McIntosh MCD301 vs: MCD500

[jdandy]

Repost from Sept 2008





I carried the MCD301 back upstairs this morning, and placed it on top of the C2200 preamp (see photo). The MCD500 is the in the rack directly above the top MC501 amp, and under the MCD205. Both the MCD301, and the MCD500 players were connected to the preamp with identical Tributaries Silver Series balanced interconnects (soon to be replaced with WireWorld Silver Eclipse 5.2 balanced cables, but that’s another story). I energized all the equipment and let it warm for 30 minutes. Now the fun begins.

Each CD or SACD was played first in the MCD500, and then again in the MCD301. My first CD choice was Liz Story – My Foolish Heart, the title track. On the MCD500, the piano and double bass were completely lifelike, totally engaging, remarkable. The piano notes carried in the room as though the instrument was physically here. The richness of the double bass string tones and decays was totally convincing. You could hear the wood of the double bass. In the MCD301, this same CD was also impressive, although the textures of the piano notes and the double bass were slightly less authentic. There was a minor loss of the three dimensional presence, a slightly less wholeness to the sound of the piano and double bass. The MCD301 doesn’t seem to have the breath, the air, the space and time quality that the MCD500 excels at providing.

Next, I played Shelby Lynne – Just A Little Lovin, the title track, in the MCD500. The initial rim shots on drum, and the bass that drops in are crisp, solid, and whole, all at the same time. When Shelby’s voice begins, it floats on air, with the small added reverb lingering so well in decay. In the MCD301, this CD offered a beautiful presentation as well, but again some of the openness and air around each instrument and Shelby’s voice seem to be absent, the ultra clarity heard with the MCD500 became ever so slightly veiled. The sound stage was a bit smaller, as well.

The next CD into the MCD500 was Jimmy Smith – Dot Com Blues , Only In It For The Money. Jimmy’s organ rips on this track, and Dr. John’s gravelly voice does justice to the lyrics, and at revealing mid range presence, while the drum snaps on the Toms were convincing, and the Hammond B3 grabs your attention, and holds it. As was becoming the pattern, this same CD, when played in the MCD301 was great, but could not live up to the MCD500 performance. Again, the openness of the sound stage became slightly smaller, more constricted. The edge that is often the signature of a B3 Hammond’s sound in the upper octaves was softened slightly, and the solidity of the deepest bass was clouded when in direct comparison with the MCD500.

I played other CDs from artists Tuck & Patti - Love Warriors, Brian Broomberg – You Know The Feeling, Paul Hardcastle – Hardcastle 5, all with similar results. When these CDs were played in the MCD301, the sound stage was uniformly smaller, not dramatic, but was not as large, or comforting as the MCD500. The openness, the breath of life surrounding instruments and voices, that was so present in the MCD500, was always less so with the MCD301, if only by a small margin, but noticable during direct A/B comparison. A perfect example was with the Paul Hardcastle CD, track 1, In The Beginning. It starts with the sound of flowing water, and some very deep bass notes played like a heartbeat. In the MCD500, the sounds were real, completely believable. As hard as it is to accurately capture and record the sound of moving water, much less reproducing that recording in a believable manner, the water sounds truly sounded like flowing water, and the bass felt like a heartbeat. The MCD301 was good, but could not recreate the complete lifelike experience that the MCD500 did so well without even blinking.

The results were similar between the two players when I used SACD material. The brand new SACD from Fourplay – Energy is a wonderful disc, very well recorded and engineered. I played the track Comfort Zone. The MCD500 reproduced the performance with amazing realism. Bob James’ piano, and Larry Carlton’s Gibson 335 were right there in the room, no excuses. The sound of tambourine, and all percussion instruments was alive, and exciting. Truly an exemplary experience. This SACD in the MCD301 was also very well presented, but as has been the case with every other CD played, the sound stage was smaller, the depth of tones was slightly diminished in clarity, and that important breath of life, that air of realism was present, but on a smaller scale.

