Two unbalanced RCA style jacks for sources. The inputs are limited on the back, you have a phono stage with ground. When in design courses, I always used minimalist approaches to appearance myself. I am not a fan of systems with 100 buttons and knobs. The headphone out is a nice addition as well.
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The right knob is your power and volume and the left is your input selector, navigator. The front panel is basic, there is a small screen, two knobs and a headphone jack. If that is important to you, you may look at some other options. I will say the amp has some tube tone to it, but not nearly like you will find in a tube only amp. Ours was paired to Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3, you can see that review here. That is plenty of power for many speaker options out there. The solid state amp puts out 100 watts into 8 ohms and 160 watts into 4 ohms. The power amplifier is done through solid state.
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While I did not spend a ton of time looking, there does seem to be some options out there for tube rolling this unit. The implementation is the preamp is tube powered, 12Ax7a and 12At7 tubes to be exact. The amp is a hybrid, meaning it uses tubes and solid state amplification. I know there are people that have two channel theater setups and enjoy them, if that is you, this may be a good product for both situations. That is to say, this is for music, at least by design. I personally have three, two channel setups of different levels. This is strictly a 2 channel integrated amplifier, if you are looking for multi channel, you will want to look elsewhere. McIntosh MA252 – Hifi Chicken McIntosh MA252 Features Is it worth it? That is what we plan to get into. Don’t get me wrong, 3500 bucks is a lot of cash for a Hybrid amp, but not a lot for a McIntosh one. The McIntosh MA252 is somewhat an exception to this rule.
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There is certainly a barrier to entry into this game. One other thing McIntosh is know for is their price. While there are plenty of boutique amp builders out there that may offer something better, it is hard to find a better off the shelf solution. McIntosh is considered by many to be one of if not the best in the realm of amplifiers.