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Questa macchina e in vero stile McIntosch , tanta classe e tanta
sostanza e un suono davvero piacevole. Ora il modello 861 e stato
sostiutito dal 871 che e la stessa macchina , ma con l'uscita HDMI per
il video ad alta definizione.
La macchina e davvero notevole e suona molto molto bene in tutti i modi
, sia con CD , SACD e DVD , io personalmente lo confrontato con il
Maestro CD ultima versione e devo dire che ho trovato punti nei quali il
Maestro risultava vincitore ed altri dove il McIntosh 861 svettava.
Dal sito :
http://www.ultimateavmag.com/dvdplayers/605mc/
McIntosh ranks among the best-known names in high-end audio. Since the
company's inception in the early 1950s, McIntosh products, with their
immediately recognizable black-glass front panels, have earned a place
in homes of passionate audiophiles throughout the world.
The
latest McIntosh product to fall into my journalistic maw, the MVP 861
universal disc player, replaces the
MVP 851 DVD-A
player I reviewed about two years ago. This new machine represents
McIntosh's first foray into the world of universal disc players. It can
play CDs and DVDs as well as DVD-As, SACDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs with CD
audio or MP3 files. With built-in decoders for SACD, DVD-Audio, Dolby
Digital, and DTS, the MVP 861 delivers a one-box solution for all
currently available audio and video disc formats.
The Core
The MVP 861 universal player looks much like McIntosh's previous MVP
851, but underneath its classic McIntosh exterior lurks a passel of new
capabilities and components. According to McIntosh's Ron Cornelius, "The
MVP 861 is a totally new design, although both players do share the same
type of oversized R-core power supply and utilize PCM resolution at
24/192." The MVP 861 uses three pairs of the latest dual-mode PCM/DSD
Burr Brown DACs. These can decode DSD data without any conversion to
PCM. "SACD was a challenge for our design engineers," says Cornelius, "as
the typical 1 to 3 percent THD+Noise at 10 KHz of most consumer SACD
players was not acceptable. The MVP 861 will better this specification
by 10 to 12dB."
The
MVP 861's new video section supports both 480i and 480p outputs. The
black level can be set to US or Japanese standards (for techies, that's
either a 7.5IRE setup or no setup). European users will be pleased to
learn that the MVP 861 also supports PAL playback. DVI and HDMI fans may
be disappointed to find the MV 861 does not have either of these two
digital-video outputs. Cornelius defends McIntosh's decision not to
include these outputs, saying, "The current DVD players that change 480i
native DVD to HDMI 720p or 1080i are all using the same popular video
chipsets that generate video artifacts. Since the MVP 861 makes no
attempt to manipulate the native 480i DVD video signal, it is free of
macro-blocking, red push, white crush, and other side effects of
upconversion caused by this chip set. McIntosh believes that premium
display monitors are best left to rescale the picture with their
specific built-in devices, since these match the actual pixel structure
of the display."
(We
must note here that all the DVI- or HDMI-equipped players we have tested
to date will also put out digital video signals at 480p, leaving it to
the display to upscale the signal as needed. One player, the Pioneer
DV-59AVI, will even put out digital video at 480i.—TJN)
Regarding DVI and HDMI in McIntosh's future products, Cornelius
concluded, "HDMI is a great connector, especially when we have the
software to use it, which will be with HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. Until
then, we do not see an advantage on DVD playback over good old flexible
and inexpensive component cables."
Audio output options include both coaxial and TosLink digital outputs,
single-ended RCA and balanced XLR stereo outputs, and single-ended RCA
5.1-channel surround outputs. Internal level and delay controls for the
multichannel outputs can be adjusted via onscreen menus.
First Taste
Setting up the MVP 861 takes only a few minutes and can almost be
accomplished without the aide of the instruction book. The onscreen
menus give you access to all meaningful video adjustments including
aspect ratio (including squeeze mode), display type (CRT, DLP, etc.),
black level, and progressive output. Audio adjustments include speaker
size, channel levels, delay times, digital output formats, 2-channel
bass enhancement (sends bass info to the subwoofer as well as the main
L/R speakers on 2-channel source material), and rudimentary bass
management. A built-in test-tone signal makes setting individual channel
levels easy, but adjustments can only be made in minus dB increments.
This means you must first determine which speaker has the lowest output
level and then lower the other levels to match it. Unlike the MVP 851,
the 861 does not have the ability to remember settings for individual
titles.
The
MVP 861's remote control seemed very familiar to me since it is the same
one used by Lexicon's MC-12 pre-pro. By necessity, Lexicon users need to
develop a system to determine which remote is which. I constantly found
myself adjusting the volume on the McIntosh's remote when I wanted to
adjust the volume on the Lexicon. Silly me. Except for constant mix-ups,
I found the McIntosh remote easy to use, since it does light up, and all
the important functions can be found easily.
If
you are the type of person who hates to wait for anything, you may
notice some lethargy in the MVP 861's operations. While it takes the
Lexicon RT-10 only 9.1 seconds to load a DVD and be ready for playback,
the MVP 861 takes 14.1 seconds. Merely ejecting a disc takes the MVP 861
2.3 seconds, while the Lexicon RT-10 performs this function in 1.3
seconds. Once in top menu, both players get to a chapter selection in
1.2 seconds.
