[Nostoi]

Prices are published in magazines here now.
Belgium/Netherlands: 3599€.
France: 3000€.
And virtually no tax differences in the countries, we just have one of those distributors that likes to get rich fast.
Might go across the border.

Any other official European prices known?

2.990 Eur in Austria.

 

[funkur]

Have any units started appearing at dealers yet?

 

[AppleheadMay]

2.990 Eur in Austria.

Thanks, seems like about 3K in the rest of Europe, except where I live.
Not buying from that distributor thus.

 

[Fatdoi]

2.990 Eur in Austria.

in Australia, A$4999 = US$3800.... yikes

 

[AppleheadMay]

in Australia, A$4999 = US$3800.... yikes

Yep, but in Europe shipping and import should be about the same in all countries. And in my country it's $4266 vs. $3522 in all other European countries.

 

[TSAVJason]

Have any units started appearing at dealers yet?

Not yet

 

[Crowbar44]

Not yet

Jason - interested in ordering this - any ideas as to when units will start to ship?

 

[TSAVJason]

Jason - interested in ordering this - any ideas as to when units will start to ship?

There was a slight delay on the product for a software upgrade. We expect shipping to happen in the next 2 weeks

 

[carboncopy]

There was a slight delay on the product for a software upgrade. We expect shipping to happen in the next 2 weeks

Software? what kind of software does it need? I mean I read it can sense the input voltage (and shut down after some time) and has some start-up sequence...but software?

 

[TSAVJason]

Software? what kind of software does it need? I mean I read it can sense the input voltage (and shut down after some time) and has some start-up sequence...but software?

Just an amp driver. Nothing particularly interesting but may make hard to drive cans easier to get going

 

[HiFiGuy528]

I like the way the amp looks. Hope it sounds the part too. I own a few Mc power amps and preamps.

 

[TSAVJason]

I’m sure for most people it will be pretty impressive

 

[Crowbar44]

I’m sure for most people it will be pretty impressive

Many of us, myself included, dreamed of owning McIntosh gear in our speaker days - and their vintage gear is truly legendary. Traditionally you NEVER saw a review of McIntosh gear in the audio press, not Stereophile, not TAS, nowhere. They never sent their stuff out for review and relied solely on their dealer network to sell the stuff, and sell well it did, it was INSANELY expensive stuff in the 70's and 80's...and still is.

In the '90's they sold out to Clarion (yes THAT Clarion - car stereos!) and some silly forays into car audio started - which apparently continue today (https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/brand/news/McIntosh-Audio-System-for-2021-Jeep-Grand-Cherokee-L ), along with a drift away from tubes.

They've been sold a few more times, and are now back in the USA as the McIntosh Group which owns Sonus Faber, Audio Research, Wadia, and Sumiko - all respected "high end" brands. It seems to me that after a few stumbles the company has re-established it's high-end credentials quite well. But with that said, to stay profitable, like everything in the modern world, they've had to dilute the brand (I don't blame them for this, it's a tried and true business model, and it works most of the time). They sell $1,800 clocks and signs, and a poorly reviewed bluetooth speaker (I love the British review press, from cars to audio, they're the only ones who will print a negative review, we Americans could learn a lot from them).

The question for me is where will the MHA-200 fall in the field of $2.5k headphone amps? It doesn't have to beat its competitors, for me, it only has to match their performance and I'll probably bite. Curious as to how widely review samples will be sent out? I suspect they're gonna want to keep a short leash on this one because of nostalgic idiots like me!

 

[Crowbar44]

error

 

[TSAVJason]

Ok, just got the word. McIntosh has been in backorder status on nearly everything since December. Products have been coming in but slowly. They decided to move the MHA200 to next months production run so they can get out of their backorder condition.