McIntosh MSA5500 streaming integrated amp review
A look at the legendary audio company's first amp with built-in streaming
T
he McIntosh MSA5500 is the venerable audio company’s first integrated amplifier model with built-in music streaming. That means all you need to do to open up the vast library of online music is connect the amp to your favorite pair of speakers.
I seized the chance to test this 38-pound behemoth at home for a few weeks, and in this article I'll go over its features and audio performance.
McIntosh's high-fidelity audio heritage
A quick introduction to McIntosh for those who are unaware: It’s an audiophile company that’s been around since 1949 in Binghamton, New York. That’s where the components are designed and built still today. They’re known for impeccable sound and build quality.
Consider who uses them:
Their amps were the backbone of the Grateful Dead’s famous Wall of Sound, and Jerry Garcia famously used a McIntosh amp to enrich the large-venue tone of his Fender Twin Reverb. James Murphy and other audiophile DJs use McIntosh in their souped-up Jamaican dance-hall-style Despacio sound system.
McIntosh systems have been known to go over the top to fully envelop you with sound.
These aren’t just great-sounding systems. They’re designed to sonically engage and even overwhelm you in the best possible way.
Impeccable amplification with built-in streaming
Our customers have made the MSA5500 more popular than some of us here at Crutchfield would’ve imagined, and in a short time.
Its popularity probably shouldn’t be too surprising though, since it’s got very similar specs to the MA5300 integrated amp, which has been around for several years now and has earned a lot of praise from our customers. I think a lot of people have been waiting for McIntosh to add streaming features to a major amp like the '5500.
It has the same power as the MA5300 — FTC-rated at 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms. It also has really low total harmonic distortion and a high signal-to-noise ratio. That tells you something, but it doesn’t quite convey what you hear when you play your favorite music through this amp.
It’s clear and detailed, and sounds substantial and full even at low volume levels, and it just keeps sounding more expansive as you turn it up. In between songs, the silence is noticeabe. It’s a black background that lets musical details burn brightly when the music kicks back in.
Streaming capabilities
What sets the MSA5500 apart from other McIntosh amps — at least at the time of its launch— are its streaming capabilities. You can connect a pair of speakers, add the ‘5500 to your home network, and start playing music.
The MSA5500 can handle all types of sources, but for streaming all you need is a pair of speakers.
For streaming, I mostly used TIDAL Connect, but it also works with Spotify Connect, Google Cast, Apple AirPlay 2, and Roon (which is a subscription service that lets you access all of your streaming services, network attached storage, and music on your computer through a single search interface that is user-friendly and encyclopedic.)
It also has high-quality Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX® HD built in. Some audiophiles might dismiss it, but every time I’ve tried it, I’ve been impressed by how good it sounds.
8-channel Quad Balanced DAC
The MSA5500 — again, like the '5300 — features McIntosh's 8-channel Quad Balanced DAC at the heart of its proprietary DA1 digital module.
One question I’ve been asked — and asked McIntosh — is: how does an 8-channel DAC help with 2-channel stereo sound?
The 8-channel Quad Balanced DAC in the '5500 brings out the best in high-res streaming sources like TIDAL.
The answer is pretty techy — but basically it uses technology similar to noise cancellation to strengthen and clarify the signal with multi-channel output while canceling out noise with multiple complementary channels of “anti-music.”
This helps it to achieve really, really low distortion and noise, so nothing smears the finer details of your music.
Versatile analog and digital connections
The Class AB amplification and the Quad Balanced DAC make up the classic and modern foundation of McIntosh’s signature sound. The MSA5500’s streaming capabilities make it even more attractive to modern listeners. When you add its versatile wired connections, you have an amp that can make pretty much any source sound its best.
Audiophiles can take advantage of the balanced XLR input, stellar phono stage, and other versatile connections.
It’s got an analog stereo balanced XLR input, plus four analog stereo unbalanced RCA inputs, and one more that’s a dedicated phono input. I connected my Pro-Ject X2 turntable and listened to 100% Sahara Guitar’s Etran de l’Aïr with engaging results.
For digital connections you get a pair of coaxial and a pair of optical inputs, plus an HDMI ARC port for TV sound and a USB-B input for a computer. CD afficionados can get brilliant sound by adding the MCT500 SACD/CD transport via McIntosh's proprietary ultra-low-noise MCT connection.
Listening notes
My listening notes are based on TIDAL Connect streaming sessions. I used some beautiful (and beautiful-sounding) Sonus faber Lumina V Amator floor-standing speakers that I had at home for testing, as well as my ELAC Uni-Fi Reference UBR62 stand-mount speakers, and both setups commanded my attention and had me glued to the couch listening to favorites. And hearing fresh details in each.
Neil Young had just released his Oceanside Countryside album when I had this amp at home. Even though I already knew most of the songs from the different releases where the fragments of this abandoned album originally got released, it was great to hear them all in one place.
“The Old Homestead” is a standout track, with Tim Drummond on bass and Levon Helm on drums plus one Tom Scribner on the saw, which makes a wavering contralto sound kind of like a Theremin. You can hear the guitar strings buzz on the wood from the force of Neil’s fingerpicking. The band sounds intimate, a little tentative, and very human.
The McIntosh presented the recording in articulate detail that pulled me in in ways I hadn’t experienced — especially Helm’s drumming.
The MSA5500 paired with Sonus faber floor-standing speakers revealed fresh detail and nuance in music I'd been listening to for years.
There are a couple of full stops in the song, and and he approaches them by tapping on rims and hardware, making smaller and smaller sounds until the drum part sounds like it miraculously vanishes to avoid falling off the edge of a cliff. I hadn’t noticed this detail in all the other times I’ve listened to this song over the years.
I also cued up A Jacqueline Du Pre Recital, which features the late, great cellist in a few different duo settings. My wife and I have been listening to our vinyl copy of this record for a couple of decades now. Hearing it stream through the MSA5500 brought us virtually closer to the musicians.
Particularly on the duet with guitarist John Williams on the track “Jota,” the skill with which they control the dynamics and versatility of their acoustic instruments stands out — it sounds like more than two musicians, and more than the combined ten strings between them.
And the ‘5500 vividly presented the disparate timbres in the psychedelic funk collage of Miles Davis’ On the Corner. It’s a great album to get lost in, with instruments deployed more like color and texture than vehicles of melody, of which there really are none. The MSA5500 gave these intense, rhythmic sound-paintings clarity and brilliance.
The amp engaged me with pretty much every recording I played through it.
MSA5500 vs. MA5300
If you prefer an external music streamer or if you’ve already got one that you love, for a good deal less money, you could have the MA5300. Then you’d have the same great power section and DAC.
Already have a streamer you love? The MA5300 has the same amplification and DAC as the '5500 and costs less.
Should you get the MSA5500?
The MSA5500 has the iconic blue watt meters that have been many an audiophile’s hopeful fantasy over the past several decades. And it’s got a top-notch, 38-pound build distinguished by a sleek black glass front panel with aluminum end caps, rotary control knobs, and illuminated McIntosh logo.
It’s constructed to last a lifetime — or two. And to deliver audiophile sound for your streaming and wired sources every time you power it up.
If the lack of a streaming option in McIntosh amps has been keeping you from realizing your dream of owning one, you might have a hard time walking away from the MSA5500.
Want to learn more?
If you find yourself in the enviable position of considering the MSA5500 or any McIntosh amplifier or other component and have some questions we haven’t answered in the course of this overview, contact us today.
And don't forget, free lifetime tech support is included with your Crutchfield purchase.
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