Here at Audio-T Swindon we carry a wide range of Hi-Fi products, none the less it would be an understatement to say that we were a little more than excited when Matt Peddle from Fine Sounds UK visited us to show us some McIntosh amplifiers and Sonus Faber loudspeakers.

McIntosh and Sonus Faber

McIntosh Laboratory, founded in 1949, is an American manufacturer of high-end audio equipment, based in Binghamton, New York. Known globally for offering distinguished home audio systems brandished with their iconic blue Watt output meter.

Sonus Faber, founded in 1983, is an Italian manufacturer of high quality, handcrafted loudspeakers which are quickly becoming a favourite throughout many of our stores.

McIntosh - MA352 & MA12000

There are three Hybrid design integrated amplifiers in the McIntosh range and we had the chance to listen to two of them - The MA352 and MA12000. So what does Hybrid mean? Well, put simply they combine a vacuum tube preamp and a solid state power amp and wow do they look good.

Blue and Green should never be seen?

The iconic blue VU meters and green glowing McIntosh logo and valves are visually stunning, They hit your eyes straight away and we certainly like it. Now we know this won’t be to everyone’s liking, luckily the VU meter backlights lights and the green LEDs under the tubes can be switched off as well as the overall display can be dimmed.

McIntosh MA12000 integrated amplifier - 17 inputs ( 10 analog &7 digital ) plus MC/MM phono stage on board

Just to give you a quick idea of what we are dealing with here - The MA12000 offers 350W per channel and due to McIntosh’s Autoformer technology, this is guaranteed whether the speakers have 2, 4 or 8 Ohm impedance - This allows your Hi-Fi system the control it needs to play music at the highest quality. Unlike many contemporary amplifiers, the MA12000 features a details 8-band EQ for tonal control as well as built-in Moving Magnet/ Moving Coil phono stage.

McIntosh MA352 Hybrid integrated amplifier

The next amplifier in the range is the MA352. This little beast sits below the MA12000 and looks stunning but in an entirely different way, offering a slightly stripped back experience. The power output is rated at 200W per channel into 8 Ohm or 320W into 4 Ohm speakers giving enough power to drive most loudspeakers. It features a MM phono stage, 5-band EQ and a built-in headphone amplifier. Obviously it features the iconic VU meters for that retro style of output monitoring.

McIntosh MA352 - Moving Magnet Phono Stage is built in

Sonus Faber - Olympica Nova 3

Previously we listened to the Sonus Faber Olympica Nova1, a two-way monitor that impressed us with both its build and sound quality. On this occasion we had a chance to listen to the bigger Olympica Nova 3 and we couldn’t wait to set them up.

The asymmetrical shape of the cabinets looks great and the aesthetically pleasing integrated slotted reflex ports on the rear, run all the way down the speakers to allow the ports to be aimed inside or outside, depending on your room.

Listening

For the audition we used a Bluesound music streamer and a Linn LP12 Akurate and were incredibly happy with what we heard. It’s safe to say that both amplifiers and the speakers are a brilliant pairing that work really well together. A truly fantastic performance with bags of detail, detailed timing and controlled bass. Wow, we could really go on and on but we think you should really contact your local branch to see about trying them out yourself.

Thanks for reading - Stefan & Andy - Audio-T Swindon

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Sonus faber can be found at the following Audio-T stores