McIntosh MHP1000 Headphones Announced in CES | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

wnmnkh · Jan 8, 2014 at 3:03 AM

Spin off thread from the Oppo PM-1 thread

Quote:

anakchan said:
anakchan said:

Argh, I'm so stupid. It's a headphone amp, not headphone. My apologies folks.

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Originally Posted by wnmnkh /img/forum/go_quote.gif

So everyone is entering headphone market like a bunch of zombies jumping into an alive human (as I wrote on other thread, I may be able to hear that amp as well.)

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Originally Posted by bcschmerker4 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

If McIntosh® is entering the headphone arena, they'll almost certainly have at least one model compatible with portable devices - the LD/HP transducer family is legendary in home audio. I'd like to read how the first LD/HP headphones fare against existing summit-fi dynamics from AKG®/Harman, Sennheiser® and beyerdynamic®, in addition to both pre-existing planar-magnetic models, the Oppo® PM-1 (assuming production models are available for review), and the benchmark-holding STAX® SR-009 Earspeaker™ electrostats.

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My mistake folks. I misread Scott's post. It's a headphone amp, not headphones. My sincere apologies.

AnakChan, it seems Mclntosh is actually developing headphones indeed. From other sites that covered Mclntosh's CES booth, they have their prototype headphones shown on.

It will be 2,000 USD and they are planning to make lower priced models after that.

EDIT PLUS : http://www.whathifi.com/news/mcintosh-iMHOact-amps-media-bridge-and-headphones-at-ces-2014

named MHP1000, 2K USD, available at first half 2014. Tbh not a design that inspire confidence.

ssrock64 · Jan 8, 2014 at 7:41 AM

wnmnkh said:
named MHP1000, 2K USD, available at first half 2014. Tbh not a design that inspire confidence.

Hmm, that whole headband assembly design was stolen directly from Beyerdynamic. That doesn't exactly scream high quality.

GoldfishX · Jan 8, 2014 at 10:07 AM

Why do companies think slapping a high pricetag on a headphone is a sign of quality (although this IS McIntosh and they are infamous for overpricing their gear)? My first impression was it looked like a Hifiman. Not impressed.

Barry S · Jan 8, 2014 at 10:26 AM

Hard to tell if they're just cashing in on their brand or are coming out with serious products. It's not that easy to develop a new flagship. Their $4500 headphone amp seems aimed at well-heeled "audiophiles" familiar with the brand, or led by the nose by high-end resellers.

sfoclt · Jan 8, 2014 at 10:43 AM

goldfishx said:
Why do companies think slapping a high pricetag on a headphone is a sign of quality (although this IS McIntosh and they are infamous for overpricing their gear)? My first impression was it looked like a Hifiman. Not impressed.

Overpriced? That's not as much a criticism when something holds its resale value. I've had numerous McIntosh systems through the years, and every single piece of equipment I've had has been later sold for at least what I paid for it. If you pick your components carefully, you can end up with a very satisfying system that rewards ownership unlike many competing products that come and go. My first high-end system was Counterpoint, then mostly Threshold, then mostly Mark Levinson, and all of those pieces are worth pennies on the dollar now.

GoldfishX · Jan 8, 2014 at 11:23 AM

I stand by my original statement. McIntosh gear is notoriously overpriced, regardless of resale value. I attribute the resale value as a lack of supply in the chain. There is a reason it is so hard to find prices attached to their gear and why they need dealers to distribute it.

Not to say it isn't high quality gear (I have no complaints with the actual sound, from what I've heard -warm, lush, musical-, and who doesn't love the green glass look of it) but the cost of entry is stupidly high. It makes an endgame electrostatic headphone set-up (even an Orpheus w/ original amp) look reasonable. In fairness though, the cost of a high end speaker set-up does tend to cost more than your typical headphone set-up, so I'm not singling out McIntosh for inflating prices.

sfoclt · Jan 8, 2014 at 2:48 PM

goldfishx said:
... but the cost of entry is stupidly high.

Yes, but that doesn't mean it's overpriced. Obviously each individual needs to balance the things that are important to then to see if a decent value proposition is made, but - for me- the fact that any money invested on the components I've chosen is retrievable makes it reasonable value. Overpriced things to me are things that, once you take them off the lot like a car, take an immediate value hit (in other words, no one else values that same product at the price you paid, which is not the case with McIntosh equipment). That said, I haven't kept up with the most current offerings, and anything like an all-in-one system would seem just on the surface to be the sort of thing with less likelihood of resale value (look at the older Nakamichi and B&O systems for instance). From the photo though it looks like even the all-in-one has autoformers, which would be a really good value at $2K. Would want to see the details to confirm that though.

GoldfishX · Jan 8, 2014 at 3:20 PM

Overpriced to me is when it's priced out of range for most people to afford, regardless of performance or resale value. I would be fine if they had a line of lower level gear, not counting the vintage stuff (the D100 looks interesting and isn't too bad at $2500, provided it performs at the same level as most $2500 DAC/amps...I might need to pay my Mac dealer a visit). I think its their attitude and distribution system that irritates me more than anything.

But I can see your point, I can't see anyone getting anywhere near retail for a used Abyss ($5500 and it looks like a torture device) or Ultrasone Edition 10 or 8 ($2750 and $1500, respectively).

wnmnkh · Jan 8, 2014 at 4:26 PM

So far what I got from McIntosh rep from CES:

1) It's being made by Beyerdynamic. They are not sure what drivers are going to be used. I hope at least tesla drivers for such huge price tag. It's closed back and I hope it wont have harsh high as T5 does.

2) It's currently very rougb prototype, very far from being finished. So do not disappointed with looks just yet...

3) The release date target is late spring, probably April or May.

sfoclt · Jan 8, 2014 at 4:36 PM

Beyer is an interesting choice. It makes sense that McIntosh would partner with a company with as long a history as they have. On the other hand, the Beyer sound is not similar at all to what I associate with the McIntosh sound. It might end up being quite interesting to see the implementation.

Beagle · Jan 8, 2014 at 7:59 PM

sfoclt said:
Yes, but that doesn't mean it's overpriced.

It's overpriced when $1000 of the list price is probably for the McIntosh name...

bluemonkeyflyer · Jan 8, 2014 at 9:35 PM

I've got three McIntosh components and love them. If their headphones are OEM'd I'll pass.

GoldfishX · Jan 9, 2014 at 12:34 AM

beagle said:
It's overpriced when $1000 of the list price is probably for the McIntosh name...

At least the Abyss, $1000 of the list price is for the cables. lol

Hutnicks · Jan 9, 2014 at 1:07 AM

Still waiting for the Wilsons.

Not enchanted by McOEM's phones at all. Save the extra grand and just buy the Beyers instead.

bcschmerker4 · Jan 9, 2014 at 1:28 AM

wnmnkh said:
So far what I got from McIntosh rep from CES:

1) It's being made by Beyerdynamic. They are not sure what drivers are going to be used. I hope at least tesla drivers for such huge price tag. It's closed back and I hope it wont have harsh high as T5 does.

2) It's currently very rougb prototype, very far from being finished. So do not disappointed with looks just yet...

3) The release date target is late spring, probably April or May.

Subcontracted!? I figured that McIntosh® would design and manufacture the MHP-1000 in-house, as I understand to be the case with the legendary LD/HP™ transducers used on all their home- and mobile-audio products.

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