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rom the early 1950s through the mid-’60s,
almost every doctor, lawyer, and chief audio
enthusiast had McIntosh products in their
home-entertainment systems. Together with
Marantz, McIntosh ruled the American highend audio market.
Times change. By the mid-’70s, McIntosh
was fighting for its share of the high-end
audio market, surrounded on all sides by a
host of new high-end audio startups, many of
them among today’s major players, others
long gone. But in 1990, Clarion Corporation
purchased McIntosh, and with an infusion of
cash and talented personnel, the company
began to turn around. In the past 13 years,
McIntosh has continuously improved and
refined their products, to the point where they
have rejoined the handful of elite companies
whose products define high-end audio and
home theater.
The MVP851 DVD-Audio/Video player represents McIntosh’s first foray into the world of
full-featured DVD-A players. Whether “MVP”
stands for “most valuable performer” or
merely “McIntosh video player” remains to be
seen. Let’s take a bite of the latest fruit from
McIntosh’s orchard.
The Core
The MVP851 can handle DVD-Audio, DVDVideo, DVD-R, Video CD, CD-R/RW, MP3, and
standard “Red Book” CDs. Only SACDs won’t
pass through its circuits. Burr-Brown 24bit/192kHz D/A converters and built-in Dolby
Digital and DTS decoders provide the
MVP851 with optimal analog audio.
For CDs, the MVP851 includes a special
digital remastering circuit that upsamples
44.1kHz CDs to 88.2kHz. It also redithers
them to achieve a longer digital word length
to simulate the sound quality of DVD-Audio.
With its three different remastering settings,
the listener can choose the exact amount of
upper-frequency extension preferred.
The MVP851’s video circuits include a 12bit, 54MHz video D/A converter and frontpanel-switchable 480i/480p component
output. Regardless of what kind of disc you
play, the digital servomotor, the fast and quiet
platter mechanism, and the dual-focus lens
make for quick disc reads. Options for field- or
frame-selected still images, five-speed scan,
and variable slow-motion speed ensure that
freeze-frames and slo-mo pictures will be
clear and jitter-free. For playing back lessthan-perfect sources, McIntosh includes
several noise-reduction circuits. Basic NR can
DVD-AUDIO/VIDEO PLAYER
Stereophile Guide to Home Theater • September 2003
McIntosh MVP851
Steven Stone
MVP851 DVD-Audio/Video player
Formats: DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, DVD-R,
CD, Video CD, CD-R/RW, MP3
Onboard decoders: Dolby Digital, DTS
Analog audio outputs: 1 pair stereo
balanced (XLR), 1 pair stereo single-ended
(RCA), 1 set single-ended 5.1 (RCA)
Digital audio outputs: 1 coaxial, 1 TosLink
Video outputs: 1 set component (RCA),
1 S-video, 1 composite (RCA)
Frequency responses: DVD: 4Hz–88kHz
(192kHz sampling rate on DVD-A); CD:
4Hz–20kHz.
Signal/noise: 115dB
Dynamic range: 103dB
THD: 0.002%
Dimensions: 17.5" × 5.375" × 15" (W×H×D)
Weight: 20 lbs
Price: $3600
Manufacturer
McIntosh Laboratory Inc.
2 Chambers Street
Binghamton, NY 13903-2699
tel. (607) 723-3512
fax (607) 724-0549
www.mcintoshlabs.com
SPECIFICATIONS
F
www.guidetohometheater.com
Electronically reprinted from September 2003
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Stereophile Guide to Home Theater • September 2003
be accessed from the front panel, while the
onscreen display menu lets you access more
sophisticated filters with different levels of 3D
digital noise reduction.
The MVP851’s rear panel leaves plenty of
room for connecting cables. Unlike many
DVD players, the MVP851 has only one set of
S-video, composite, and component outputs.
If you need to feed multiple systems of the
same type from an MVP851, you’ll have to do
so through an external video distribution
amp, an option most professional installers
will encourage—such devices can drive long
runs of video cable far better than any DVD
player.
The remaining output options include one
set of 5.1-channel analog audio, one pair of
single-ended audio, one pair of XLR balanced
audio, optical TosLink digital audio, and
coaxial digital audio. Again, some installations may be cramped by so few outputs, but
I suspect that reviewers and other devotees of
A/B comparisons are the ones who will be
most bothered by the lack of redundant
outputs. Of course, if the MVP851 is coupled
to a McIntosh A/V processor, such as the
MX134 pre-pro or MHT200 receiver, its
output connections should prove quite sufficient—the MVP851 was designed with just
such a mate in mind.
Like the many McIntosh components
before it, the MVP851’s front panel is a shiny
black glass face with green backlit labels—the
classic design looks just as elegantly au
courant now as it did when first introduced in
the late ’50s. Symmetrically arranged buttons
line the panel’s lower edge, and although the
front panel lacks a jog/shuttle control, all
other critical controls are present. Even the
Power switch, usually found on a high-end
component’s rear panel, sits on the MVP851’s
front, right next to Standby/On. Besides standard Play, Pause, Stop, FF/Next, Back/Rev,
and Open/Close buttons, the MVP851 has ReMaster, MPG DNR, and Progressive/Interlace.
