McIntosh MC257 amplifier - 250x3 or 200x7

[80B]

Performance improvements appear solid, jury's out on that meter window for me. Only 95 pounds (had to check that as I just moved a bunch of Mc amps).!

[JWJW]

I like the new look. Wish the window was a little larger, similar to the AR GS150.

[damacman]

Originally Posted by JWJW

I like the new look. Wish the window was a little larger, similar to the AR GS150.

That's the problem. I remember when McIntosh had a very particular mechanical ID as did Audio Research. Blending them does not appeal to me whatsoever.

[thughes]

Put me in the column with the people who like the new meter look.

[piolaxo]

I'm in the same camp. I do like it a lot, there is a nice evolution from the former MC207.
I like this direction much better than the amps with the nipple buttons or the wild
interpretation of the MC352.

[thxthx]

I like the new look. Pity the left and right meters would be for surrounds in my system. I’d love to bring this one home with a new processor and 4K player ready for Atmos!

[Masterlu]

Here is why the new McIntosh MC257 is such a fantastic solution.

Its predecessor, the MC207, was one of the best selling McIntosh amplifiers of all time.

The MC207 has been in production for 15 years without any changes.

With the new MC257, technologies employed in the the award winning MC312, MC462, MC611, and MC1.25KW are incorporated to bring the new amp fully up to date.

The MC257 will have the same increase in dynamic range and low-end grunt that the aforementioned newest amplifiers received - plus an entirely new meter system.

The new “Triple View” meter system will be immediately noticeable to customers. The fact that this is a new McIntosh amplifier, and not just an update of the old one is clearly apparent.

The auto-off function is now handled by a simple switch on the back.

The new amps binding posts have been upgraded, and its cosmetics have been improved.

But the real change is inside.

With the limitations of one box, one power cord, and a standard 15A AC outlet - how could it be made better?

The new amplifier is a ground-up redesign using the lessons learned by the similar redesign of the stereo and mono McIntosh amplifiers in the past year.

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 fully, 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 our 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.

Unless your soundtrack requires all 7 channels to use the full 200 watts (a rare occurrence), the front three channels will have 250 watts available.

It is important to hook up the L/C/R channels to the Left, Center, and Right inputs on the back o the MC257. These three channels have additional power transistors and dedicated higher capacity heat

[damacman]

Ivan - hard to disagree with that analysis.

[Vintage Pete]

How does the user select so that the meters read the outputs of channels other than that of front channels L/C/R? I guess the same question would apply to the MC207. I have an MC206, where there is a front panel switch to select which channels the meters monitor.

[piolaxo]

Originally Posted by Vintage Pete

How does the user select so that the meters read the outputs of channels other than that of front channels L/C/R? I guess the same question would apply to the MC207. I have an MC206, where there is a front panel switch to select which channels the meters monitor.

On The MC207, inputs 1,4 and 7 are the ones to which the meters are
referred. I would think it is similar with the MC257.