McIntosh MT5 Precision Turntable REVIEW

McIntosh has been in the audio game since 1949 and has become a favorite amongst many audio icons such as Bob Weir, Brian Wilson, and many others. Being one of only six dealers for the brand, we at Gramophone are excited to show you everything McIntosh has to offer. So let's dive in and see how the MT5 Precision turntable holds up to that wonderful McIntosh heritage alongside its little brother, the MT2 and its big brother the MT10.

0:00 Intro
0:20 About McIntosh and the MT5
1:06 Servo Based Speed Control
1:18 Stainless Steel Brush Motor
1:27 Acrylic Silicon Platter
1:31 Magnetically Suspended Ceramic Bearing
1:41 Duraluminum Arm
2:00 Tracking Angle, Azimuth, and Anti-Skate Adjustment
2:04 Sumiko Bluepoint 2 Cartridge
2:33 Dimensions of the MT5
2:53 McIntosh Design Aesthetics
3:34 DC Power
3:40 Unbalanced RCA Outputs with Added Ground
3:47 Price & Final Thoughts
4:03 Come See Us At Gramophone!
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[ReubenAsh]

Never saw such a beautiful piece of McIntosh ❤ great review 😊

[HB]

I have this, the cartridge isn't great, but there are several 2k upgrade options that really bring this to life.

[littlejoe]

Is it an overly bright treble sound in this TT ?

[unklecorky]

Would this pair well with a Luxman 507 MK2?

[steelyerface]

Any ideas on what that shelving rack the table was on over the amp is. Looks really nice!?

[felixfranzen]

This turntable has received rave reviews all over the place. The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Gear Patrol and countless hifi publications have given it a perfect score and called it everything from ""The turntable of the gods" "among the best turntables on the planet". The price is around $7500.

Meanwhile MacIntosh themselves state that the wow and flutter of the MT5 is "0.15% - 0.20%" and that signal-to-noise ratio (or rumble) is 36dB - 41dB. This level of performance would have been considered abysmal 50 years ago. That AR-XA achieved 0.07% wow and flutter in 1963 and it was not considered high end. A Technics SL-1200MK2 (introduced in 1979) had 0.025% wow and flutter, and signal-to-noise ratio of 78dB. You could buy a brand new MK2 for 600 dollars in 2016.

How this turntable could be considered good is beyond me and for the price it's ridicolously bad. You can buy a second hand budget direct drive from brands like Denon, JVC, Technics, Sony or Pioneer for 100-200 dollar in close to mint condition. Tables that will have wow and flutter at 0.03 percent, and SNR of 65-70dB.

[bareknucklesu]

More of an advertisement than a "review."

[danc]

I believe the the MT5 is made in Germany.

[downhillman]

Lmao sooo much dust on the record and stylus