Putting the P/I switch on the front, along with
a small red LED to indicate which scan mode
is engaged, makes life much easier. Being able
to tell at a glance whether the player is outputting an interlaced or progressive signal
saves a lot of aggravation during setup. McIntosh understands: ergonomics count.
Although it’s based on a Panasonic RP91
chassis (except for the platter mechanism and
video board), everything on the MVP851 has
been replaced with proprietary McIntosh circuits. Instead of Panasonic’s stock digital
switching power supply, the MVP851 uses a
massive R-core power transformer—the same
kind of transformer used for power amps. This
level of technical overkill reappears throughout the MVP851’s interior. With its top-quality
parts and elegant circuit designs, the MVP851
represents McIntosh’s thinking on what it
takes to make the ultimate DVD player.
Many a fine DVD player is tripped up by a
bad remote control, but the MVP851’s is
among the best I’ve used. Not only does it
light up at the push of a button, its topography
is logical and easy to use. A centrally located
jog/shuttle control divides the remote’s real
estate in half, the more frequently used
M cINTOSH MVP851
Page 3
buttons above, the chapter and mode buttons
below. The remote had excellent range—
rarely did I have to push a button more than
once to achieve the desired effect.
Scrapple from the Apple
Using the MVP851’s basic setup menus, you
can adjust all the standard settings: aspect
ratio, black level, audio output level, channel
balance, speaker size, rear-channel delay, and
still mode. The bass-management crossover is
fixed at the THX standard of 80Hz, and listening tests indicated that it functions on the
DVD-Audio outputs. Other critical picture
adjustments are found in a separate Display
menu: sharpness, contrast, brightness, color
intensity, tint, gamma, progressive transfer
mode, video processing mode, high sharpness, edge sharpness, vertical sharpness, and
three types of noise reduction (3D, block, and
mosquito).
All of this is similar to the feature set found
on current-production Panasonic players.
Having reviewed a few Panasonic-based
players, SGHT Editor Tom Norton assures me
that this arrangement can become second
nature. Still, first-time users of the MVP851
will spend some time scratching their heads
and turning pages in the owner’s manual as
they negotiate its ins and outs. I wish all controls were in a single menu.
Speaking of the manual, it’s far better than
many I’ve seen, but it’s not perfect. It doesn’t
fully detail all of the MVP851’s features,
including the player’s ability to remember an
individual disc’s settings—a significant attrib-
ute. The MVP851 can remember the complete
setup parameters for 200 movies. For especially well-mastered movies, such as Sony’s
Super Bit Map version of The Fifth Element,
the MVP851 can retain your preferences for
Fine picture detail and no noise reduction.
When you watch mediocre video transfers
such as Xena: Warrior Princess, it can invoke
maximum noise reduction and a bit of edge
enhancement, and it will remember your settings years later. How cool is that?
Taking a Big Bite
The MVP851’s video performance didn’t disappoint: Its 480p output equaled that of any
player I’ve seen. Only the more expensive
Meridian 598 DVD-A player ($5595) and the
EAD DVDMaster 8000 Pro DVD-A player
($5900) could match the Mac’s performance.
But unlike the EAD, whose Adagio video
board permits very little in the way of adjustments, the MVP851 lets you adjust the picture
for each disc.
On test patterns from the Video Essentials
and Avia test DVDs, the MVP851 had sufficient acuity to resolve even the highest frequencies on test patterns. The challenging
Snell & Wilcox moving Zone Plate test looked
exceptionally clean, with no sparkles of extraneous color or motion artifacts. Although the
MVP851 did exhibit some stair-step jaggies on
the fluttering American flag in VE’s “Montage
of Images,” the slow pan across the stadium
seats in the same segment had almost no
motion anomalies.
The 720p output of Faroudja’s NR video
processor produces a sharper picture, but the
MVP851 equaled it in terms of motion
control, color neutrality, and lack of decoding
artifacts. When compared to the EAD DVDMaster 8000 Pro, the MVP851 was able to
produce a slightly better picture because I
could subtly adjust its sharpness, brightness,
color saturation, and gamma—not possible
with the EAD.
Comparing the MVP851 with the Meridian
598 was difficult. After an hour of going back
and forth, I could discern no differences in
the picture qualities of these players. Perhaps
the MVP851 had a slight edge in motion-artifact control, but the Meridian’s picture
exhibits a smidgen less noise. Bottom line:
Both delivered a 480p image of exceptionally
high quality.
