McIntosh DS200

Design

• Black glass faceplate
• Dot-matrix display
• 152 x 445 x 432mm (HWD)

From the unnecessarily large (152 x 445 x 432mm, HWD) box to the gothic script via the use of green and blue for illumination, there’s no mistaking the DS200 for the work of any other company.

The McIntosh design aesthetic was established some time ago, and the brand isn’t about to fix what it patently thinks isn’t broken…

Obviously good design is in the eye of the beholder, so you’ll make your own mind up about the way the DS200 presents itself.

What’s worth noting, though, is that the black glass faceplate that makes up the entire fascia is a) a magnet for fingerprints and b) extremely difficult to photograph. The blue dot-matrix display is, frankly, rather remedial and not at all in keeping with a product costing this sort of money.

Not only is there no album artwork or what-have-you available, the information the McIntosh displays is rather niche and not especially useful beyond confirming the input you’ve selected and the amount of volume you’ve dialled in.

The buttons at the bottom of the panel (playback controls, power on/off, Bluetooth pairing and those peculiar options for the display) feel positive and quite nice to use. The rotary/push controls either side of the display that cover input selection and volume level feel vague and even a little bit wobbly.

As with the quality of display, they’re somewhat at odds with what your expectations of an expensive device like this one might be. At least the little remote control handset McIntosh supplies is weighty and feels quite swish.

Features

• 32-bit/384kHz / DSD512 DAC
• Balanced and unbalanced analogue outputs
• Numerous streaming options

With one exception, the feature-set of the DS200 is exactly what you’d expect/hope for – which means it’s rather more agreeable than some of the details discussed in the design section.

On the inside, the majority of the important business is taken care of by what McIntosh describes as an “audiophile-grade” digital-to-analogue converter. It’s a quad-balanced, eight-channel number that’s able to handle 32-bit/768kHz PCM, DSD512  and DXD384kHz. It’s also a Roon Ready endpoint device, and has been certified Roon Tested too.

Wireless streaming is available via Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast and Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD and aptX LL codec compatibility. The DS200 is fitted with a Bluetooth aerial and two wi-fi antennae – this is in addition to an Ethernet socket.

There are plenty of other physical inputs and outputs. A pair of digital optical inputs are good for content of up to 24bit/192kHz resolution, and the same is true of the couple of digital coaxial alternatives.

The USB-B input can deal with resolutions of up to 32-bit/384kHz, DSD512 and DXD384kHz. There’s an AES/EBU balanced digital output with 24-bit/192kHz capability, and an HDMI ARC socket for use with a TV.

McIntosh has even fitted its proprietary MCT input, in case you’re one of those people who own a) a McIntosh MCT CD/SACD transport, and b) some SACDs. Outputs consist of a pair of balanced XLRs and a pair of unbalanced stereo RCAs, and there are data in and power control sockets for use in a wider McIntosh system as well as RS232s in case you have an even more expansive set-up.

Although both the balanced and the unbalanced analogue outputs can be set at fixed or variable gain, which would seem to make the DS200 ideal as a pre-amplifier in conjunction with a power amp, it has no analogue inputs.

This is unarguably a missed opportunity, as the ability to route a turntable, say, through this device would make it an even more attractive proposition without undermining its digital credentials. And it’s not as if there isn’t room in all that casework for the necessary hardware…   

Performance

• Power and refinement in equal measure
• Remarkable level of detail and insight
• Expresses rhythms with absolute confidence

It’s all been a bit equivocal until now, this review, hasn’t it? Fault-finding with the design, grumbling about wider functionality… well, all that stops now it’s time to talk about performance. Because when it comes to out-and-out audio quality, the McIntosh DS200 sounds bigger than it looks and more expensive than it is.

You can pander to it with 24-bit/192kHz files of Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage and Sonic Youth’s Kool Thing or try to vex it with 320kbps streams of Looped by Kiasmos or Patti Smith’s Birdland – the McIntosh is unflappable. In every circumstance, it’s a direct, articulate and endlessly revealing listen.

Its tonal balance is absolutely impeccable. Previous encounters with McIntosh equipment has led to expect a rather musclebound and forceful tone, but that’s not the case here – the DS200 is deft and naturalistic.

The same goes for frequency response – I had lazily anticipated a cacophony of low-end presence which would subjugate the rest of the frequency range, but the McIntosh plays no favourites. From the very bottom of the frequency range to the very top, it plays no favourites.

The amount of detail, both broad and fine, the DS200 is able to extract from a digital audio file is remarkable, and the ability to put this torrent of information into convincing context is no less impressive.

Big dynamic variations are dispatched without apparent effort, and the attention the McIntosh pays to the note-by-note harmonic variances in a solo piano (for example) is approaching fanatical. This dynamic potency and overall air of complete authority doesn’t translate to a lack of subtlety, though – the DS200 pays attention to every nuance in a recording, no matter how minor or transient.

Low-frequency control is significant, so although the McIntosh hits both hard and with ample textural variation, it observes the attack and decay of bass sounds so well that rhythmic expression feels correct in an almost instinctive way.

The midrange communicates explicitly, and the top end balances substance with brilliance really confidently. And no matter how dense a mix or how numerous the participants in a recording, the soundstage the DS200 creates is big, well-defined and can always find space for every individual element to stretch out.

This is never at the expense of unity or presentation, though – the McIntosh delivers music as a singular event, and the sense of performance it can create is persuasive in the extreme.  

Should you buy it?