McIntosh DS200

Opinion as to who first said “those who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like” is divided. Abraham Lincoln? Dorothy Parker? Miss Jean Brodie? It doesn’t matter, really - because no matter which of these auspicious individuals it was, they almost certainly didn’t have McIntosh Laboratory, Inc of Binghamton NY in mind when they said it.

It most definitely applies, though.

Founded in 1949, McIntosh amplification (and, later, loudspeakers) became the stuff of legend in short order. Everyone from Lydon B. Johnson to The Grateful Dead via the entirety of the Woodstock Festival has made use of McIntosh equipment - and in that time and ever since, the company’s aesthetic (a sort of Gothic Electronic interpretation of steampunk, if steampunk had even been a thing back in the day) has become both fixed and instantly recognisable. 

Take a look at this DS200 network streamer/DAC, for instance. Did you for one moment imagine it could be the work of any other company? Of course you didn’t. It may be a thoroughly modern piece of equipment in terms of its functionality, but the aesthetic (and the sheer size) of the box suggest it could have been built any time in the last 50 years or more.

So what is the McIntosh DS200? A cut ‘n’ shut Frankenstein’s Monster of cutting-edge functionality dressed in retro drag, or exactly the sort of antidote to the current ‘me too!’ school of hi-fi design we didn’t know we were waiting for?    

As far as the ‘functionality’ bit of that question goes, there’s really only one omission here as far as I can tell - I’ll get to that in a moment. Instead, let's start by considering the “audiophile grade” quad-balanced, eight-channel DAC McIntosh has specified - it’s good for resolutions up to 32bit/384kHz, DSD512 and DXD384kHz, and supposedly gets the nod thanks to its “huge dynamic range’ and “low distortion”.

Getting digital audio information into the DS200 can be done any number of ways. Physical connectivity runs to a pair of digital coaxial inputs (good to 24bit/192kHz) and a couple of digital optical equivalents (capable of handling the same resolution). There’s a balanced AES/EBU input (24bit/192kHz again) and a USB-B that can do the business all the way to 32bit/384kHz, DSD512 and DXD384kHz. An HDMI ARC socket allows your TV to join the fun, and there’s also the proprietary McIntosh MCT connection that allows the company’s CD/SACD transports to get around the fact that SACD doesn’t like to be output via SPDIF. An Ethernet socket allows for absolute network stability.

Wireless equivalents consist of Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD codec compatibility, and dual-band wi-fi. Wi-fi allows the DS200 to work with Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect and TIDAL Connect - and the machine is also Roon Ready, and carries Roon Tested certification. 

Getting the converted analogue information out again can be done using the pair of unbalanced RCA sockets, or the pair of balanced XLRs - and this is where I get to discuss what I think is an omission. Both pairs of analogue outputs can be configured to fixed or variable level, which means the DS200 is an ideal candidate for use as a pre-amplifier in conjunction with a power amp. Or, at least, it would be if it had any analogue inputs - but as it stands, it’s not capable of being a full-system pre-amp. Why on Earth not? It’s not like there isn’t room in the box for a phono stage, say, or even a line-level pass-through. It’s a missed opportunity. 

Sound quality

After this discussion of sound quality, I’m going to spend a bit of time grumbling about how living with the McIntosh DS200 isn’t all it might be. I flatter myself that these will all be valid observations - but when you hear what the DS200 is capable of as part of a sympathetic system, I can’t deny it’s quite easy to overlook operational and aesthetic shortcomings. 

In the simplest terms, this McIntosh is a thrillingly complete, staggeringly informative and straightforwardly satisfying way to listen to digital audio content. Pander to it with big high-resolution files or try to rile it with compressed poverty-spec Spotify stuff, it makes no difference - the DS200 is unflappable. It performs on its own terms, and they are very agreeable terms indeed. 

If you’re not familiar with ‘the McIntosh sound’, the sight of the DS200 might lead you to expect something forceful and perhaps even blunt - but this streamer is deftly naturalistic, with an absolutely superb tonal balance. From the top end to the bottom, it’s even and convincing, with the sort of neutrality of tone that lets a recording express itself rather than be subjugated by the electronics that are producing it.

