McIntosh MA8950 Integrated Amplifier Stereo+ 5 Stars
AVForums Best High End Stereo Amplifier McIntosh MA8950
AVForums Highly Recommended McIntosh MA8950
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The MA8950 Integrated Amplifier offers 200 Watts per channel and combines McIntosh's amplification expertise and preamplifier technologies into one comprehensive stereo sound system component. It replaces the award-winning MA8900 (Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity 2017 Best Stereo Integrated Amplifier) and adds additional performance enhancements to an already outstanding stereo integrated amplifier.

Dynamic headroom has increased from 2.0dB to 3.1dB in the MA8950 as a result of its filter capacity being doubled. This gives the MA8950 even greater ability to reproduce musical peaks with less distortion. The increased filter capacity will also help deliver more amazing bass playback, low end performance, and overall bass control.

The MA8950 comes standard with the DA2 Digital Audio Module instead of the DA1 Digital Audio Module that came in the MA8900. The DA2 offers 7 digital inputs: 2 coaxial, 2 optical, 1 USB, 1 MCT, and 1 audio-only HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC)1 connection. TVs with a compatible HDMI (ARC) output can be connected to the MA8950 to enjoy your TV’s sound like never before through your home music system. Popular multi-channel audio formats from Dolby® and DTS® are supported and will be expertly converted to 2-channel audio for proper playback. The MA8950 remote can control the TV’s power and volume when CEC communication is enabled in both the amplifier and the TV. The DA2 also features increased DSD playback support of up to DSD512 via the USB input.

"The precision is high and it is very detailed and brilliantly resolved. With some complicated music such as choir and orchestra, it maintains excellent control over both the small sonorous differences in each individual instrument, and where they are placed in the soundscape. The focus is not excessive, but still super clear and very precise." Awarded 5 stars. Highly Recommended. - Stereo+ Magazine

Other McIntosh features included in the MA8950 are:

Power Guard® that continuously monitors input and output signals and can dynamically adjust input levels to ensure maximum output while avoiding harsh sounding distortion and clipping that could damage your speakers
Our fuse-less short-circuit protection technology Sentry Monitor™ that disengages the output stage before the current can exceed safe operating levels and then resets automatically when operating conditions return to normal
McIntosh Monogrammed Heatsinks™ that are made from high quality materials with excellent thermal conductivity and heat dissipation properties
Home Theater PassThru that allows for seamless integration into a home theater system
High Drive headphone amplifier with Headphone Crossfeed Director (HXD®) which can bring an added dimension to headphone listening
A discrete, five-band tone control that allows for advanced manual analog adjustment of ±12dB in 2dB increments of your favorite recordings at frequencies of 30Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 2kHz, and 10kHz
Power Control to send power on/off signals to connected McIntosh components for easy system power up and shutdown
Gold-plated speaker binding posts that prevent corrosion to ensure a quality signal is sent over your speaker cables to your speakers