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Re: Mac switches are glass tubes filled with an inert gas...

Mutant,

The Elecro-Magnetic devices McIntosh uses consists of a glass tube that is filled with an inert oxygen-free atmosphere and sealed with tiny leads protruding from either end. These leads are made from a ferrous material that is influenced by a magnetic field. They are first plated with gold as a base material, then with rhodium, and finally ruthenium. Ruthenium is the best contact material known.
This tube is then wrapped with a multilayer coil of copper wire to energize the switch and also to act as a shield from interference. This is then encapsulated in plastic for shock protection. The leads of the switch and coil connections extend through the bottom in the form of printed circuit board terminals.
When a DC voltage is applied to to the coil the switch closes. The inert gas eliminates corrosion of the contacts and insures a low resistance, distortion free switch.
This design allows the signal to be switched at the input or output jack. The advantage of this is the elimination of noise pick up and all input connections are muted when not in use at the rear panel rather than radiating noise through the pre amp chassis on their way to a front panel rotary control.
The Elecro-Magnetic switches are controlled by a microprocessor which requires software logic. The front panel controls feel like analog controls but in fact only sent control pulses to the microprocessor. These front panel switches can not induce any noise into the audio signal path.
This very luxurious switching design has proved to be utterly reliable and will result in the highest signal to noise ratio and best channel balance of any current design.

thanks,
Ron-C


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