Vinyl records have been making a steady comeback in recent years, meaning that turntables are once again returning to pride of place in living room music system setups. But some modern hi-fi amplifiers don'thave a dedicated phono input, so listeners would need to buy an extra box to sit inbetween. That can get a little messy. McIntosh Labs has revealed a new turntable that has a phono pre-amp and hi-fi amplifier built in, withglowing tubes up top and Bluetooth streaming cooked in too.
The MTI100 is not a full all-in-one turntable solution, vinyl lovers will still need to cable up external speakers, but it's got pretty much everything else covered.
Its built-in Class D amplifier is rated at 80 W per channel into 4 ohms or 50 W into 8 ohms, and as the warm glow of those tubes suggest, McIntosh has treated the turntable to a vacuum tube pre-amp. The inclusion of a shielded phono pre-amp means that listeners can just cable up some speakers and they're ready to rock. Those who appreciate a little extra help in the lower registers will also welcome the included subwoofer output.
Analog and digital inputs around back cater for connection to hi-fi hardware (such as a CD player or tuner) or a TV, and a Bluetooth 4.2 receiver means that you can wirelessly stream tunes to the MTI100 for playback through the cabled speakers. Private listening comes courtesy of an integrated headphone jack to the front.
The turntable is a belt drive system that supports 33.3 and 45 rpm spin speeds, has a 7 lb (3.18 kg) machined aluminum platter and a straight anti-skate aluminum tonearm that ends in a Sumiko Olympia Moving Magnet cartridge.
The 19.25 x 6.75 x 14 in (48.9 x 17.15 x 35.6 cm), 33.5 lb (15.2 kg) MTI100 is priced at US$6,500, and doesn't come with an included dust cover.
Product page: McIntosh MTI100