McIntosh MC312 Audiophile Stereo Power Amplifier

Prepare yourself for years and years of musical enjoyment with the MC312 Power Amplifier. A 300 Watt per channel stereo amplifier, the MC312 is a great choice to power virtually any home audio system. The full 300 Watts can be delivered to almost any speakers regardless if they have 2, 4 or 8 Ohm impedance thanks to our unique Autoformer^™ technology.

The MC312 has received numerous improvements compared to our previous 300 Watt stereo amplifier. Most notably is that filter capacity has been doubled, which increases dynamic headroom an impressive 27% from 1.8dB to 2.3dB. This increase means the MC312 will be even better suited to handle wide dynamic swings in your music. Distortion prevention and bass performance also benefit from the increased filter capacity.

While still looking very much like a McIntosh, the MC312 has received some key design updates. Direct LED backlighting now illuminates the front panel for improved color accuracy. The audio output Autoformers still straddle the power transformer, but are now located in new enclosures that are capped by a single cover containing glass inserts that show the wiring diagram for each transformer.

Other updates include the addition of our Monogrammed Heatsinks^™ and our eco-friendly power management system. Numerous circuit components and internal wiring have also been upgraded. Balanced and unbalanced outputs have been added to enable bi-amping or tri-amping your speakers; they can also be used to connect to a secondary system if your preamplifier doesn’t have enough connections, or to connect a powered subwoofer.

The MC312 sits on a beautiful polished stainless steel chassis and features the timeless McIntosh black glass front panel, illuminated logo, control knobs, aluminum end caps and a pair of fast responding blue Watt meters.

Features

• Power Guard^® that monitors and adjusts the input signal at the speed of light and makes real time adjustments to prevent harsh sounding and potentially speaker damaging clipping
• Sentry Monitor^™ - our fuse-less short-circuit protection circuit that disengages the output stage before current exceeds safe operating levels and then resets automatically when operating conditions return to normal
• Power Control to send power on/off signals to other connected McIntosh components (such as CD Players, turntables, tuners and media streamers) for easy system power up and shutdown
• Our patented Solid Cinch^™ speaker binding posts that easily but securely attach the speaker cables to prevent them from coming loose and possibly causing a short; the binding posts are also gold-plated to prevent corrosion and ensure a quality signal is sent over your speaker cables

Specifications

• Power Output per Channel

  300 Watts @ 2, 4 or 8 Ohms

• Number of Channels

  2

• Total Harmonic Distortion

  0.005%

• S/N below rated output

  Balanced: 120dB
  Unbalanced: 118dB

• Dynamic Headroom

  2.3dB

• Damping Factor

  >40 Wideband

• Rated Power Band

  20Hz to 20kHz

• Frequency Response

  +0, -0.25dB from 20Hz to 20,000Hz
  +0, -3.0dB from 10Hz to 100,000Hz

CONTROL

• Remote Power Control

  Yes

• Multi-Channel DB25 Cable

  No

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Circuit Configuration

  Push-Pull Complementary

• Circuit Design

  Solid State

• Mono Bridge

  No

• Mono Parallel

  No

• Output Type

  Autoformer™

• Meters

  Yes

• Meter Light Switch

  Yes

• Balanced Input

  2

• Front Panel

  Glass

• Illumination

  Direct LED 

• Chassis Style

  Polished stainless steel & black painted steel

CONNECTIVITY

• Speaker Binding Post Type

  Yes, New Style McIntosh

WEIGHTS & DIMENSIONS

• Unit Dimensions (W x H x D)

  17-1/2" (44.45cm) x 9-7/16" (23.97cm) (including feet) x 22" (55.88cm) (including front panel, handles and cables)

• Unit Weight

  105 lbs (47.63 kg)

• Shipping Weight

  138 lbs (62.59 kg)

Support

• Datasheet
• Manual