McIntosh MA352 Integrated Amplifier

The McIntosh MA352 is McIntosh’s mid-tier Hybrid Drive integrated amplifier — pairing a vacuum tube preamplifier stage (with exposed 12AX7a and 12AT7 tubes in a stylish glass cage) with a 200-watt-per-channel solid-state power amplifier. The Hybrid Drive concept combines the smoothness and stereo imaging of vacuum tubes for mid and high frequencies with the punch and power of solid state for low frequencies — the best of both technologies in a single, all-analog chassis.

The exposed vacuum tubes atop the MA352 are more than a signature aesthetic; they are the preamplifier stage, and their soft blue glow makes the tube contribution to the sound visible. The 200W-per-channel solid-state output stage delivers 200W into 8 ohms or 320W into 4 ohms, protected by McIntosh’s Power Guard clipping protection, Sentry Monitor output protection, and Monogrammed Heatsinks. An all-analog design (no digital inputs): six analog inputs, a five-band analog equalizer, and Bass and Treble tone controls.

At LMC, the MA352 anchors Tempe Room 1 — paired with a Linn Akurate DS as the digital source, driving Sonus faber Olympica Nova V loudspeakers with Nova II bookshelf pair. The audition is the honest demonstration of what the Hybrid Drive integrated delivers in a real listening system: the tube preamplification character sitting in front of substantial solid-state power, driving a loudspeaker whose scale and voicing the MA352 was designed for.

At $8,000 in current McIntosh pricing, the MA352 is available for audition at the Tempe showroom in the Room 1 configuration. The MA352 is for the listener who appreciates the sonic combination of tube preamplification with solid-state power — the same architecture used in the MA12000 flagship and MA252 entry, at a mid-tier price point. Walk in during business hours or book ahead.