McIntosh DS200 STREAMING D/A PROCESSOR

McIntosh, which is based in my home state of New York, has long been in my audio life.

- TOM FINE, John Atkinson

It was the “house sound” where I grew up. My parents' stereo system was powered by a pair of MC75 tubed amplifiers (fed by a Marantz 7B preamp, driving Bozak Concert Grand speakers). In my father's recording studio,1 McIntosh amplifiers powered the monitors (most likely MC60s), and stereo records were cut using modified MI-200 power amps.2 Today, my office system is built around an early 2000s MA6500 solid state integrated amp.

In this decade, Stereophile has reviewed a few McIntosh components. Larry Greenhill reviewed the MAC7200 receiver in December 2020;3 it is still in McIntosh's product line. Sasha Matson reviewed the C12000 preamplifier in October 20234 and the ML1 Mk II loudspeaker in June 2024.5 And, this past June, Alex Halberstadt time-traveled back to the 1960s and spent some time with a vintage MC225 power amplifier.

The MAC7200 receiver Greenhill reviewed included the DA1 digital audio module; that was the last time Stereophile reviewed a McIntosh DAC. So when the company announced its new “cast”-streaming DAC, the DS200, it was a convergence of my streaming-centric audio pursuits and my interest in McIntosh's present-day offerings.

"Casting": the new way to stream

The ground is moving—again—under streaming. The new emphasis is on “connecting” and “casting” direct from streaming apps running on smartphones/tablets and away from device-specific server-streamer apps. This idea is not exactly new: Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect have been around for at least a couple of years. But movement is clearly in the direction of casting music from the Qobuz, Tidal, and Spotify apps directly to a streaming device via one or the other of the “Connect” services.