McIntosh’s integrated range moves in clear steps rather than small ones. Here are the three closest amplifiers and their specifications, showing what your money buys at each step.

The MA2375 is McIntosh’s first all-vacuum-tube integrated amplifier in over a decade, and it sits apart from the rest of the integrated range. Where the MA252 and MA352 are hybrids, valve preamplifier, solid-state power, the MA2375 is valves throughout, twelve of them, from input to output. It is not the most powerful integrated McIntosh makes, and it is emphatically not the most connected; it has no DAC and no streaming. It is the amplifier for the listener who wants the full character of a tube power stage, the glow and the sound, in a single box built around analogue sources and efficient speakers.

Brief product overview

An all-analogue integrated amplifier with a vacuum-tube preamplifier and a vacuum-tube power amplifier. The power stage uses four KT88 output tubes and four 12AT7 drivers for 75 watts per channel, and the preamplifier uses two 12AX7A and two 12AT7 tubes. McIntosh’s Unity Coupled Circuit output transformers deliver the rated power into 4, 8 or 16-ohm loudspeakers. Power Guard, here using Screen Grid Sensor technology, monitors current in real time and reins the input in before distortion, protecting the KT88s; Sentry Monitor provides fuseless output protection. Connectivity is analogue only: three unbalanced and two balanced line inputs, and a universal phono input configurable for moving-magnet or moving-coil with adjustable gain, capacitance, resistance loading and RIAA, which makes it a genuinely capable vinyl amplifier. There is a five-band analogue equaliser, a mono subwoofer output, an unbalanced preamplifier output and a High Drive headphone amplifier with HXD. The tubes sit illuminated in a protective cage between the dual blue watt meters, the chassis is polished stainless steel behind black glass with the green-lit logo, and it is built in Binghamton, New York, where they have been building them since 1949.

How it sounds

This is the McIntosh integrated for people who want the amplifier itself to shape the sound. The all-tube signal path gives the midrange the warmth, body and dimensionality that draw listeners to valves, and the Unity Coupled output transformers keep the presentation controlled rather than loose, so it has character without vagueness. Seventy-five watts is modest on paper, but the Unity Coupled design delivers it fully into 4, 8 or 16 ohms, and with efficient speakers it goes a very long way. Against the hybrid MA252 and MA352 the difference is the power stage: those use transistors for grip and control, where the MA2375 stays valve throughout for more of the tube character and a little less outright iron-fisted control. What it will not do is drive large, insensitive, low-impedance speakers to high levels in a big room; that is not its brief, and a solid-state McIntosh integrated is the amplifier for that job.

What we’d partner it with

This is a low-power tube amplifier, so sensitivity is what matters most in a speaker. We pair it with the Klipsch La Scala AL6, a fully horn-loaded floorstander of around 105dB sensitivity, which turns the MA2375’s 75 watts into effortless dynamics, the classic tube-and-horn combination. Strong alternatives from brands we carry are the Klipsch Cornwall IV, the Fyne Audio Vintage Twelve and the Klipsch Forte IV, all high-sensitivity designs that suit a valve amplifier; efficient stand-mounts and floorstanders elsewhere in the Klipsch Heritage and Fyne ranges work well too.

For vinyl, the configurable moving-magnet and moving-coil phono input means a turntable connects directly with no outboard stage. We suggest the Pro-Ject Signature 10, a flagship deck the amplifier’s phono stage can do justice to; a Clearaudio Performance, a Rega Planar 8 or a Technics SL-1500C all partner well, with the phono input set to the cartridge.

Because the MA2375 has no DAC, digital needs a source that brings its own conversion. We suggest the McIntosh DS200, a streaming DAC that feeds the amplifier over its analogue outputs and matches it in styling; an Aurender or HiFi Rose streaming DAC does the same job.

On cabling, use a well-made speaker cable of appropriate gauge for the run, terminated properly at the binding posts; AudioQuest and Chord are the cable brands we stock.

Who shouldn’t buy it

If you want digital inputs and a DAC built into the amplifier, the MA2375 has neither, and the solid-state MA7200 or the hybrid MA352 route with an added streamer will suit you better; here you must add an external DAC. If your speakers are large, insensitive or drop to a low impedance and you want high levels in a big room, 75 tube watts will run short, and a solid-state McIntosh integrated with more power is the answer. And if you want the tube character but also transistor grip in the bass, the hybrid MA252 or MA352 gives you valves in the preamplifier and solid-state in the power stage.

Two opinionated systems we’d build around the MA2375 — the source and speakers we’d actually run ourselves.

Setup notes: The MA2375 is a valve amplifier and runs hot, so give the tubes clear air above and around them, keep the protective cage in place, and do not shut it into a closed cabinet. At switch-on allow the tubes to warm through before critical listening. Connect your speakers to the output tap that matches their impedance, 4, 8 or 16 ohms, which is where the Unity Coupled flexibility comes from. Remember there are no digital inputs, so plan for a source that brings its own DAC, such as the DS200. The blue meters and tube illumination can be dimmed or turned off from the front panel and remote, worth knowing before it goes in a room used at night.

Warranty & service: McIntosh components carry a three-year parts and labour warranty when bought from an authorised dealer. The valves are a serviceable item; ask the UK distributor about tube life and replacement. Service is handled through the UK distributor.