. McIntosh indicates compatibility with CD, SACD, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA and MP3. The unit looks more subdued than classic McIntosh hardware, thanks to an absence of blue-lit meters. All black with blue-lit highlights, the front panel is made of glass, with fibre-optic illumination. The usual controls are matched by a full-function remote.

PRESENCE
Although we tried the various digital inputs and listened as well to Red Book CDs, our primary concern was SACD playback. While normal CD playback was way beyond satisfactory, it was not so arresting as to overshadow the achievement of the SACD section. Equally, we found the digital inputs a convenience rather than a deal-maker: the wisest amongst you have already invested in Musical Fidelity Clics, Benchmarks, etc.
With Eleanor McEvoy’s luscious SACD I’d Rather Go Blonde, the first track starts with a weird plucking that could be a ukulele, a violin or even or some obscure Japanese stringed instrument. Which of these is not important – what matters into the room, fully formed and unmistakably ‘present’.
Followed by her slightly breathy voice, the plucking complementing McEvoy’s slight, almost delicate huskiness, both survived a path through all that complicated circuitry to arrive with sparkling finesse. We had no choice but to turn to another voice with equally distinctive qualities: the heartbreakingly beautiful The Very Thought Of You from Analogue Productions, with Nat ‘King’ Cole sounding divine… in the true meaning of the word. Heavenly, ethereal – and that’s just the strings! The MCD1100 positioned Nat just to the fore, the orchestra arranged behind in a wide arc. You could almost reach out, see the glow of his cigarette. And it all started to make sense.
However much one appreciates 5.1 when used correctly, the two-channel portrayal of this disc provided a seamless expanse, with front-to-back depth of cavernous proportions. It seemed real.
With The Doobie Brothers’ ‘Listen To The Music’, via MoFi’s SACD of Toulouse Street, the distinctive, instantly-familiar opening strumming possessed both attack and body with such authenticity that it became another example of how a superior system fools you into thinking the musician is present.

VERDICT
Clearly, McIntosh feels that enough customers agree SACD is a format worth supporting. While the preamp capabilities and readiness for streaming/downloading make it less of a gamble, the bottom line is that the player is touched by genius – and it sounds that way.

My new MCD1100 SACD/CD/DAC has been installed in my studio two channel sound system for six days now. From the day I ordered it until the day it arrived, blind faith sustained me that I had made the right decision replacing my MCD500 with the MCD1100. There are those who questioned my decision. Some even speculated I might ultimately feel foolish making such a mistake, and would regret spending that kind of money on the MCD1100. I was told in PM’s that I should have spent the money on new speakers, that I was not going to hear any difference from the MCD500 with redbook CD’s. One person even said I was just trying to own bragging rights. Was I discouraged? Not a chance. My desire to own the MCD1100 was fueled by the testimony of several early owners of the MCD1100 reporting their thrill with the new player and its performance advantages over the MCD500. These are people I have grown to trust and appreciate as seasoned, experienced high end audio enthusiasts. They are not audio neophytes perpetuating smoke and mirror illusions based on rumors and inexperience. I felt confident the new owner comments were valid.

The MCD1100 has generated some controversy with its appearance. This is primarily due to McIntosh deviating from the traditional McIntosh 3D front panel on the MDA/MCD1000 and the C1000 series preamplifiers and controllers. I will admit my initial impression was less than favorable when I first saw the MCD1100 photos. Having the MCD1100 in my possession and direct vision is another story entirely. It is quite attractive with the 3D glass surrounded by black anodized metal. Another thing I noticed immediately was the larger knobs. I might have overlooked this difference except I have the MCD500 sitting on the rack shelf directly above the MCD1100, so I noticed the knob size difference right away. The MCD1100 two piece chassis in a single component is another physical difference between the two players. The MCD1100 uses a dual section chassis similar to the C48 and C50 preamplifiers and the MR88 tuner. Also, the Stop and Open functions have been combined into a single push button control, and the Play and Pause functions, as well, something I will have to get use to. The accompanied MCD1100 remote control is different than the MCD500 remote. The new remote is smaller, narrower, and tapers to the front. The labeling on some of the remote buttons is so tiny I must turn on an overhead light to read them. Fortunately, these particular buttons are ones not often used and are not part of the transport controls. Even better, the MCD1100 transport functions are controlled by my C1000 remote control, the same as the MCD500, so no new learning curve is necessary.

