OK, after a three month wait I finally got it yesterday. First impressions? McIntosh sound is good, not breathtaking. Funky volume control? Same as everyone else, even though it’s the McIntosh MP100 phono stage through Mogami balanced cable into the 200. Would have thought that the Mac-Mac combo might solve that but no.
So let me first say that from my limited experience the sound is not better than the headphone output of my Marantz PM8006 integrated amp. Different, yes. Better, no. The Mac sound is richer, more robust. I’ll get used to it and probably prefer it with time. The Marantz emphasizes detail over the Mac.
Having never been accustomed to the Marantz detail I may have ended up valuing it more. From stylus to ear I have the Marantz TT15S1 with Audio Technica AT OC9XML moving coil cartridge, the MP100 phono stage, the 200 and Focal Utopia phones. I think that equals or exceeds the Mac MT5 using the similar Clearaudio table.
My first impression of the 200 is probably spoiled by the huge improvement I got by switching to the Utopia phones. I have noticed improvement with every step I have made but none come close to the Utopias. That being said I will stick with the Macs and get accustomed to their rich signature sound. The detail that is emphasized by the Marantz TT15 is somewhat overwhelmed by the richness of the Macs. Still there and I don’t have to strain to hear it. Still there, just not in Spades.
Volume control? Disappointed as expressed by most on this string. Deal breaker? Nope. A different Ohmic value pot would probably solve that at the expense of some other capability but I doubt it would harm the 200/Utopia combo. Maybe someone will experiment with this and find a DIY to solve this problem. But it’s not that bad. It’s easy to want a volume you can’t get with the knob, just a little too loud or a little too soft, not exactly where you want to be. But the overall sound is good enough for it to be a keeper.