Anyone here in the McIntosh forum, or elsewhere, own or have listened to the new McIntosh MCD12000 CD/SACD PLAYER?

[Charles S]

I don't do vinyl. I'm old and went through the early vinyl decades. I know that the vinyl of today is much improved but I have chosen CD's, SACD's, and high resolution downloads from HD Tracks through USB. I had initially thought that using the SS output of my MCD12000, then tube with the C-12000 and of course tube through my 3500 would be the way to go. And initially, it sounded better than my all tube configuration. What I didn't consider was that I had recently changed out my old EL509S output tubes to the new green EL509S's remanufactured by McIntosh. I got an hour meter and lo and behold the tubes actually broke in at about 300 hours and then on a lark I tried the tube output of my MCD12000. My sonics very significantly improved. The bass through my Thor using the solid state main output of my C-12000 to my MC2.1KW and the tube output of my MCD12000 is perfect for the bass produced by the all tube bass produced by my XVX.

I have been a solid state proponent for 99% of my 60 plus years in the high end. But I have done a 180 degree turnaround with this new Mac reference gear. For me it's the synergy that the Mac reference chain imparts to my music. I have no idea how dropping a MCD12000 cold into a high end system alone by itself would sound when compared to another DAC or CD player. I still believe that if you have the money, there are ultra high end DAC's, solid state amps, and solid state preamps that can potentially offer a higher level of performance with an XVX, but I am totally satisfied with my sound. Even if I had the money, which I actually do, I wouldn't change from McIntosh.

 

[A-Line]

I don't do vinyl. I'm old and went through the early vinyl decades. I know that the vinyl of today is much improved but I have chosen CD's, SACD's, and high resolution downloads from HD Tracks through USB. I had initially thought that using the SS output of my MCD12000, then tube with the C-12000 and of course tube through my 3500 would be the way to go. And initially, it sounded better than my all tube configuration. What I didn't consider was that I had recently changed out my old EL509S output tubes to the new green EL509S's remanufactured by McIntosh. I got an hour meter and lo and behold the tubes actually broke in at about 300 hours and then on a lark I tried the tube output of my MCD12000. My sonics very significantly improved. The bass through my Thor using the solid state main output of my C-12000 to my MC2.1KW and the tube output of my MCD12000 is perfect for the bass produced by the all tube bass produced by my XVX.

I have been a solid state proponent for 99% of my 60 plus years in the high end. But I have done a 180 degree turnaround with this new Mac reference gear. For me it's the synergy that the Mac reference chain imparts to my music. I have no idea how dropping a MCD12000 cold into a high end system alone by itself would sound when compared to another DAC or CD player. I still believe that if you have the money, there are ultra high end DAC's, solid state amps, and solid state preamps that can potentially offer a higher level of performance with an XVX, but I am totally satisfied with my sound. Even if I had the money, which I actually do, I wouldn't change from McIntosh.

If I were to look for the best in digital it would be between Soulution & CH Precision. The new McIntosh CDP is sort of like my LP12 in that it's not the world's absolute best but certainly ranks very high within the big picture of audio from around the world. The MCD12000 does offer that synergy with other McIntosh components, which is a good thing for me & you since we both use McIntosh for amplification. I was all solid state until I got into digital in 2006. To me tubes smooths out the digital format into a organic sound plus it pushes the soundstage back just a bit because often times digital is too forward sounding- just my opinion here.
However, I still prefer my ReVox B780 receiver for tape playback. I recorded all of my classical radio broadcasts on tape using that receiver so there's some synergy with that too, at least to me.

I'll be still playing my records as long as I can still cue a record. Certain McIntosh amplifiers appeal to me but not all of them. The new MC3500's are very appealing to me. I've been thinking lately how I could build another system using those amplifiers with something like the Klipsch Jubilees as speakers but first I need to buy a nice castle in the countryside. I'll need the space to house those huge speakers and a record & tape collection that takes up a entire room...

 

[ChasFreeland]

I've been using the tube output on my MCD12000 since the day that I brought it home from the store. I tried the solid state outputs briefly just to see the difference. The difference was huge- both the soundstage and dynamics suffered greatly using solid state. I like tubes for all things digital anyway and solid state for analog.

I plan on trying the solid state outputs again sometime in January, by that time I would have owned my new unit about 6 months so any break in ought to be about done by then.

We also prefer the tube output by wide margin. If this player had only the solid state output, I wouldn't buy it because the Spectral I have is better in that regard.