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Technical Description
McIntosh Laboratory, the company who introduced
the world’s first amplifier that could be called “High
Fidelity”, has done it again. The McIntosh engineering
staff has created a tube power amplifier without com-
promise, using the most advanced McIntosh circuit
design concepts.
A continuous average power output rating of 300
watts makes this not only the most advanced, but also
one of the most powerful tube amplifiers McIntosh
has ever manufactured. The distortion limits for the
MC2301 are no more than 0.5% at rated power output
for all frequencies from 20Hz to 20,000Hz. Typical
performance at mid frequencies is less than 0.05%.
The MC2301 can deliver the best possible perfor-
mance from any type of high quality loudspeaker
system.
Creating a tube amplifier with this level of perfor-
mance did not come easily. Many months of design,
testing and measuring were required. Extensive con-
trolled listening tests, the ultimate form of measuring,
were made before the final design was accepted.
MC2301 Design
The design philosophy incorporated in the MC2301
involved several different techniques, all based on
sound scientific logic. Every stage of voltage ampli-
fication must be as linear as possible prior to the use
of negative feedback. McIntosh engineers know how
to properly design negative feedback circuits so they
contribute to the low distortion performance expected
from a McIntosh amplifier. Refer to figure 12. The
typical McIntosh owner would never accept the ap-
proximately 25 times higher distortion of many non-
feedback designs.
The fully Balanced Push-Pull design is used from
input to output. The resulting fully balanced con-
Top View of the MC2301
