Mcintosh mvp851 schematic

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. [phone]
fax [phone]
www.mcintoshlabs.com

SPECIFICATIONS

F

www.guidetohometheater.com

Electronically reprinted from September 2003

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