MHA200

The McIntosh MHA200 is a vacuum tube headphone amplifier with balanced and unbalanced connections for use with a wide range of headphones and home music systems. Its compact design allows it to be placed close to the listening position, while balanced audio cables can connect it to source components over longer distances without fear of signal loss.

The amplifier section uses a pair of 12AT7 and a pair of 12BH7A dual triode vacuum tubes. The 12AT7 tubes amplify the incoming audio signal, while the 12BH7A tubes provide the power to drive the headphone output with low distortion. A pair of McIntosh Unity Coupled Circuit output transformers connects the tube amplifier section to the headphone output. This technology dates from McIntosh's foundation in 1949 and is also used in the MC275 and MC1502 full-size home audio vacuum tube amplifiers. The MHA200 shares several physical design traits with these amplifiers.

Its headphone connections comprise a pair of 3-pin balanced XLR connectors for dedicated left and right balanced output, a 4-pin balanced XLR connector for balanced stereo output, and a 1/4" stereo headphone jack. Source components can be connected through 1 set each of balanced and unbalanced inputs.

The Unity Coupled Circuit transformers provide 4 headphone impedance ranges at 500mW: 32 – 100, 100 – 250, 250 – 600, and 600 – 1,000 Ohms. The LOAD knob selects the appropriate range for the headphones. McIntosh custom designed and manufactured the output transformers to match the tube amplifier section to the headphone output section, supporting power transfer across different headphone loads. Their secondary windings make the full power of the MHA200 available regardless of headphone impedance, without adapting to the load through voltage gain in the input stage.

A custom formed toroidal power transformer has low mechanical hum and a low magnetic field, helping to reduce electrical noise and provide clean power to the amplifier. The VOLUME knob allows the MHA200 to connect directly to a source with fixed volume output, without requiring a preamplifier for volume control. With a source that has variable volume output, set the VOLUME knob to the centre Unity Gain point and control the volume from the source component.

The McIntosh MHA200 has a custom formed stainless steel chassis with a polished mirror finish, designed to show the glow of the vacuum tubes. A vintage die cast aluminium McIntosh name badge is fitted to the side. Power Control input and output connections allow the amplifier to switch on and off with connected McIntosh components, including pre-amplifiers, CD players, turntables and media streamers. A protective vacuum tube cover is included.

Dimensions: 6-1/8" (15.6cm) wide x 9-1/8" (23.2cm) deep