Clarion is an Pacific Rim company that bought out McIntosh at one point - although they no longer own it. Its more true to say that the DRZ and its Asian market counterparts use McIntosh designs in their units... and perhaps were primarily designed by McIntosh engineers... since IIRC they are all made overseats and McIntosh doesn't have overseas facilities to my knowledge. so perhaps you could say this. I'd heard that the transport was identical in the DRZ to the McIntosh models but can't confirm this. Clarion essentially incorporated the best of the McIntosh philosophy, theory and design, then added processing capabilities that McIntosh has never included in its car audio offerings, probably due to their - straight wire with gain general philosophy on how to do things.

I suspect that the miniaturization and manufacturing capabilities of Clarion - coupled with the increased need for processing in the car audio market are what inspired this project and the result was a unit that has survived the test of time as a solid piece of very high end gear that allows a mobile audio buff the opportunity to incorporate a fairly high level of tuning capabilities into their system, without the need for an additional processor, a laptop computer to program it and with the ability to make changes on the fly.

Having owned one for quite some time, I found it to be a great little head unit that packed a lot into a small space and yet didn't sacrifice quality in any important area. In fact, I'm strongly considering going back to the DRZ for its sheer simplicity (once you get used to the UI.)

Hi, My name is Less and I'm an McAddict!

 

Hi Less, Thanks for the information. I'm planning on purchasing this hu for my McIntosh amps and dynaudio 240 esotar 2-way in a 1995 M3. I see your running that hu with mac amps? Is it a nice combo?

 

Yes. Running the 9255 to your McIntosh amps is a good pairing.

It allows you to get the most out of your amps as the components used in the 9255 and the amps meshes very well. This allows for you to optimize the McIntosh amps capabilities and get the most out of the amps.

It maximizes the SQ sonic signature of the HU and amps. These two sonic signatures allow for the best highs, lows, natural and accurate sound reproduction.

It will very noticeable and can be heard through your Dyns.

So great choice.

You know if McIntosh touched it, it is like being touched by the audio Gods.

 

Yes. Running the 9255 to your McIntosh amps is a good pairing.

It allows you to get the most out of your amps as the components used in the 9255 and the amps meshes very well. This allows for you to optimize the McIntosh amps capabilities and get the most out of the amps. It maximizes the SQ sonic signature of the HU and amps. These two sonic signatures allow for the best highs, lows, natural and accurate sound reproduction. It will very noticeable and can be heard through your Dyns.

How exactly does the 9255 optimize the Mac's capabilities? Does the 9255 KNOW who manufactured the amp? Was my 9255 uhnappy with my Zuki amps and I just didn't know it?

You know if McIntosh touched it, it is like being touched by the audio Gods.

Are you serious? This sounds a whole lot like a Mac commerical now.

 

Umm, didnt Clarion build some HU's for McIntosh?

 

During the time that Clarion owned McIntosh, there were definitely some fuzzy areas between the two brands.

The older McIntosh MX401 head unit and the Clarion 7770 were identical inside, down to the faceplates being swappable between the two units.

The DRX9255 and the MX406 have some extremely similar (almost identical) features and specs, they were said to be virtually the same units (except the DRX does FF/RW).

The DRZ, though, has a lot more going on than the DRX or any of the McIntosh head units. It has time alignment, parametric EQ, 4-way crossover, etc, and the Mac units don't. It also has 24-bit DACs and 96khz sampling, both superior to what the MX406 offers.

I don't think you'll find anyone at Clarion or at McIntosh advertising that they're both involved, but like others above I suspect technologies from both "parents" were used in designing/building the DRZ9255.

I don't believe there's any pixie dust or magical handshake that only occurs between a DRZ and McIntosh amps, but some of the best sounding systems I've installed in the past have used this combo which is part of why I'm currently using them myself.
The DRZ could've been made by Sparkomatic for all I care, it's an amazing sounding unit and well within my top 5 favorites.

 

Very interesting...if this is true?

 

Hey Less, do you know where I can find a DRZ9255?

 

I know where I can find one in Toronto... :laugh:

 

anhyone how is the sq of the drx9255 compared to the drz (not consider the eq/xover processor)?

 

I seriously doubt that you could tell the difference in an abx test.