Thread: Mp100

Anyone ever tried one of the MP100 phono stages?

I was just reading on it. What intrigues me is that it has both MM and MC inputs that appear as if you can have both hooked up and select between them. With my two turntables I thought this might be a nice way of handling it versus getting a separate phono stage for the Technics table if I decide to improve on the one built in (which is actually fairly surprisingly solid).

The digital output is also intriguing. This might be nice to record some of the vinyl albums to take on my portable. I am sick of MP3 download cards... yuk. The onboard A/D converter can create a 24 bit 96 Khz recording from the albums. (With the use of software such as VinylStudio which is mentioned in the McIntosh manual).

My biggest concern is how would it compare to my SimAudio NEO 310LP? Would they be comparable or will it fall far short? Obviously the intangibles are in the McIntosh favor being from my home town, also being able to be used with both tables and having the digital converter.

I am thinking maybe buy the baby SimAudio for the Technics. It should be a nice improvement over the built in one. The MP100 is $2000 and no one is budging on price more than a little bit. I don't think I am willing to go that much and then have to go through the grieve of selling the remarkable SimAudio NEO 310LP, and dealing with used gear buyers ....

The MP100 has some impressive things going on in comparison to the Sim phono. The Sim only has one input and all the adjustments are internal which is a PITA. The MP100 has two inputs, one for mm cartridges and the other for mc cartridges. And yes, all your settings for each input are on the front panel including the selector switch to switch between inputs. This makes your life much easier when you are dialing in the settings for your cartridges.

The MP100 also has the feature of sending out a digital version of the LP so it can be recorded which is of interest to you. The SIM has more gain for low output mc cartridges if that is something you need or are interested in. They both have really good s/n ratios and the comments on the MP100!talk about it being super quiet. Which one sounds better? Who knows.

Thanks MEP. You pretty much touched on all the points that I had been thinking. Internally is a PIA for sure, but don't really change it often. I have read some good things and some not so good things about the MP100. The digital thing would be nice but not the top most important thing. McIntosh is the most intriguing thing to me being where I grew up.

I am thinking I don't want to deal with the pain of selling another piece and think I want to settle for a bit. The Technics has a decent phono stage built in but I am thinking something like the SimAudio 110 might be a nice relative step because I do believe the SimAudio NEO 310LP is probably better than the MP100 for the MC cartridges. One big thing is the gain. The MM gain at 40 db on the McIntosh is decent but the MC of 60 db is really low in comparison. The 310 has 72 db gain on the XLR outputs. I dropped that a bit lower the other night and it was a pretty big difference. I think the Ania Pro has fairly low output also.... soooo, man if my guy at Music Direct could have dropped the price a bit more I might be interested. But, I think everyone is afraid of Mc pulling their franchise. I know their mark up also and it is pretty solid compared to some brands.

One other small concern on the McIntosh is it is limited in adjustments. But yes, they are handy on the front, but it has a single adjustment for the MM and another for the MC input. The 310 has the full adjustment from Capacitance Load, Resistant Load, EQ Curve, and Gain.

Selling used gear is usually a hassle unless it’s not very big and it’s in demand in the used market.

Originally Posted by mep

Selling used gear is usually a hassle unless it’s not very big and it’s in demand in the used market.

Yup, and now that I am finally clear of all that BS not sure In want to jump back in. I was offered a trade on my SimAudio but it was not even close to where I would seriously consider it. I mean we are talking a current model, with full manufacture everything, in perfect shape and MSRP is about the same. Also I would consider it more of an audiophile phono stage.

I think best to stick there and just grab their wonderful little guy for the secondary table , and honestly the built in one for the Technics is not an embarrassment with the Audio-Technica VM740ML cartridge!

Well I came across a deal on a pre-owned MP100 so I took the plunge. It sounds good and I really do like the convenience of one phono stage for both tables. It seems like a very nice unit. Have not tried recording to digital thing yet.

Selling the other items is the usual pain, of course. The small cheap pieces sold (even though the usual pain customers making dumb offers). The NEO 310LP is still up for sale and have had a couple enquiries, but you know how it goes. Great phono stage and at what I am offering it for a fantastic deal in my view. It will eventually sell. I hate the whole used market thing though .