So that’s it. The MCD301 is a marvelous SACD/CD player, no doubt about it. Without a direct A/B comparison with the MCD500, no one would have anything even slightly negative to comment about its performance. The differences were only noticeable in direct comparison, and were slight at best. I won’t be selling my MCD301 just because I also own the MCD500. The MCD301 will find wonderful duty in my recording studio, where it will certainly outperform every other source there.

The MCD500 is an absolute jewel of a performer. It presents music as though we were present in the recording studio. Every instrument has real life, three dimension, lingering harmonics, warmth, breath, and character. Every voice, whether solo or accompanied, alone or in harmony is clearly heard. Tiny, low level sounds are present, audible, and accurate. Silence is a complete black out, velvety black, from which every sound rises in glory. I have never had a better source in my system. The McIntosh MCD500 is the SACD/CD player to own. It will test, and show off every aspect of your system, and thrill you beyond belief.

EDIT: Jan.19, 2017

After reading this shootout review it dawned on me that I neglected to comment on the MCD500's digital inputs, both coaxial and Toslink inputs and outputs. This is the first CD/SACD/DAC combination to be manufactured by McIntosh. The MCD500 can be used as a digital preamp to directly feed power amps. The MCD301 did not have digital inputs to access its DAC.

[bruno2009]

Hi Dan - great read. Have you ever compared the full CDPs vs the MCT 450 with the McIntosh integrated DAC ?

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by bruno2009

Hi Dan - great read. Have you ever compared the full CDPs vs the MCT 450 with the McIntosh integrated DAC ?

Christoph.......I have not had the opportunity to audition the MCT450 with any of the newer McIntosh preamplifiers with internal DAC's. In the past I have owned and enjoyed the MCD7009, MCD205, MCD301, MCD500, and the MCD1100. I liked the MCD500 and MCD1100 enough to own two of each that I used in two separate sound systems. McIntosh CD/SACD/DAC players are excellent source components. Knowing this leads me to believe the MCT450 with McIntosh's newest internal DAC's should be a stellar performer.

[bruno2009]

Dan - great to hear. I have the MCT 450 with the C 52, really happy with the performance - never owned a full Mc CDP though. Just being curious...

[prepress]

Out of sheer curiosity, which DAC does the 301 use? I don't have another Mac CDP for comparison, but note that the 301 has a weightier sound than my Pioneer 88 BDP, enough to be noticed though the 88 is no slouch.

[jdandy]

Charles.......I never gave the DAC in the MCD301 any thought. It is a fine sounding CD/SACD player but there have been improvements implemented in DAC technology and supporting circuitry with the players and DAC's that followed.

[prepress]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Charles.......I never gave the DAC in the MCD301 any thought. It is a fine sounding CD/SACD player but there have been improvements implemented in DAC technology and supporting circuitry with the players and DAC's that followed.

Ok, thanks. I'll pursue it further if it begins to burn a hole in my brain.

Knowing which DAC I'm hearing helps me learn which one(s) I prefer. The Pioneer 88FD has an ESS Sabre, for example; the 09FD it replaced has a Wolfson. I like the sound of the Wolfson; the ESS has had to grow on me a bit (a slightly lighter tonal balance). Both are good, but I know if push came to shove, I prefer the Wolfson by a small margin. So if I jumped the shark and was looking for a new CD/SACD player or even another BD player, I'd look at a Wolfson-based unit first. True, there are other factors involved but on a basic level I'd use the DAC as a starting point. I would have bought Cambridge Audio's BD player because it uses Wolfsons, but got such a good price on the 88 I chose not to pass it up. Plus, the 88 does 4K upscaling, so I'm ready if I get a 4K TV.

[Roni]

I have the Mcintosh MCD500 and I so happy, I have heard the MCD301 and MCT450 in store but never compare to MCD500. Thanks Dan always enjoy yours reviews.

[bruno2009]

Dan - say, have you ever compared CDPs against any streaming solutions and if so - what were/are your thoughts. Is a budget streaming solution really superior to a decent CDP such as the ones you tested?

It'd be great to hear your thoughts on this as I'm torn whether to stick with my MCT450 or to move on...

[miner]

Personally I feel my MCT450/D150 is just a tad bit more resolving and detailed than my MCD500.