I will preface the following with this; for a dozen or so years prior to me selling off my Mac gear, I was a (naive) fan. Early in my audiophile days, I too became smitten with the big blue meters and the timeless aesthetics of the gear. To me, it never disappointed and always held their value when I decided to move up the line. In order, I had the following Mac Amps, 754, 150, 300, 501, 2301, and finally the 601's. Most of them fed a pair of PSB Stratus Gold speakers before I decided to finally upgrade my speakers...the Focal Sopra II was the choice.
They were a demo pair from a local shop so I know that they had been broken in some. At first listen, I was buzz killed with the lack of dramatic improvement...they seemed veiled, messy, slow and lifeless, with not much low end. I spent hours in repositioning and various room treatments that were acceptable by my wife, nothing. It could not have been the speakers, as they sounded fantastic in the shop, could it be the amplification?! I found a great deal on a pair of Pass XA60.8's and figured that if I bought them and did not like them I could easily sell them and recoup my investment, nothing lost but time spent. The Pass with the Focal was an immediate punch to my audio senses and they (the Pass) were to remain. My Mac days were over.