McIntosh - is it that great?

I agree with Nightdoggy. I am currently moving up from
Adcom separates from the mid-90s to McIntosh gear; and
very pleased with the clarity, detail, and pleasant sound.
My Thiel 3.5 speakers are very revealing of every up-
grade I've ever made (including speaker cables and inter-
connects); and the Mac gear just sounds great to me.
Also - unlike some audiophile "darlings" that seem to
go out of favor in a year or so - Mac gear holds it's value
very well. If you don't like the sound, you can always sell
it for pretty much what you paid for it. I might also
mention that MacIntosh is a solid American company in
business for a long time. You won't be wondering about
service - if you need it - two or three years down the road.

I dont know about the older equipment but I recently heard a very high end set up in a custom built room at a local dealer. I personally thought it was the worst system I ever heard and I have heard better set ups at chain stores at one third the price. I highly recommend auditioning something else. Everyone likes something different and maybe you will love it but before you drop your hard earned cash I would shop around a bit.

Nor would I make up your decision on one persons "one time" audition.

I have read numerous good reports, both from mags and users, on various products from their current line.

FYI, Avideo, McIntosh was bought (and bailed out) by a Japanese company--I believe it's Mitsubishi...

No, Psychic, it was Clarion the Car stereo people. Mac would have disappeared were it not for that buyout.