McIntosh MCD 7009

[braxus]

Well I talked to Gordon today and the amp I was wanting to get did get sold. So that left me with a credit I still have with them. I noticed they had this Mac CD player there. I didn't think much of it at the time I first saw it there, but I read reviews on it today and it apparently has a very analog type of sound. This would be perfect for making recordings from as I don't think one could get a better sound from CDs then this unit for the money spent. So I told Gordon to hold the unit for me and I'll pick it up tomorrow. Im well aware of the quality of Mac units, as I was looking at their MC275 amp for a while, plus their MCD 201 and 301 SACD players, and the 220 preamp. This is my first time getting a Mac unit, so Im hoping to be surprised. It uses an older 20 bit D/A converter with 8x oversampling. Not exactly new tech, but Im sure it sounds good. When I get it home tomorrow, I'll post some more.

[braxus]

Well I got the CD player home. It just neatly fits into the spot in the rack I put for it. Its a heavy unit, so its well built. I tried it out briefly and it doesn't quite sound as sharp as some cheaper players, so that may be a good thing. One thing I wish it did have is a headphone jack. Sometimes I like to listen to CD without using the stereo, so direct from the player would be prefered. I guess I'll use the preamp for that. I listen some more later. Here are some pics of this beauty. This is my first Mac.

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=20093&d=1302917673

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=20094&d=1302917673

http://www.tapeheads.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=20095&d=1302917673

[braxus]

I had the chance to listen to the player today. Im like wow! This is definately a very "analog" sounding CD player as other suggest. It comes close to sounding like SACD discs. It has really good timing of notes, and voice presentation is excellent. The voices sound very natural like they are in the room. I can hear the decay of strings while guitars are playing. The high end is smooth smooth smooth. No edgy sound I typically hear with CD music. The high end may very slightly be rolled off giving a more natural sound and more presentation to the midrange where it counts. If I can hear all this on my lowly system, I wonder how the player would really perform on an optimum system. Dynamics aren't quite as punchy as I've noticed, but it could be the amp Im running and not the CD player. The natural-ness of the sound is what this player does well. I guess this is what makes a Mac a Mac. Since the technology in this player is from 1995, being 16 years ago, Im really interested in hearing what todays Macs can do with digital music. I may just have to save some pennies and get that 301 SACD player everyone raves about. I dont expect that time will be anytime soon or even next year. Im really wondering now how that D/A converter in that Rotel tuner will sound compared to this. Its new tech, but somehow I don't think it will quite compare.

[Rat44]

Nice.
Seems Macs have the most 'analog' sound regardless of architecture.
Will you be trying it with a DAC ?

[braxus]

Nice.
Seems Macs have the most 'analog' sound regardless of architecture.
Will you be trying it with a DAC ?

Yup. Late this year Im hoping to get the Rotel digital server/ tuner they sell. It has a digital unput I was planning to put the CD player into. Thing is after hearing the Mac, I doubt the Rotel will best it. I'll wait though till I get it before I come to any conclusion.

[Squank]

Enjoy!
Looks very robust and beautiful...now I'm tempted...*sigh*

[braxus]

Its a good sounding player. Someone mentioned this model is rather sedate in its sound, which explains the soft sound I mentioned about. Soft in the sense of no edginess and being very analog. They mention the new 301 and 500 are more crispy sounding, but still analog.

[braxus]

I had the cover lid off the player to snap some pics for the stereo shop, since the lights in this unit don't seem to be working. Can anyone confirm the 4 connectors I pointed to are in fact bulb connectors? Anyway it seems pretty robust in there. The CD tray with clamp are pretty heavy duty. I noticed on the audio board there were Sony chipsets in there. So it must be a Sony D/A converter? The funny thing was the transformer. It looked those old school transformers they use in tube amps. No toriodial tranformer in this unit.

[Socal Sam]

I had the cover lid off the player to snap some pics for the stereo shop, since the lights in this unit don't seem to be working. Can anyone confirm the 4 connectors I pointed to are in fact bulb connectors? Anyway it seems pretty robust in there. The CD tray with clamp are pretty heavy duty. I noticed on the audio board there were Sony chipsets in there. So it must be a Sony D/A converter? The funny thing was the transformer. It looked those old school transformers they use in tube amps. No toriodial tranformer in this unit.

Congrats Braxus. According to:

http://www.dutchaudioclassics.nl/the_complete_d_a_dac_converter_list/

The MCD7009 has a Philips TDA1547 which was is a successor to the famous TDA1541. The TDA1541 has a cult following.

Also according to the site, you may have a Sony KSS-151A laser which was used in lower line Sony ES players in the late Eighties. This means that cheap donors are available if MAC wants too much.

BTW, typical MAC to cover up with tape everything they buy in.

[braxus]

If I remember right, the Luxman D-105u used the KSS 152 laser assembly and there is litterally no stock left on these anywhere. There were substitutes by Toshiba and another- but they may be hard to get today. That said I don't think my laser assembly is going (yet). I still need to get a remote for this unit. Down the road in a couple years I may consider getting the MCD 301 or 500.