For this review, the MCD1100 is installed with the following system components: McIntosh C1000 C/T preamp, MCD500 SACD/CD player, MC452 power amplifier, PS Audio Power Plant Premier, Sonus faber Guarneri Memento speakers, and two McIntosh XLS112 powered subwoofers. Both the MCD500 and the MCD1100 are isolated on Rollerblock Jr.’s. All component interconnects are balanced Wireworld Silver Eclipse, and all power cords are Wireworld Silver Electra. Speaker cables are Kimber 8TC terminated with WBT solid silver angled locking banana plugs. The 11.5’ X 15.5’ room is the studio side of a two room recording studio. It is treated with ATS Acoustics wall panels, and floor to ceiling bass traps in the room’s front left and right corners. The room also has an insulated and sealed entrance door.

The MCD1100 has just over 70 hours of play time, and I have not noticed any significant sound signature changes after the first 10 hours. Even during the first 10 hours the MCD1100 was extremely pleasant to listen to, without a hint of fatigue. The change in sound that I noticed during the first 10 hours of play was a slight warming of the midrange on day two. Voices sounded even more human than my initial impressions. Since then, there has been no sonic signature change that I have been able to detect.

After unpacking and installing the MCD1100 in the studio system, the first disc I played was Ray Charles – Genius Loves Company (Hybrid SACD). The opening track has Norah Jones and Ray in a duet called “Here We Go Again”. It’s a good thing my leather couch has soft cushions. My jaw dropped to the couch, my eye brows shot up, goose bumps appeared on my neck, and my attention was captured in the same manner as if a hot, slinky, scantily dressed blonde had just walked into the room. Talk about being totally riveted on what was happening. I was awestruck. I knew I would not remember all the subtle and not so subtle differences I was immediately hearing, so I grabbed a note pad to begin jotting down some of my initial thoughts, things like richer bass bloom and leading edge detail, more organic texture to voices, and improved sound stage focus, width, and depth. Male and female voices sound so human, so real, so full of breathe and life, so refined. You can practically feel the chest pressure when a singer takes a breath. Grouped instruments have a larger space in which to present their individual contributions to the performance as a whole. You can effortlessly allow your mind to focus on any single instrument without strain, and mentally hop to the next instrument without searching for it. Every instrument is placed with plenty of air around it. Grouped instruments are easily discernable as individual instruments playing together rather than smeared into a single sound. Sound stage location is so accurate it almost defies logic. Yes, my jaw was still drooping on the cushion.

The time had come to hear how the MCD500 stood up to the MCD1100. I had a little homework to do first to guarantee playback accuracy between the two players. I used the Rives Test CD2 to check level matching from the fixed outputs of both players. The owner’s manual for each player specifies 4.0Vrms from the fixed balanced outputs, so theoretically the output levels should be identical. To make sure, I selected a 500Hz test tone from the Rives Test CD2, and adjusted the C1000T output level until the preamp meters displayed -40dB on their scale with the CD2 test track playing in the MCD1100. Moving the Rives Test CD2 to the MCD500, the 500Hz tone was once again played, producing the exact same -40dB level on the C1000T meters. To add support to this finding I decided to measure the sound pressure levels using my Extech 407450 Digital Sound Level Meter. I screwed the SPL meter onto a tripod stand and played the Rives Test CD2 again without readjusting the C1000T volume level from the previous test. The sound pressure level difference was less than 0.3 of 1dB between the two players. This is certainly close enough to certify the MCD1100 and the MCD500 levels as being matched. I found it comforting and impressive to discover that McIntosh ensures this close tolerance accuracy from component to component.

