MC257 7-Channel Solid State Amplifier
MC257: £13495
250 Watts x 3 Channels; 200 Watts x 7 Channels
TripleView™ Power Output Meter
94% increase in Dynamic Headroom
Dynamic Power Manager®; Power Guard®
Designed for home theatres
Bring your home theater dreams to life with the MC257 7-Channel Power Amplifier. With the sound quality and power only McIntosh can deliver, experience the latest blockbusters and your favourite movies like never before in your home theatre.
The MC257 is highlighted by our new eye-catching TripleView™ Power Output Meter, which independently indicates the real-time power reading of the amplifier’s three front channels. The easy-to-read, 15” (38 cm) wide TripleView meter design streamlines the three individual meters found on our previous generation 7-channel home theatre amplifier. Instead of three separate meter windows, each housing a single meter, the TripleView features three of our traditional mechanical meters in a single-meter enclosure.
While a totally new design, each of the three-pointers in the TripleView meter has the same inviting motion that McIntosh meters are known for and performs at the same high level as any of our 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.
The combo of the McIntosh MX170 A/V Processor and MC257 7-Channel Amplifier "checked all the performance-related boxes when it came to signal integrity and immersion. Also, clarity and dynamics were off the charts... It had an amazing surround bubble that put me in the center of the action. This soundscape featured pinpoint imaging of all the discrete effects. The overall clarity, dynamic punch, and low distortion of the sound were above reproach." – SECRETS of Home Theater and High Fidelity
In addition to the new TripleView meter, the MC257 features many other upgrades. When using just the front left, centre and right channels, power output has increased by 25% from 200 Watts per channel to 250 Watts per channel. Each channel will receive a healthy 200 Watts per channel when using all seven channels. Regardless of the channels used, the entire 200 or 250 Watts is delivered to 4 or 8-ohm speakers via our Dynamic Power Manager® (DPM) technology. Filter capacity has been increased by 20%, producing an amazing 94% increase in dynamic headroom from 1.7dB to 3.3dB and improving low-frequency performance – key features in a home theatre amplifier, especially when listening to an energetic soundtrack.
McIntosh Monogrammed Heatsink.
The MC257 comes with five of our McIntosh Monogrammed Heatsinks™, which are connected to advanced high current output transistors to efficiently and silently cool the amplifier; as a result, noisy cooling fans that can interfere with the movie soundtrack are not needed. A quiet, specially wound toroidal isolation power transformer also helps keep noise minimal. Speaker terminals have been updated to our standard gold-plated binding posts that prevent corrosion and ensure a quality signal is sent to your home theatre speakers. Our power management system, which will turn the amplifier off after a set amount of time when no input signal has been detected, has also been added. Finally, the front panel is lit by direct LED backlighting for improved colour accuracy and durability.
Besides all these upgrades, the MC257 comes with steadfast McIntosh technologies like Power Guard® to prevent potential speaker damage caused by clipping and over-driving the amplifier. Our Sentry Monitor™ technology protects against short-circuits by disengaging the output stage should the current ever exceed safe operating levels (it then resets automatically when operating conditions return to normal). Both balanced and unbalanced inputs are included to connect the MC257 home theatre amplifier to your home theatre processor.
The MC257 can be utilized in many ways: it can power a 7-channel home theatre by itself; it can be paired with either our MI128 or MI254 digital amplifiers in home theatres that have more than 7-channels; or it can be used in 5-channel home theatres with 2 of its channels available to power a second audio zone in your home.
The MC257 sits on a polished stainless steel chassis. It bears the classic McIntosh design of a black glass front panel with the TripleView meter, illuminated logo, control knobs, and aluminium end caps.
MC303 3-Channel Solid State Amplifier TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
FTC Power Output Rating:
250 W
Total Harmonic Distortion:
0.005%
Damping Factor:
>70 @ 4 ohms
>140 @ 8 ohms
Power Output per Channel:
3 Front Channels only: 250 W into 4 or 8 ohms
All 7 Channels: 200 W into 4 or 8 ohms
S/N below rated output:
108dB
Rated Power Band:
20Hz to 20kHz
Number of Channels:
7
Dynamic Headroom:
3.3dB
Frequency Response:
+0, -0.25dB from 20Hz to 20kHz
+0, -3dB from 10Hz to 100kHz
WARRANTY PARTS AND LABOUR:
3 Years
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
Circuit Configuration:
Push-Pull Complementary
Mono Parallel:
No
Meter Light Switch:
Yes
Illumination:
Direct LED
Circuit Design:
Solid State
Output Type:
Direct Coupled with Dynamic Power Manager®
Speaker Binding Post Type:
Standard
BALANCED INPUT:
7
Chassis Style:
Polished stainless steel & black painted steel
Mono Bridge:
No
METERS:
Yes
Front Panel:
Glass
Weights & DIMENSIONS
Unit Dimensions (W x H x D):
17-1/2" (44.5cm) x 9-7/16" (23.9cm) (including feet) x 21" (53.3cm) (including front panel and cables)
Unit Weight:
95 lbs (43 kg)
SHIPPING Weight:
128 lbs (58 kg)