My wife and I celebrated our 25th anniversary last year and she surpised the heck out of me by getting me a McIntosh MX119 preamp and a McIntosh MC205 amplifier, I really don’t deserve her. Saying I was excited would be the understatement of the year. I really and truly couldn’t believe what she had done. I have been lusting after McIntosh equipment for as long as I can remember, but I never thought I would have some of my own. She did get the equipment used and apparently got a heck of a deal, I guess she had been looking for nearly a year before she finally found a deal she couldn’t pass up.

You will either hate or love the looks of McIntosh equipment, I have always loved the look. The subtle green backlit lettering, the full front glass faceplate, blue LEDs and those big classic McIntosh knobs just ooze pure class to me. With McIntosh equipment it’s so easy to feel the quality, their equipment is rock solid, and the build quality is second to none. Moving these around isn’t easy, the MC205 weighs 81 pounds and the MX119 tips the scales at 27 pounds. Picking one of them up you can’t help but be impressed.

Of course looks and feel aren’t the important part of audio equipment, what counts is the sound. Let me tell you, these guys sound amazing. Granted they replaced an aging Marantz receiver but the sound this McIntosh combo puts out is heaven to the ears. The level of sound this combo puts out is on a completely different level than I have ever experienced, they make B&W speakers sound better than I thought they could. This is the way movies are meant to be heard!

The McIntosh MX119 has plenty of inputs, more than I will probably ever use. It has 8 analog inputs, 7 video/S-video inputs, 7 composite inputs, 1 pair of stereo balanced inputs and 3 component inputs. It also decodes tons of different audio formats, Dolby Digital EX, DTS ES Descrete, Pro-Logic IIx and DTS Neo:6 are all covered. About the only thing that it is missing is HDMI but I am not worried about that, my projector can’t accept HDMI and I don’t plan on replacing my projector for a very long time.

There really isn’t much I can say about the amp. It’s extremely solidly built, looks fantastic (I just love those three blue meters on the front) and sounds better than anything I have ever had the pleasure of listening too. One nice feature on all McIntosh amps is their Power Guard technology. The Power Guard technology continuously monitors your amps distortion levels and if you should happen to have the volume a bit too high and push the amp to the point of distortion the Power Guard circuit will keep the distortion level below 2%. This is pretty much seemless and the only way I have ever noticed this kicking in is by the light that blinks on the amp when the circuit kicks in. It’s a nice piece of technology that will save many speakers from imploding.

I have a feeling the McIntosh Mx119 preamp and MC205 amplifier are going to be in my family for generations to come. They were easily the best present that anyone has ever given to me and I still thank my wife for them on a regular basis. I sure got myself a a keeper in her, not only does she tolerate my home theater obsession, she shares it and encourages it!