Let the fun begin. In order to do an instantaneous A/B comparison between the MCD1100 and the MCD500 I purchased duplicate copies of 3 compact discs, Ray Charles – Genius Loves Company (Hybrid SACD), Fourplay – Between The Sheets, and Dan Siegel – Hemispheres. With both players simultaneously using the same CD or SACD, it is only a matter of selecting the CD input or the CDR input on the C1000 remote to switch between the MCD1100 and the MCD500. Both players respond to the single C1000 remote, so pressing play once starts both players. The MCD1100 and the MCD500 startup read times are identical, so there was no delay between the music playback timing when instantly switching to compare one player with the other.

The A/B testing began with Fourplay – Between The Sheets placed in each player. The MCD1100 was connected to the CD input, and the MCD500 was connected to the CDR input. I selected the MCD1100 to audition first and pressed the play button on the remote. Once the music began I changed inputs between the two players approximately once every 20 seconds or so, searching for the differences in presentation, detail, dynamics, soundstage, and resolution. The first track on the Fourplay CD is titled “Chant”, with some nice slap bass from Nathan East, lots of harmony style chanting vocals, the impeccable piano and guitar talent of Bob James and Lee Ritenour, plus the well defined drums of Harvey Mason. The MCD1100 presented a wide and deep sound stage with perfect location cues. It required no effort to clearly hear where the musicians were placed in the mix. Switching to the MCD500 instantly diminished the sound stage to a smaller size. The MCD500 lost some of the subtle location cues that aided the MCD1100 in developing such an amazing sound stage width and depth. Going back and forth between the MCD1100 and the MCD500 offered the same results time and again. In addition, the authority of the bass presentation is richer in texture, attack and decay when played on the MCD1100. Futhermore, with the MCD1100 I noticed the metallic ringing of cymbals, especially when struck or tapped lightly close to their centers, delivered a crisper, clearer sustained ringing sound that produced a more authentic vibrating brass sound. On the title track “Between The Sheets”, the MCD1100 was able to reproduce male and female voices and harmonies with an essence of human presence not quite fully developed by the MCD500. I heard the exact same differences while playing “Here We Go Again” with Norah Jones and Ray Charles. Each time I switched from the MCD1100 to the MCD500 the sound seemed a tiny bit flatter as the sound stage shrunk to a smaller dimension in width and depth. Listening to the MCD1100 produces the deepest glimpse into the persuasive sonic images hosted on a CD that I have ever encountered. Listening to the MCD1100 with my eyes closed, I was surprised at one point on the Fourplay track “Monterey”, where there are synthesizer sounds that float from right to left across the sound stage. The synthesizer sounds began so far to the right of the right channel speaker, and traveled so far past the physical location of the left channel speaker that I was momentarily startled, and found myself quickly opening my eyes to reevaluate where the left channel speaker was actually located. That experience was quite amazing. The MCD500 played this same synthesizer effect convincingly, but the width of the sound stage could not be touched by the performance delivered on the MCD1100.

Placing Dan Siegel – Hemispheres CD in both players, the A/B testing continued. Dan Siegel likes to have many unique instrument sounds mixed with the more traditional jazz instruments. It is not unusual to hear a wooden block xylophone, steel pan, sitar, bagpipes, accordian, and even a mandolin playing along with the more traditional instruments of Dan Siegel’s piano and synthesizer, Rick Braun’s trumpet, and Boney James’ tenor saxophone. With the MCD1100 playing the title track “Hemispheres”, the fretless bass revealed firmer control of low frequency vibrations than did the MCD500. The sitar sounds rang out majestically on the MCD1100, losing some of the glistening shimmer and metallic ring, while at the same time appearing further back in the mix on the MCD500. Listening to the MCD1100 produced more abundant layering and clearer sonic cues that reinforced the dimensional aspects of the sound stage in a way that was reduced each time I switched to the MCD500.