Full Meal
The MVP 861's audio and video quality certainly live up to McIntosh's
reputation for stellar performance. Its 480p progressive output equals
any player I've reviewed. Only the more expensive Meridian 598 DVD-A
player and Lexicon RT-10 match the MVP 861's performance level. On test
patterns from both Video Essentials and Avia test discs,
the MVP 861 had sufficient acuity to resolve even the highest
frequencies on the test patterns. The challenging Snell and Wilcox
moving zone plate test also looked exceptionally clean from the MVP 861,
with no sparkle or extraneous color and motion artifacts. The MVP 861
does exhibit a trace of stair-step edges on the fluttering American flag
during the Video Essentials montage of images, and the slow pan
across the stadium seats from the same segment exhibits only the very
slightest bit of motion anomalies.
As
you might expect, an outboard Faroudja Native Rate video processor
produces a sharper picture since it outputs 720p, but the MVP 861 equals
it in terms of motion rendering, color neutrality, and lack of decoding
artifacts. Like the Meridian 598 and Lexicon RT-10 DVD players, the MVP
861's 480p performance exhibited little for me to fault. After several
hours of going back and forth, I could not discern any meaningful
differences in the picture quality between these three players. Perhaps
the MVP 861 had a slight edge in motion-artifact control, but the
Meridian's picture exhibited a smidgen less noise, and the Lexicon had a
slightly more natural color palette. Bottom line, they all deliver an
exceptionally high-quality 480p image.
As
a player of CD, DVD-A, and SACD, the MVP 861 creates beautiful music.
A/B listening sessions pitting it against the CEC TL-2 CD transport,
Lexicon RT-10 universal player, and Meridian 598 DVD-A player left me
with many pages of listening notes comprised of superlatives. Using
their digital outputs for CD playback, all four players produced similar
soundstage dimensions. The CEC TL-2 and Lexicon RT-10 had a slightly
superior depth, but this may be a result of their AES/EBU digital
outputs, which the other two units lack. Coupled to the Meridian 800 A/V
processor, the Meridian 598 produces slightly more depth and realism on
DVD-A sources, but the "home team advantage" of Meridian's digital
upsampling and MHR (Meridian High Resolution) Smart Link connection may
account for its supremacy. I suspect that if I had a McIntosh audio
processor, the MVP 861 might reign supreme through an S/PDIF digital
tether. When all things are nearly equal, as it is with these fine
players, you can't discount the effects of synergistic component mating.
Using analog outputs, the MVP 861 produced sonically stellar results.
Compared with the Lexicon RT-10's analog output, the MVP 861's more
musical and slightly sweeter upper frequencies were immediately obvious.
The Lexicon didn't sound bad by any means, but the McIntosh definitely
delivered a less matter-of-fact harmonic balance that makes many
imperfect commercial recordings sound better. On my own concert
recordings, the McIntosh erred slightly on the side of euphony, but with
conventional software, the McIntosh had a slight sonic edge. On Faith
Hill's Cry (Warner Brothers 48001-9), a lush-sounding but overly
compressed DVD-A recording, the MVP 861 seemed more compelling, but on
the Grateful Dead's American Beauty (Warner Brothers/Rhino R9
74385), the Lexicon produced a more musically revealing result that may
not have been as euphonic, but ultimately more satisfying for me.
DVD-As played through the Meridian 800 A/V processor using the analog
outputs from both the McIntosh MVP 861 and Lexicon RT-10 paled in
comparison to the Meridian 598 player's Smart Link connection, which
keeps the DVD-A signal in the digital domain. The 598's superiority was
not subtle. Through the Meridian combination, DVD-As sounded immediate,
detailed, dimensionally palpable, and substantially more emotionally
involving. After these listening sessions ended, I prayed to the audio
gods that I may live long enough to see a time when all DVD-A players
have digital connections for DVD-A playback.
On
the venerable but still exceptional-sounding SACD release of Glenn
Gould's Goldberg Variations (Sony Classical SS 37779), both the
Lexicon RT-10 and McIntosh MVP 861 delivered a quiet noise floor that
uncovers all of Gould's vocalizations. The McIntosh endowed Gould's
Steinway piano with a smidgen more euphony, while it had a more metallic
edge through the Lexicon. On Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks
(Columbia CH 90323), "Buckets of Rain" had a more relaxed and natural
ambience through the McIntosh, but the Lexicon preserved his last sigh
at the end of the tune with a bit more resolution.
Last Mouthful
Why do audiophiles buy McIntosh components? Some choose McIntosh because
of the unique and classic good looks, but most are swayed by the
company's reputation for reliability and sonic excellence. The MVP 861
follows McIntosh's tradition of combining physical quality with fine
performance. Some videophiles may be disappointed by the MVP 861's lack
of digital video interfaces, but most will find its analog video
performance more than compensatory. On currently available audio formats,
the MVP 861 delivers a level of musicality and refinement that will
satisfy any music lover.
"No
one ever got fired for buying IBM" used to be business gospel. The
audiophile parallel is, "No one was ever disappointed by a McIntosh
audio component." The second truism still applies.
Leggere sopra
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Se vi interessa acquistarlo : |
7600 €
anno 2007 Audiocostruzioni di Sbisa' Giovanni e c snc e punto vendita
McIntosh - Via Grosoli 6 - 41012 - Carpi MO - tel
059-685054-
info@audiocostruzioni.com
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