McIntosh with Klipsch Palladium P17B

@djmika 

Thanks for posting, do you have any opinion on the Mac MB-50 streamer? I use Play-Fi around the house and was thinking about that unit. Thanks

Kota - 

Honestly, I don't have much experience with Play-Fi. As an integrator by trade, we tend to take a little different approach for whole-house music systems. As for Mac, I've never NOT liked anything digital they've done. Their DACs have always been quiet and smooth sounding. I don't necessarily agree with their stance on MQA but that's another story. I suspect this unit is no different. That said, it is out of production and limited to dealer's stock on hand if you want a new unit. I'm not yet aware of a direct replacement. 

I just did a cursory search for Play-Fi "transport" devices you could use with a McIntosh DAC. Finding one new that'll work in a Hi-Fi system seems a little difficult these days so if Play-Fi is important to you, I think I'd call around and try to find an MB20 soon!

Micah

@djmika 

Thanks, I already have a bluesound node and a pardigm link (which I use as a playfi transport) and a Sony TAZH1ES dac. The MB50 can be found preowned for around $1500 and I could use it as either a transport, a dac, or a pre. I was thinking about just getting one at a good deal to compare.

@kota 1

I say go for it. If you don't like it, you can always resell for minimal or no loss. That is an advantage of McIntosh, though I suppose a little less so compared to amplification.