Greetings friends, I hope you are enjoying 2023 so far! 

I am for sure, and part of my enjoyment for 2023 is the arrival of the Mactone MH-120 amplifier and XX-440 line preamplifier from Japan, courtesy of Steve Mishoe at In Living Stereo, in New York City. 

Mactone is a revered high-fidelity audio brand in Japan, a brand that I have always been curious about, but have never had the opportunity to listen to until now.

Mactone is less well known in the USA than some other Japanese audiophile brands, but given what I'm hearing from the MH-120 amp and XX-440 line preamp combo in my primary music system, I'd say these are components that you'll definitely want to audition - they sound gorgeous! More about my initial listening impressions will come in a not too distant future article. 

Here's some information from Steve about Mactone: 

"Mactone was founded in 1964. For the next 60 years, we specialized in manufacturing vacuum tube audio amplifiers. Mactone has continuously manufactured vacuum tube amplifiers longer than any other company in Japan."

"We believe that it is impossible to create an amplification system that produces sound closest to a live performance without a vacuum tube based circuit. A properly designed tube based circuit allows for hours of fatique free  listening. In order to realize good sound, Mactone has designed unique proprietary circuitry that pushes the envelope of performance for vacuum tubes. Our tube amplifiers and single-stage preamplifiers, are assembled and adjusted by hand without using cheaper printed circuit boards." 

"Mactone has always focused on improving sound quality with research and development, and has developed its own circuit configuration. Also, when designing output transformers, including power transformers, we clarify the interrelationship between the circuit and the output tube, and determine the optimal winding method and core quality that improves sound quality. Moreover, all circuits are point to point wired by hand. In addition, third-order distortion, which adversely affects the tone, is extremely low in vacuum tube circuits compared to semiconductor designs." 

"We believe that negative feedback in tube preamplifiers negatively affects performance. Mactone preamplifiers are non-feedback designs." 

Here's some information from Steve on and the MH-120 amp and XX-440 line preamp:

"The retail price for the XX-440 line stage preamp is $11,500 USD, and the MH-120 amp is $13,500 USD."

"The MH-120 is rated at 65 W (push-pull) and has a 3 position presence knob. The far left setting is flat and offers the best detail, the middle setting has slightly less bass for more excitable rooms and the third setting has an attenuated treble for brighter rooms." 

I'll have much more to tell you about the Mactone MH-120 amplifier and XX-440 line preamplifier here at Jeff's Place in the near future, and in the full feature article for Positive Feedback in due time.

I'm really impressed with what I'm hearing from the Mactone combo right now. Gorgeous tone and musicality! Max-tone!

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!

You can read the next article in the Mactone series HERE.