This even-handed tonality and nicely balanced frequency response is enhanced no end by the sheer amount of detail the McIntosh is able to extract, reveal and conextualise. No matter how minor or how transient an episode in a recording, the DS200 pounces on it and gives it exactly the weighting it requires. Broad dynamic shifts are handled with casual authority, and the more nuanced dynamic of harmonic variation in a voice or an instrument are attended to faithfully too. This deep-breathing potency doesn’t mean the DS200 is short of subtlety, either - it has a manoeuverability and a lightness of touch that makes every tune sound alive. 

Obviously low-frequency presence is considerable, and the McIntosh hits with the sort of purpose that serves to complement the amount of textural variation it can reveal. The straight-edged attack and carefully observed decay of bass sounds means it expresses rhythms with real positivity, and the midrange eloquence above it is equally gratifying. The soundstage the DS200 creates is large, almost three-dimensional in the right circumstances, and is always rigorously controlled. Despite the space and elbow-room on the stage, though, the McIntosh unifies recordings until there’s an almost tangible sense of performance and togetherness to its presentation.    

Living with the McIntosh DS200

You’ll need to find a bit of space - at 152 x 445 x 432mm (HxWxD) the DS200 is larger than it needs to be, and the usual McIntosh aesthetic of glowing green Gothic script, piercing blue display and black glass fascia does nothing to mitigate the bulk. 

That glass faceplate is a magnet for fingerprints, and it covers a dot-matrix display that looks more appropriate for a pocket calculator than it does a high-end streamer costing big money. When alternatives costing a fraction of this price offer bright, crisp album artwork and what-have-you as a display, the DS200 looks quite remedial to be honest.

There are control buttons along the bottom of the front panel, covering major playback controls, power on/off, Bluetooth pairing and the option to scroll through the rather esoteric information McIntosh thinks you might want to have displayed on that inadequate dot-matrix arrangement. They operate with a nice positivity - and the same is true of the little remote control handset that’s provided in the box. The rotary/push controls on either side of the display, though, feel a little imprecise and not especially well-implemented - and along with display between them, they conspire to make the DS200 look and feel a slightly less premium proposition than the asking price suggests it must be.  

Conclusion

The McIntosh DS200 is a game of two hi-fi halves if ever there was one. It’s unnecessarily large, isn’t quite finished to the sort of standard we’ve all come to expect from audio equipment at this sort of money, has a display it frankly should be ashamed of, and somehow avoids being useful as a full-system pre-amplifier. And then it turns out to be one of the most absorbing, thrilling and satisfying ways of enjoying digital music around. 

Sample tracks

Blawan Close the Cycle
Terse and glitchy, in the wrong hands this recording can sound like a call-centre having a panic attack - but the DS200 has all the control, authority and full-range frequency response to make sense of it

‍Sonic Youth Kool Thing
The McIntosh finds the perfect tonal balance to make this grimy, hectic head-rush sound just as queasy as it’s meant to. Superb midrange resolution only adds to the nastiness

‍Warren Zevon The Hula Hula Boys
Typically smooth and typically acerbic, this slice of Warren Zevon sarcasm is just as much ‘grit’ as it is ‘pearl’, and the McIntosh makes both sides of the coin apparent

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You buy a McIntosh DS200 because you're after as clean, open and invigorating a description of your digital audio content as possible, because you're not afraid to spend big to achieve it, and because you think a modern display on a modern product is some kind of bourgeoisie affectation

You could, of course, pair your DS200 with one of the admirable McIntosh amplifiers we’ve reviewed at sound-advice.online - but even though something like the MA7200 is a fine device (and the only way you’re going to get a harmonious look from your madly expensive audio system), it doesn’t make absolute sense. You’re doubling up on digital-to-analogue circuitry, for starters, and unless you listen in a very large room you’ll discover that two McIntosh stereo products are a lot more space-hungry than you might have been anticipating. No, I quite like the idea of pairing the DS200 with the Naim Supernait 3 integrated amplifier, even though it’s lacking balanced inputs - it’s the anti-McIntosh where appearance is concerned, but it shares the DS200’s preoccupation with direct, unequivocal and utterly articulate sound. And then I’ll attach a pair of Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature loudspeakers - I used Naim amplification and these very speakers for a lot of my DS200 listening, and I think it’s fair to say they get on like a house on fire.