McIntosh Headphone Amplifiers

American maker founded in 1949, still hand-building amplifiers in Binghamton, New York. The blue meters and black glass are among the most recognisable objects in audio.

Founded: 1949 (founded in Silver Spring, Maryland; moved to Binghamton, New York in 1956)
Founders: Frank McIntosh, Gordon Gow
Headquarters: Binghamton, New York, United States
Manufacturing: Hand-built in Binghamton, New York
Parent company: McIntosh Group
How to buy: Sold through specialist hi-fi dealers
Known for: Blue output meters, black glass fascias, the unity-coupled output circuit, autoformer outputs

Currently, we have 1 McIntosh amplifier in our database. Below you can find the list with their main specs and links to their review pages.

McIntosh Headphone Amplifier

	Model	Watts RMS (8Ω)	Amp Class	DAC	Phono
	MHA200	-	-	No	-

About McIntosh

Frank McIntosh and Gordon Gow founded the company in 1949 and patented the unity-coupled output circuit, which allowed valve amplifiers to deliver high power at low distortion across the band. McIntosh also pioneered the autoformer output, which lets the same amplifier drive very different speaker impedances without changing behaviour, and the company still uses it. The look - black glass, blue meters, machined knobs - has barely changed since the 1960s and is deliberate.

Frank McIntosh was a broadcast engineering consultant; Gordon Gow, his engineer and later successor, drove much of the design.

McIntosh amplifiers powered the sound system at Woodstock in 1969, and the blue meters have become shorthand for expensive audio in film and photography. Very few audio brands have a visual identity strong enough that the object is recognised by people with no interest in hi-fi.

Owned with Sonus faber under the McIntosh Group, which passed to Highlander Partners in 2022.

Notable models: MC275, MC30, C22 preamplifier, MA352 integrated.

Official McIntosh website

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