McIntosh MT5

Ginormousthumbs said:
Are there any members who own the MT5? Curious about performance. What else is needed to pair it with. Current cost, etc etc.
For me, this is my dream table to own. Thanks for any responses.
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I used to own it. It’s not cheap . I don’t know your country , but MSRP is around $6500-$7000 USD I believe .
It’s extremely well built, looks absolutely beautifully and sounds beautiful as well, but and this is a big but ........get rid of the stock Sumiko BP2 that comes with it. It’s not up to par with the rest of the TT and brings it down a notch .
I fitted it with a Hana cartridge ........ their top of the line( I forget which one...... I’m writing this at 4:15 AM lol )

McIntosh was smart in outsourcing the MT5 to Clearaudio and thus the Partial re-badge TT is Made in Germany to McIntosh Specs/Querks. It’s one of the very few McIntosh products that is not made in the USA, but in this case it’s certainly a Plus! Clearaudio knows what they are doing when it comes to TT’s ...... you just gotta swallow their prices and accept it.

I loved the MT5 so much that I stayed in the family and upgraded to the McIntosh MT10 :)

Do you have other McIntosh Gear? What’s your whole system?
 
Tanqueray said:
I used to own it. It’s not cheap . I don’t know your country , but MSRP is around $6500-$7000 USD I believe .
It’s extremely well built, looks absolutely beautifully and sounds beautiful as well, but and this is a big but ........get rid of the stock Sumiko BP2 that comes with it. It’s not up to par with the rest of the TT and brings it down a notch .
I fitted it with a Hana cartridge ........ their top of the line( I forget which one...... I’m writing this at 4:15 AM lol )

McIntosh was smart in outsourcing the MT5 to Clearaudio and thus the Partial re-badge TT is Made in Germany to McIntosh Specs/Querks. It’s one of the very few McIntosh products that is not made in the USA, but in this case it’s certainly a Plus! Clearaudio knows what they are doing when it comes to TT’s ...... you just gotta swallow their prices and accept it.

I loved the MT5 so much that I stayed in the family and upgraded to the McIntosh MT10 :)

Do you have other McIntosh Gear? What’s your whole system?
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My current system is nothing mind blowing and I’m assuming that I will need to upgrade my current receiver which is a Marantz 2220b.
Current speakers are Pioneer SP-FS52.
At this point, I’m basically window shopping but would like to know what it would take once I’m ready to take that leap.

Thanks for your help 😊
 
Ginormousthumbs said:
My current system is nothing mind blowing and I’m assuming that I will need to upgrade my current receiver which is a Marantz 2220b.
Current speakers are Pioneer SP-FS52.
At this point, I’m basically window shopping but would like to know what it would take once I’m ready to take that leap.

Thanks for your help 😊
Click to expand...

Your welcome . If you wanted to stay somewhat more “Balanced” within your current system and you still wanted a McIntosh TT there is the MT2 which is still a good TT and a lot less $$$ then the MT5 ........ although I recommend a phono stage upgrade or Amp upgrade for yourself to bring out the best in the TT.
 
dbstunkel said:
Hello @Tanqueray have you had any experience with the MT5 and soundsmith Needles? I have the Concept MC ClearAudio on my MT5 and was looking for an upgrade. Thoughts?
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I do have experience with Soundsmith Cartridges, but I did not put them on my MT5 when I had it . …….. I will come back to your question soon, seems I have a fever 🤒 now and I’m feeling sickly 🤢 …… pills 💊 and bed for me.
 
First time caller here. Found this (now rather old) thread as I'm considering upgrading my deck. I currently have the MA8900 integrated amp and a Rega P3 with a Hana EH cart. I know I should just upgrade to a better cartridge (not thrilled with how it handles the high end), but I probably shouldn't expect much as that's their cheapest model.

That said, I am considering investing in the MT5 and doing my cartridge upgrade at that time (to I have no idea what at this point), but one thing that give me pause is the fact that this turntable is nearly 10 years old and due for a new version I'd think. My googling has not turned up any news about future planned editions of the MT5, but they did it to me by releasing the 8950 with the 2.0 version of their DAC (yes, I can upgrade my DAC, but it's not free, and moving that unit is a major pain). There appear to be other updates as well.

I guess the point is, I'd rather not invest in this turntable only to have a new model come out six months later. Anyone have any inside baseball on planned updates to this model?
 
Reynolds617 said:
First time caller here. Found this (now rather old) thread as I'm considering upgrading my deck. I currently have the MA8900 integrated amp and a Rega P3 with a Hana EH cart. I know I should just upgrade to a better cartridge (not thrilled with how it handles the high end), but I probably shouldn't expect much as that's their cheapest model.

That said, I am considering investing in the MT5 and doing my cartridge upgrade at that time (to I have no idea what at this point), but one thing that give me pause is the fact that this turntable is nearly 10 years old and due for a new version I'd think. My googling has not turned up any news about future planned editions of the MT5, but they did it to me by releasing the 8950 with the 2.0 version of their DAC (yes, I can upgrade my DAC, but it's not free, and moving that unit is a major pain). There appear to be other updates as well.

I guess the point is, I'd rather not invest in this turntable only to have a new model come out six months later. Anyone have any inside baseball on planned updates to this model?
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Have not seen any info on new McIntosh turntables. With the intro of the MT2 in 2018, the line is likely complete for a while, IMHO.
 
Angsty said:
Have not seen any info on new McIntosh turntables. With the intro of the MT2 in 2018, the line is likely complete for a while, IMHO.
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I agree . I don’t really see any reason for them to change it …….. but who knows …… McIntosh in the last cpl years has been putting out new products at a speed that’s surprising for them .
 
What is notable is that the McIntosh Group was recently acquired by Highlander, a private equity investor. McIntosh Group also is a distributor for Pro-Ject. The MT5 is a collaboration with Clearaudio. I think it would be safe to guess that any foreseeable future turntable for Mac would be a Pro-Ject collaboration, not one with Clearaudio.

That does not necessarily portend that the MT5 will be discontinued soon and even if it was, McIntosh would likely support it for decades.

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I really had lofty goals 2 years ago. I mean I really loved the look of the 5 and HiFi Guy said it was a supped up Clearaudio table and I moved on. Plus I’m not sure if I could ever fork over the cash for it.
 
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