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McIntosh CS7500: High-End Streaming, Simplified

By Joe Finn

High-res music streaming has been an audio game changer. Even dedicated audiophiles use high-res services like Qobuz, Tidal, and Spotify Lossless, since you can play any song, anytime. But with LP’s and CD’s, there is no question about who owns that music; you do!  Thus, both physical media and streaming music have their advantages. 

Let’s look at the latest product from McIntosh, the CS7500, and see if it makes sense for you. CS7500 is an all-in-one stereo streaming preamp. It combines flagship streaming from the McIntosh DS200 with their C49 analog preamp functions and plentiful connections, in a chassis that includes the iconic McIntosh blue meters. It’s even got home theater bypass, so you don’t need to separate home theater and two-channel systems. 

The single-chassis approach takes less space and is simpler than a separate preamp, streamer, phono preamp, and headphone amp. Just add a power amp and speakers. It also makes it easy to trade up to better speakers later and upgrade the amp. Keep your CS7500, and just upgrade your power amp: simple! Having your low-level preamp and streaming electronics in a separate chassis from the heat-generating power amp aids longevity, too. 

McIntosh has been building products in the USA since 1949. They powered the legendary Woodstock festival and the Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound. Resale value is great. If you own a “Mac”, you’ll probably be passing it on to your children. McIntosh luxury finishes (black glass with the green logo, polished stainless steel, the iconic blue meters) all add to the pride of ownership as well. 

The CS7500 supports the streaming platforms most folks want — Apple Airplay, Google Chromecast, and Bluetooth.  It also offers hi-res services like Qobuz Connect, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, all without needing a separate McIntosh app — go direct from your smartphone. It’s Roon ready for our Roon clients, too. 

Great streaming requires an excellent digital-to-audio converter, or DAC. The CS7500 features an 8-channel, 32-bit DAC running in quad balanced mode. That means four channels per side are summed into stereo, for wide dynamic range and low distortion. The sound is detailed, but background noise is kept low.

Let’s look at this unit’s sound, and at the analog preamp functions. The C49 preamp that the CS7500 is based on can’t quite equal the McIntosh C12000, their $19,000 flagship, twin-chassis preamp. But it offers a lot of what that product does.

We might describe the McIntosh sound as clear and detailed, but also smooth. Some may want even warmer, richer sound; others want even more detailed sound. But some detailed electronics can make poor recordings sound BAD. McIntosh preamps are so popular in part because they do a good job of straddling that fine line between smooth and detailed sound. 

The phono preamp in particular is excellent. It supports both moving coil and moving magnet cartridges, and helps get the most from almost any cartridge. Why? You can customize to your cartridge: capacitance, resistance, and phono gain are all adjustable. The CS7500 also uses a linear analog power supply, not a switch-mode power supply. This lowers the noise floor for a more enjoyable musical experience. 

The CS7500 back panel reveals loads of connectivity, with 13 total inputs. Six are analog: two are balanced; three are RCA, for your CD player, tuner, or other analog source; plus the previously mentioned moving coil or moving magnet phono input. 

There are also seven digital inputs: two coaxial, two optical, plus one HDMI ARC input, so your movies and TV shows sound great. You also get one USB input, and one MCT for connecting to a McIntosh SACD player. Most digital outputs are restricted from outputting high-res data from an SACD. The MCT lets you hear your SACD’s in full resolution, somewhat like an i2S connection.

Five analog outputs are included: one balanced pair to your power amp, and yes, we recommend using balanced cables if you can. There is a second balanced pair for subwoofers, plus 3 RCA output pairs. Two pairs have variable output. The third has fixed output, so you have choices based on what you’re connecting to. 

The Home Theater PassThru mode sends the front L/R channels from your HT processor untouched to your amp and speakers. That keeps life simple, as you don’t need a separate 2-channel system. You can use the same sources for both. 

McIntosh has been strong with their headphone amps for many decades. The CS7500 headphone output is compatible with a wide range of headphones, up to 600 ohms. McIntosh CrossFeed technology also lets you change the spatial image to your taste.

We love putting everything a modern stereo system needs into one simple chassis: preamp, high-res streaming, phono preamp that adjusts to almost any cartridge, and headphone amplifier.  Just connect the right power amp for your speakers, and enjoy the music!  We look forward to getting our demo units in September, and we hope to see you at one of our locations soon. Please reach out with any questions you may have: ask@gramophone.com.  Thank you for spending time with us today.