McIntosh

@mcerutti, A great question. Please call McIntosh directly and ask them. Or, if you ordered it from a retailer, please call your retailer and ask for the status of your McIntosh pre-amp order.

My dealer told me last week that if McIntosh does not have stock of the item you are looking for that it may take up to 1 year for McIntosh to build and deliver. 

Parts supply chain is to blame. Covid caused orders to go sky high as we all stayed home. That caused inventory to shrink. Manufactures have tried to build but are backlogged trying to get parts.

I know as I have electronics, furniture and appliances on order that are so far backordered I may never see them. Some stuff I have been waiting for 6 months. Still have a long ways to wait! 

In addition to the covid effect, there is a global micro-chip shortage and it is effecting all industries that require micro-chips.  Automobile, appliance, communication, technology and so on are all suffering from this. I spoke with a dealer and he indicated that TV’s, audio etc are all coming in very slow with a big backlog. Not a good time to buy, especially if you want a discount.

That gives everyone an excuse to start charging more i.e. inflation.

Oh I am sure that will be one of the ripples that follows. But everything else is as well, been to a lumberyard, grocery store, gas station etc lately?

I ordered a MA252 2 months ago.  Last week I was told by my dealer it'd be shipped by the end of the month.  Then the next day I got a call that it was ready to be picked up. A nice surprise but also, evidence that their tracking system isn't the best.

In my business, fleet truck sales, we have had to take extra caution on where we leave trucks. People are stealing catalytic converters for the platinum and rhodium and selling them for an average of 150.00 each. Some of these are as much as 4000.00 to replace because they destroy all connecting parts plus labor. They use cordless reciprocating saws and can be in and out in a few minutes, and in commercial areas they can make as much noise as they want. 
That said, look for cable prices to go up, as rhodium is common on connectors. 

To the OP, good luck on getting your new Mc Pre-amp, what unit did you order?

Ordered 3 amps and 2 surge protectors 9 weeks ago.  I was assured it was all in stock at McIntosh until I wired the money.  Then I heard it wasn't.  3 amps and 1 surge protector arrived one week ago.  I am still waiting for the other surge protector.   

FWIW, I had a disappointing experience with Mcintosh late last year.  My preamp was sent to the dealer, Audio Classics, for a simple repair that required a $10 set of output jacks.   Audio Classics was great, but they were unable to get this part from Mcintosh, which is a short drive from Audio Classics.  Mac wouldn't ship it, and they wouldn't allow Audio Classics to drive over and pick it up, which they tried.

I figured it was a stock issue, but they claimed to have the part in stock.  So, in the end, I called Mac's parts department, and ordered it myself.  It shipped to me in NJ, and I then shipped it up to Audio Classics, which was still waiting for the part from Mac when they received the one I shipped to them.  

Blame the virus?  Or just really disappointing dealer support from Mcintosh?

I still love my preamp, but the love for Mcintosh the company is a bit tarnished at this point.

I wouldn’t panic.  Ask your dealer to check up on it.  I know that several products are indeed on back order.  Just don’t have the staff to fill orders fast enough.  Some products literally have one or two people building them.

My MCT 500 CD Transport was ordered about six weeks ago, and they tell me that they hope to have shipping by the end of the month.

Despite stories, McIntosh has alway been upfront with me about their production issues.  Prices went up a couple years ago because of raw material costs.  Wouldn’t expect any other increases.  Try buying any appliances lately?  

It simply is a supply & demand issue from raw materials to production of products.  The 901 amp is basically made my a single lady that has been working there for some 3-4 decades.  I support her and their business model.  It’s worked for 75 years!

Last year I had my MA252 in an authorized McIntosh service center as my PCM display went out. It took many calls to find out what was going on, to end up finding that McIntosh was waiting on the part to come in from China as the part manufacturing place had closed due to Covid and were running long back orders. It took four months until the repair was completed. 
I then spoke to my dealer in regards to doing a trade up to a MA352 in which the dealer gave me a full trade value for my 252. When they ordered the 352 it was near the holidays so demand was high, and it ended up taking 6 weeks for my new 352 to come in. 
I am very happy with my trade and the MA352. 

Does Best Buy's Magnolia actually sell McIntosh that you can order online from the factory?
Is it less expensive t order it?  (Not that I would ever be interested.  Years ago, at the Fort Lauderdale dealer, I was treated like a pariah for owning something else.  I also did not like the McIntosh speakers they used for the demo, and said so.  I felt like I had driven a Lambo to a Ferrrari dealership. 

