McIntosh MT5 turntable

Building on the success of the MT-10 turntable, Mc Intosh is back with a more affordable and smaller product: the Mc Intosh Turntable 5!

It uses all the brand's signature features, namely the LED-lit crystal front panel, the rotating controls and chrome unit! It is complimented by an acrylic platter with green LED back-lighting! You will either love it or hate it! In any case, Mc Intoch welcomes you into its over half a century old exclusive realm! One selector enables you to choose between (33, 45 and 78 RPM) and the other operates the motor.

The belt-driven system operates with a low friction DC engine controlled by a controller and an oscillator for minimised wow. The platter and its ceramic bearing are relieved by magnetic repulsion (CMB). The 9" tonearm has a duralumin tube and hybrid sapphire/ceramic bearings. The anti-skate weight acts on the tonearm magnetically. The MT5 turntable comes as standard with the great Sumiko Blue Point N°2 cartridge. It is a high output moving coil cartridge. It is perfectly compatible with all MM phono preamplifiers and phono inputs (47 kOhms). An acrylic dust cover and record clamp are available as standard and without option! You won't be fooled by its origins … could it be assembled in the USA?! Though its parts are made in Europe! …

As far as I'm concerned, it's beautiful and perfectly consistent with the brand's product line. For best results with this MT5, we recommend adding a good quality phono cable. The choice of Sumiko may strike you as odd, but the result is great and perfectly consistent. Reproduction is punchy, quick and precise. The level of detail is particularly amazing. It draws the information from the groove with incredible ease. The timbre quality is also quite impressive. I think that the qualities and capabilities could be improved by using a higher end cartridge. The tonearm can take on a high-end cartridge any time! When you listen to this perfectly balanced system, you will let yourself be surrounded by the music, completely oblivious to the CD player and DAC!

An industry benchmark!

AWARDS:

WHAT HI-FI?