By now the picture was getting clear. I placed Ray Charles – Genius Loves Company SACD in both players. I had already experience this SACD in the MCD1100, so I was prepared for the overwhelming realism of the performance that was about to begin. I pressed play, and both players began their task of turning digital hash marks into sonic reality. Norah Jones voice through the MCD1100 is so lifelike and dimensional I could almost feel her body heat. She was present in the room like a shimmering hologram hanging in the air between me and the speakers. Ray’s voice appeared in the same fashion, so alive, so life like it was astonishing. Switching to the MCD500 made Norah’s voice loose that sense of holographic presentation and become more two dimensional as the sound stage grew smaller.

To satisfy the more ardent member’s curiosity, I asked Marlene to help me perform blind testing of the MCD1100 and the MCD500. It took me a few minutes to help her understand my directions and identify the two input buttons on the remote she had to push. Once I explained the purpose of the test, and covered my eyes with a bandana tied around my head, we got the blind test underway with Fourplay – “Between The Sheets”. Marlene started both players. My instructions to her were to switch between the CD and CDR inputs at random with approximately 20 second intervals, and switch the inputs a few times after I was blindfolded before the music was started so that I was not sure which player I was hearing first. The MCD1100 was on the CD input, and the MCD500 on the CDR input. Once the blind test began, all I said was CD or CDR, and she would answer yes or no by looking at the C1000T display. Two times during the test I asked her to pause the players, switch back and forth between the inputs a few times with no music playing to keep me guessing, and then press play to continue the test. Eight times out of eight attempts I successfully picked the MCD1100 over the MCD500. It was actually less difficult than I first thought it might be. By listening very carefully to the size and depth of the sound stage, the accuracy of metallic cymbal sounds, the authority of bass notes, the separation between instruments and voices, and the organic human nature of male and female voices, the choice was evident. The MCD1100 sounds more realistic and musical across the board. The difference is like looking at a glass goblet versus looking at a Waterford crystal goblet. That is the way the MCD1100 presents itself, crystal clear, highly refined, and meticulous in its form and presentation.

Over the past two evenings I have had the opportunity to take my first plunge into hi-res downloads played through the USB input on the MCD1100. I have downloaded two albums from HDtracks, Jimmy Cobb Trio – Cobb’s Corner in 24Bit/96kHz, and Louise Rogers – Black Coffee in 24Bit/192kHz. Both albums sound absolutely marvelous through the USB input on the MCD1100. I must say though, CD’s and SADC’s on the MCD1100 sound so amazing that Hi-Res downloads have their work cut out for them to best digital disc performances. I have not tested any other digital inputs on the MCD1100 other than the coaxial input where the Sonos ZP90 is connected. Even low bit rate Internet streaming sounds very convincing through the MCD1100 DAC’s. I did not do any A/B testing of the Sonos between the MCD1100 and the MCD500 players.

This review should not be considered an affront to the inspiring MCD500. It is truly a great SACD/CD/DAC, with many happy, satisfied owners. I owned two MCD500’s, and still own one that I am quite pleased with. We knew there would come a day when McIntosh would up the ante, and that day is now upon us. The MCD500 still represents an incredible value, both from a performance standpoint and price. The MCD500 has not been made obsolete by the MCD1100 by any stretch of the imagination, but I recognize there is a new champion in the McIntosh source portfolio.

The few naysayers that were positive there were no performance advantages to be gained with the MCD1100 over the MCD500 should make an effort to audition the incredible MCD1100 SACD/CD/DAC player. It delivers a truly amazing lifelike, wholly realistic audio performance like none I have previously experienced. I am as awe struck with the MCD1100 as I was when I upgraded from the MCD301 to the MCD500. The MCD1100 is a substantial step up in pure audio pleasure. I agree it is expensive, but not nearly as pricy as any number of other digital source offerings from many other prestigious audio manufacturers. I am confident the MCD1100 will hold its own against all challengers. Will the MCD1100 be the last CD player I ever own? Maybe not, although it very well could be. At this moment in time the MCD1100 is without a doubt the very best source component I have ever owned. I am thrilled to have the MCD1100 in my sound system. I am positive you will be, too.