The MVP851 performed beautifully as a
CD and DVD-Audio player. A/B comparisons
with the C.E.C. TL 2 CD transport, EAD DVD-
Stereophile Guide to Home Theater • September 2003
M cINTOSH MVP851
Sources
Toshiba SD-9200 DVD-A player
C.E.C. TL 2 CD transport
EAD DVDMaster 8000 Pro DVD-A player
Display
SIM2 Sèleco Millennium 800 CRT projector
Preamp-Processors
Lexicon MC-12
Meridian 568.2
Power Amps
Pass X-3
EAD Powermaster 8000
Bryston PowerPac 120 (2)
Speakers
Dunlavy SC-VI
Dunlavy SC-IV (center)
Dunlavy SC-1AV (rears)
Dali MS 4
Dali CS 4 (center)
Dali RS 3 (rears)
Cables
Interconnect: AudioTruth Diamond X-2, Discovery
Plus-4, Monster M1000I, Synergistic Research
Designer’s Reference
Speaker: Synergistic Research Resolution
Reference, Monster M-1.2 S
Video: VideoQuest S-1 S-VHS, VSB-1
RCA/coaxial
Misc.
Monster AVS 2000 voltage stabilizer
Monster Power Center 5000 power conditioner
PS Audio Power Plant 300 power conditioner
Camelot Technologies Dragon 5.1 DVD
interface box
REVIEW SYSTEM
Page 4
Master 8000 Pro DVD-A player, and Meridian
598 DVD-A player left me with several pages
of listening notes filled with little more than
praise. Through their digital outputs, all four
players produced soundstages of similar
dimensions from CDs as well as Dolby Digital
and DTS discs. The C.E.C. had a bit better
depth though the Lexicon MC-12 preampprocessor, but this may have been a result of
its AES/EBU digital output connection,
which the other three lack. Coupled to the
Meridian 568.2 A/V processor, the Meridian
598 produced slightly more depth and
realism, but the home-team advantage of
Meridian’s digital upsampling and Meridian
High Resolution (MHR) Smart Link connection, which keeps the DVD-A signal in the
digital domain from player to processor,
could have accounted for its supremacy in
this setup. I suspect that if I’d had a McIntosh
audio processor, the MVP851 would have
reigned supreme. When all things are nearly
equal, as they were with these fine players,
you can’t discount the effects of synergistic
component mating.
Through its analog outputs, the MVP851
displayed stellar sound—only the EAD DVD-
Master 8000 Pro produced an analog output
in the same league. The Meridian 598 was out
of the running, because the unit I have has no
analog output. The Toshiba SD-9200’s analog
output sounded mechanical and 2-dimensional compared to the MVP851 and 8000
Pro. Listening to the EAD through the Lexicon
MC-12 put it at a slight disadvantage, since its
balanced XLR outputs had to be converted to
single-ended RCA via adapters. But even with
this handicap, the EAD produced a somewhat warmer harmonic balance and richer
overall tonality than the MVP851. The McIntosh had a slightly more matter-of-fact harmonic presentation with less euphonic
ambience.
My preference between these two players
varied depending on the source material.
Lush-sounding DVD-A recordings such as
Faith Hill’s Cry (Warner Bros. 48001-9)
sounded more timbrally “correct” through
the MVP851, but the Grateful Dead’s Ameri-
can Beauty (Rhino R9 74385) produced a
more musically pleasing, harmonically richer
result through the EAD. Through the Meridian 568.2 A/V processor, both players’ analog
outputs paled in comparison to the Meridian
598 DVD player’s Smart Link connection. The
598’s superiority was not subtle. Through the
Meridian combo, DVD-As sounded immediate, detailed, dimensionally palpable, and
much more emotionally involving. At the end
of that listening session, I prayed to the audio
gods that I might live long enough to see a
time when all DVD-Audio players come with
digital connections.
As American as Apple Pie
I know it’s a guy thing, but I can’t help comparing fine home-theater components to
expensive automobiles. Meridian’s 598 DVD
player reminds me of an Aston Martin V-12
Vanquish, EAD’s DVDMaster 8000 Pro feels
like a Shelby AC Cobra, and the McIntosh
MVP851 evokes images of a Cadillac El
Dorado. Like the Cadillac, the McIntosh
defines classic American style with its timeless
looks, ergonomic elegance, and solid feel. Also
like the Cadillac, the MVP851 offers excellent
performance for less than the other choices. If
you have a hankering for a first-class DVDVideo/Audio player that performs effortlessly,
the McIntosh MVP851 could become the
apple of your home-theater eye.
M cINTOSH MVP851
McIntosh Laboratory, Inc.
2 Chambers Street, Binghamton, NY 13903-2699
607-723-3512 / 800-538-6576
www.mcintoshlabs.com
For the Consumer’s Protection: In order to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction, “new” McIntosh products may only be purchased over-thecounter or delivered and installed by an Authorized McIntosh Dealer. McIntosh products that are purchased over the Internet, by phone or mail order are
presumed to be “used” and do not qualify for any McIntosh Warranty. McIntosh does not warrant, in any way, products that are purchased from anyone
who is not an Authorized Dealer or products that have had their serial number altered or defaced.
Posted with permission from the September 2003 issue of Stereophile Guide to Home Theater ® Copyright 2003, PRIMEDIA Inc. All rights reserved.
For more information about reprints from Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, contact Wright’s Reprints at 877-652-5295
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