I am a McIntosh dealer. They do have their challenges right now. We get a weekly list from our reps with updates and usually there is more on the back order list than than limited or in-stock. This has been the case for the past year. But I've personally not heard of 6-month/1 yr. delivery times on anything. When an item is on backorder the prevailing consensus is more like 4-8 weeks which I think is fair, given the McIntosh manufacturing process and challenges of the day. 

And like any situation where a consumer purchases through a dealer, if your dealer is bad, they're bad. I do also personally own McIntosh. Amp and preamp to be specific. And I like them. But I'd never insinuate that they're the only product to own or that they're inherently better than something someone else likes. And I certainly wouldn't make someone feel bad for walking in to my place of business, for any reason. I think dealers who do this are arrogant and part of the reason this industry has struggled to gain relevance and traction with much of Gen X and younger. 

McIntosh is not a small, mom and pop type manufacturer. And doing business with them does feel different from doing business with the smaller guys. But it's not a bad thing and there's nothing wrong with McIntosh as a company. If you want to own good-sounding, well made gear that also has some nostalgic prestige, I think McIntosh is among the few where that is truly part of the experience. I think it's also probably very much worth a reasonable wait. Hold your dealer to a high standard. That's what having a Hi-Fi dealer needs to be about. 

I was quoted 8-12 weeks on an MC462. It has been about 4 weeks. 

I bought my c22 mk5  about 2 weeks ago and Audio Classic  delivered it the next day. 

I am amazed that any of this crap works at all, let alone sounds good. I have a hard time starting a lawn more

Ordered a MX123 today and was told 4- 8 weeks. Wait and see. Lucked out on the MC257 as they had it in stock.

Took me 2 weeks to get an Apple watch! The $399 basic unit, not the Hermes.
Chip shortage or is someone artificially constricting the supply chain to set new price floors?

Is this a real post and how does THIS make the highlight reel??

Would anyone really post this question on a forum vs communication with their dealer/mfg?

Ordered the Int Amp from a McIntosh dealer End of OCT last year, and was told to get it mid Nov but finally got it Jan 2021. Called McIntosh direct and was told it was back ordered due to sky high demand and less part. Happy with my Amp and worth the wait! 

I’m waiting on mc611 that was ordered 3 months ago and MB50 for 2 months. My dealer said they McIntosh is not giving any estimated time for shipping. They are way back ordered. 🤔🤔

Difficult times, supply chain constraints, require  exceptional management and customer service. Be transparent and honest.

Chips shortages, commodity shortages and logistics capacity shortages are real in my opinion. I am a management consultant and have been very busy helping clients figure out contingency plans.

In regards to McIntosh and their customer service, I've been pleasantly surprised. Over the last year, I have purchased 2 demo units from 2 different dealers and registered them for the warranty. 1 unit was declined and I called the person who sent me the email to better understand why it was declined and from my perspective to find out if the selling dealer lied to me. The woman researched and noticed the selling dealer changed their legal name and she then registered it for the warranty.

My perception is McIntosh has a good brand reputation tries to do the right thing. Note while they are a well known company they are not the volume drivers in many of the things they buy.

Unfortunately supply chains are suffering in every industry.    I repair medical equipment.    Our vendors are in Switzerland,  Germany, Japan, England....pretty much everywhere and they are all experiencing parts delays.   I was supposed to get a part back in November and its ETA has been pushed to June.   Another problem is parts that were readily  available are being saved by the manufacturers for the production line, so spares are severely backordered .    The problem is that  we are just feeling it now because oem warehouse stock is finally depleted after a year of shut downs worldwide.  Manufacturers are not lying when they blame lack of parts and raw materials. 

In March 2021, I walked in and purchased a McIntosh MA352 at Magnolia in Costa Mesa CA right off the shelf.

The next week I ordered the MCD85 CD player from a small local (only McIntosh) vendor HiFI Haven, Whittier CA, since 1957.  The owner placed a call and got one for me in two weeks.  He claims to have a long-standing relationship with NYHQ going back to when his father first became a sole McIntosh dealer.

He confirmed there are delays on some items but says, he can get a number of items within the month ordered.

Maybe I just got lucky.

@mhass How do you like the MB50 as a streamer? Have you tried it as a preamp too? Thanks

I have an MB50…it’s ok, but crippled by the Play-Fi restriction and the bad app

Thanks @cherbib , I have play-fi through out the house except my home theater. I already use the app so realize its problems but I still like it compared to Sonos. 

Is the MB50 a good preamp as well as a steamer? I want to build a system using it and a pair of active/powered speakers, what do you think?

In that case, I think you’d be happy with it.  It’s very clean aesthetically and musically.  I’ve paired mine with an MHA150 and love the result. 

Thanks for the reply, appreciate it!