New from US company McIntosh Laboratory is the D100, a £2995 DAC/preamp with five digital inputs including USB, and offering a choice of fixed or variable analogue outputs.
Sharing the characteristic McIntosh styling with the company's forthcoming MT5 turntable, the winner of one of our Stars of CES 2013 Awards last month, the D100 is compact by the company's usual standards, at just 10cm tall.
It has four S/PDIF digital inputs – two optical, two electrical – capable of handling signals up to 24-bit/192kHz, and an asynchronous USB input on a Type B connector for computer hook-up, compatible with audio at up to 192kHz/32-bit.
It uses an eight-channel 32-bit/192kHz digital to analogue converter, run in quad balanced mode for wide dynamic range and low distortion, and has separate sets of balanced XLR and RCA phono outputs for fixed and variable output level. A high quality headphone amplifier is also included.
The D100 can be used directly into a power amplifier, or combined with one of the company's preamps or AV controllers, in which case power control and data ports enable remote communication between the two.
Handbuilt in McIntosh's factory in Binghamton, NY, and distributed here by Jordan Acoustics, the D100 will make its UK debut at this weekend's Bristol Sound & Vision Show.
Click here for our guide to what to see at the Bristol Show