McIntosh’s three turntables, side by side. Here are the MT5 and its two siblings on either side and their specifications, showing what your money buys at each step.

The long read.

The MT5 is the middle McIntosh turntable, and the one where the engineering steps up noticeably from the MT2 without reaching the price of the flagship MT10. It brings a magnetically suspended platter, a servo-controlled DC motor and a more sophisticated tonearm, and it ships on a genuinely capable moving-magnet cartridge. It is the deck for the listener who is serious about vinyl and wants room to grow, because like the MT2 it responds clearly to the two upgrades that matter most: a better cartridge and a dedicated phono stage.

Brief product overview

A belt-driven turntable with a magnetically suspended ceramic platter bearing and a servo-controlled DC motor with stainless steel brushes for stable, quiet speed, playing 33⅓, 45 and 78rpm. The tonearm is a dural-aluminium design on magnetic sapphire and ceramic bearings, with an eccentric counterweight and adjustment for vertical tracking angle, anti-skate and azimuth, more scope than the MT2 offers. The platter is illuminated for the signature McIntosh glow, and a dust cover is included. As standard the MT5 is fitted with the Sumiko Amethyst, a high-output moving-magnet cartridge with a nude line-contact diamond stylus and a 2.5mV output, well regarded for performing close to a moving-coil at its price. Tracking force, anti-skate, overhang and arm height are preset at the factory, though fitting a new cartridge will require realignment. There is no built-in phono stage, so the MT5 connects to a phono input or an external phono stage.

How it sounds

On the supplied Amethyst the MT5 is solid, clear and rhythmically assured, with a quiet background from the magnetically suspended platter and the temporal grip that has earned it strong reviews. The Amethyst punches above a typical moving-magnet, so the standard deck is no mere starting point. That said, the turntable’s mechanical quality gives it more to offer than any moving-magnet fully reveals, which is why a moving-coil upgrade pays off so clearly, adding resolution, image focus and low-level detail while keeping the deck’s composed, grippy character. Worth knowing: the suspended platter makes the MT5 sensitive to footfalls on a springy floor, so a solid, isolated support matters.

Cartridge upgrades

The MT5 leaves the factory on the Sumiko Amethyst, so the upgrade path starts from a higher point than the MT2’s. We suggest two moving-coil upgrades.

The Sumiko Starling is the natural in-house step up: Sumiko’s flagship moving-coil, with a long-grain boron cantilever, a nude Micro-Ridge stylus and pure copper coils, a 28-ohm generator and 0.5mV output. It keeps the Sumiko family voice while lifting resolution and dynamics well beyond the Amethyst, and being a true low-output moving-coil it needs a phono stage with proper MC gain and loading.

The Hana Umami Red is the reference-level upgrade: a duralumin body, a samarium-cobalt magnet, a boron cantilever and a micro-ridge stylus, with a low 6-ohm impedance and 0.4mV output. It asks more of the phono stage and the setup and rewards them with greater delicacy, air and a more clearly organised soundstage.

Phono stages

With no phono stage in the MT5 and both suggested cartridges being moving-coil, a capable outboard MC phono stage completes the upgrade. We suggest two.

The McIntosh MP100 keeps the system in the family: a versatile stage handling both moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges with adjustable loading, and a natural, tidy partner for the Sumiko Starling.

The Moonriver Audio 505 Hybrid is the more ambitious choice, a hybrid design that suits the more resolving Hana Umami Red, bringing a touch of warmth and body beneath the cartridge’s detail. It is the step up for a listener chasing the last degree of performance.

What we’d partner it with

Any amplifier with a phono input, or either phono stage above into a line input, will complete the system. The MT5 partners naturally with McIntosh integrated amplifiers such as the MA5300 or MA8950, and with amplifiers from Rega, Naim, Primare and Moonriver that offer or match a phono stage. For cartridge alternatives beyond the two above, Ortofon, Hana, Sumiko and Audio-Technica all offer moving-coils we stock; for phono stages, Pro-Ject, Rega and Fezz Audio sit alongside the McIntosh and Moonriver as alternatives.

On cabling, a good tonearm cable and interconnect are worth having; AudioQuest and Chord are the cable brands we stock.

Who shouldn’t buy it

If you want the flagship platter, the more advanced arm and the higher ceiling of the top McIntosh deck, the MT10 is the next step and worth hearing before you commit. If you only ever play the occasional record, the standard Amethyst is more cartridge than you strictly need, and the moving-coil upgrades are for listeners who will use the resolution. And if your floor is springy and cannot be isolated, the suspended platter’s sensitivity to footfalls is worth considering before you buy.

Both systems replace the MT5’s supplied Amethyst with a moving-coil cartridge and a matching phono stage, one a considered step up, the other a reference-level upgrade. Both are systems we would run ourselves.

Setup notes: The MT5 arrives with tracking force, anti-skate, overhang and arm height preset on the supplied Amethyst, but fitting either moving-coil upgrade means realigning the cartridge and setting tracking force, VTA and azimuth to suit; the arm’s adjustments make this possible, but it is a job worth doing carefully or having the dealer do. Because the platter is magnetically suspended, place the deck on a solid, level, well-isolated support away from the speakers and avoid springy floors where you can. There is no phono stage inside, so route the deck to a phono input or through one of the outboard stages above.

Warranty & service: McIntosh components carry a warranty when bought from an authorised dealer; service is handled through the UK distributor. The cartridge is a wearing item; the stylus has a finite life and can be replaced or retipped.