McIntosh - is it that great?

I have listened to Mac gear for almost all of my 54 years on the planet and I couldn't imagine life without a piece of McIntosh gear somewhere in the house.

When asked about my idea of a "dream system" I reply that I really want four: A big Genesis/IRS type system for large scale orchestral music in a great sounding room big enough to support it all, a tube/Quad system for gentle chamber and acoustic folk music in another good sounding, but smaller room, old KLH model 21's everywhere in the house for background music and in the party room: a Mac C-20, an MR-71, a pair of MC 240's in mono and a pair of Altec 604E's. I own that last system, and while it is not as accurate as my "big rig reference" (SOTA, Theta, cj, Bryston, Infinity RS2B's) system, everytime I fire it up it makes music and lots of it, the kind that makes me smile and very sorry I have to turn it off to go to bed or work. It's a fun system to listen to.

If I was limited to owning and listening to just one system for the rest of my life, I'd probably pick my old Mac gear, because it's proven itself to be extremely musical, enjoyable and reliable over the long haul (and you've got to agree that forty years with many more to come is a very long haul).

Nice reply Decibelcat...that was fun to read and almost gave me the upgrade bug but I fought it off!

Mac gear has weathered the test of time. To this day the older pieces particularly the tuners sound wonderful.

All Mac components are built to almost industrial standards; most parts are still available and should the need for repairs and/or alignments arise both the Mac factory and companies such as Audio Classics provide professional service.

And they look cool as hell.

If you want something that is all but bullet-proof, and will last as long as you care to have it, buy McIntosh, especially the amplifiers. I have an MC2255, one of the greatest amplifiers they ever built. I also have an MC352. I worked for an audio dealer while getting my Bachelor's degree and someone brought in a MC2255 that came in for service. It had be dropped and had several heavy items dropped on it. I looked terrible, but it was put on a bench and worked perfectly and sounded great, regardless of all the damage done to it. After is was restored it was an absolutely beautiful amplifier. I decided then that oneday I was going to buy one. I've had mine for probably 10 years now without it ever having any issue. The last one was made in 1984 and sold for about $2500 new. Mine, which shows just a bit of it's age, cosmetically, is worth more over 20 years later than it was new. There aren't many pieces of electronics that can boast that.

Did you know the U.S. Navy uses McIntosh amplifiers to drive their sonar? Why, because they need something they can rely on and doesn't fail. Considering the price tag of a nuclear submarine, seems the navy could have just about anything they want. McIntosh was obviously what they wanted.

gentlemen:

i recently reviewed the c 220 preamp. it will be available for your reading pleasure in a few weeks on the website
audiophilia.com.

i also own the 275 amp.

what is greatness ?

i have no answer, as it is too subjective and moot.

i found the preamp free of any significant deviations from neutrality. the amp needs some tube changes before i have any serious comments. with the stock tubes, the sound is threadbare.