McIntosh MA-230 (c. 1964–1965)
Little is documented about the McIntosh MA-230 beyond its 1964–65 advertising window. What the record shows: it was a solid-state stereo control amplifier — a combined preamplifier and power amplifier in one chassis, and one of McIntosh's solid-state offerings during a period when the company still sold tube models alongside. Audio (June 1964, p.45) ran a McIntosh ad listing the MA-230 at $349.00, with an optional cabinet at $25.00, describing it as a dual 30-watt amplifier.
McIntosh's own campaign, repeated in Audio (September 1964, p.55), pitched the MA-230 as a way to bring fuller, livelier sound to an existing stereo system, and quoted a favorable response from the American Record Guide — the full review is not in this archive. By March 1965, Audio (March 1965, p.47) still listed the MA-230 among current McIntosh stereo amplifier/preamp models, alongside the C 22 tube preamp, the MC 240 tube power amp, and the MR 71 tuner — a reminder that McIntosh kept tube and solid-state lines running side by side in that era.
Beyond those scattered advertisements, no independent test report, schematic, or production data has surfaced in this archive. The MA-230 remains one of those McIntosh models more often glimpsed in period ads than understood in detail.
- Type: solid-state stereo control amplifier (preamp + power amp)
- Power: dual 30-watt output per period advertising
- List price: $349.00; optional cabinet $25.00
- Advertised circa 1964–1965
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