New Product announcements in June (MX160, MB50 & Preamps!)

[Rod#S]

Originally Posted by thrang

I think it's form factor and need vs price. Vanishingly few will go beyond 13 channels I suspect...

Probably true I just find it frustrating considering the price of it. For me the features don't justify the price.

Inevitably I'm going to have to replace my Lexicon MC-12 one of these days and I have always had Anthem and Bryston dealers in my area and literally found out yesterday the Bryston and Anthem dealer has picked up McIntosh so I would have access to McIntosh gear for the first time ever here.

Unfortunately given the feature set of the Anthem and McIntosh the only options for me are the Altitude32 and upcoming Theta Casablanca V as they offer much more future proofing since both are 32 channels platforms with top tier EQ i.e. Trinnov and Dirac. I of course hate the fact these are both $20k+ SSP's. The Datasat RS20i of course is a bit cheaper with less channels but at least it's a true 16 channel platform and has Dirac.

Hopefully my MC-12 keeps running for another year or 2 when more options will be on the market.

[djwhog]

I would never run the video to the HDMI in any model, on the Oppo it has 2 outs, one for sound, one for video only to the set.

and done

[thrang]

Originally Posted by Rod#S

Probably true I just find it frustrating considering the price of it. For me the features don't justify the price.

Inevitably I'm going to have to replace my Lexicon MC-12 one of these days and I have always had Anthem and Bryston dealers in my area and literally found out yesterday the Bryston and Anthem dealer has picked up McIntosh so I would have access to McIntosh gear for the first time ever here.

Unfortunately given the feature set of the Anthem and McIntosh the only options for me are the Altitude32 and upcoming Theta Casablanca V as they offer much more future proofing since both are 32 channels platforms with top tier EQ i.e. Trinnov and Dirac. I of course hate the fact these are both $20k+ SSP's. The Datasat RS20i of course is a bit cheaper with less channels but at least it's a true 16 channel platform and has Dirac.

Hopefully my MC-12 keeps running for another year or 2 when more options will be on the market.

How many channels do you anticipate needing?

[thrang]

Originally Posted by djwhog

I would never run the video to the HDMI in any model, on the Oppo it has 2 outs, one for sound, one for video only to the set.

and done

Well with several sources, this doesn't work for many.

[Rod#S]

Originally Posted by thrang

How many channels do you anticipate needing?

One never knows for sure, it's always better to have and not need then need and not have. To need and not have means you need to buy new gear, never the ideal solution.

[djwhog]

hmm I guess I can see that in some cases, but most 4k sets and even non 4k sets have 3 to 4 HDMI ports, and most good blu-ray players have 2 hdmi as well.

[thrang]

Originally Posted by djwhog

hmm I guess I can see that in some cases, but most 4k sets and even non 4k sets have 3 to 4 HDMI ports, and most good blu-ray players have 2 hdmi as well.

Projectors, with one or two inputs, are likely in use for many people buying this type of processor, and many source devices don't have dual HDMI

[thrang]

Originally Posted by Rod#S

One never knows for sure, it's always better to have and not need then need and not have. To need and not have means you need to buy new gear, never the ideal solution.

I understand, but that's never been this hobby...because it will be so uncommon, high channel count processors will likely always carry a high price tag - well, at least for the foreseeable future. The lower end Datasat is already 10k and doesn't even have Dirac.

I'd like it too, but I also have to look realistically how much more hardware I want to jam in all over beyond 13 or so speakers!

[Rod#S]

Yeah, I was disappointed that the LS10 doesn't have Dirac. The fully implemented Dirac is obviously quite expensive which explains it's exclusion from the LS10 in order to keep it's price down.

I'm probably in the minority when it comes to the look of the McIntosh SSP front face plate but I wish they would step into the modern era and have a fully interactive large touch screen LCD or OLED for menu navigation and ditch most of the old school clunky and large push buttons.

I'm hoping my local dealer that just acquired the McIntosh brand gets in a nice variety of stock so I can see them 1st hand. It would be nice to check out some of the gear I've been curious about over the years.

[thrang]

I think cost is the factor with Room Perfect re: number of channels. My understanding, at least with the 151, is that there is a DSP dedicated for each channel for RP processing. This apparently was a factor in the cost basis of the unit. It's possible this type of basis carries forward to the 160 and its additional channels - adding even more would keep adding to component and design complexity, and cost.