Why do no audio enthusiasts use McIntosh?

Hmmm is Hueske on to something? What he is describing is the same type of person who swears by Bose and just goes back to the Bose dealer in the mall. Now Bose is complete junk. McIntosh is not, it is nice stuff. Could McIntosh be what a Bose person dreams of owning if their financial ship comes in?? You don't find any Bose on Agon either. Another similarity is there is a ton of both Bose and McIntosh on eBay, more than any other brands.

I'll agree with Sugarbrie on this one. I do think that Mac is what a lot of Bose owners dream of. Mac has been around for a LONG time, and many people who aren't educated as to what is out there hold that Bose is #2, Mac is #1. I know that quite a few people that purchase Mac do so on just a demo basis. They hear the Mac stuff, are blown away, and buy. I've been in my friend's store when they demoed Mac vs. Levinson. Top of the line on both sides (albiet the Levinson gear was much pricier), but we're talking MC1201 monoblocks for the fronts AND center on the Mac side. They were running that new Levinson No. 40 Video Processor (very, very nice), with two 336's and a bridged 334 for the center. Proceed Transport used on both sides. B&W 801's for fronts. The Mac gear was obviously ecplised in EVERY WAY by the Levinson. Even the saleperson dutifully pointed out everything that made the Levinson gear better. This customer obviously had no qualms about dropping 50,000 on this stuff, but in his mind the Mac was superior. Not necessarily by what he heard (he commented, yeah it does sound a little more open, or, I didn't hear that before!), but his purchase was made by the point that a: his father had owned Mac, and b: all his friends had bought Mac at this particular store. Done and done! His mind was made up before he even heard the stuff. Just like a lot of Bose owners I know. And how many times have you mentioned that you were an audiophile and the people responded "Oh, like Bose?" Yes, yes like Bose. Cheers!

One dealer around hear carries mcintosh. They said the type of clientele who tend to purchase the gear are older individuals who remembered mcintosh from the golden days so to speak. He said they get alot of docters and lawyers buying it since the name is familiar. They were building tube amps before the transistor was even born. But everyone buys there tuners.

To McIntosh investors, the debate over who has this weeks best amp or preamp etc. isn't a concern. They know that Mac is regarded to be among the finest sonically and that seems to be enough. Mac's obsession with over-building and the elegance that results is the appeal. Chassis chromed where no one will ever see, volume pots sealed in nitrogen atmospheres for 300 year mil-spec lifetimes, 1 inch thick hand silkscreened glass faces, all of that. I think it's like seeing a perfect vintage Benz or Cord or Dusenburg. It may not be a Ferrari, Aston Martin, etc., but it is just as much of a statement. Besides, have you ever seen a Mac stack of blue/green dials in the dark? WOW!
just a thought... thanks.

I read the above responses with great interest since I am a NEW fan of Mcintosh at the ripe old age of 24 (stereotype #1 dismissed). As an electrical engineer (stereotype #2 dismissed) on his way to a Ph.D. in the field, paying for school is my utmost priority. However I am an audio buff too and so I have been carefully balancing my finances to buy, what I consider, a nice audio system. Needless to say, I don't have $50k laying around to buy audio gear with so I have chosen very carefully what to spend my hard earned money on. I listened to MANY systems thanks to my interim job's many travel opportunities to large cities and have carefully considered each and every one with NO initial bias for any maker. A couple of my family members did have Mcintosh but i did not like the look a few years back and despite incredible reliability records set by their equip, I was not too impressed UNTIL, I heard a MC 352 and C42 on Paradigm Reference 100 speakers in Fort Worth. Wow! I was sold (and consequently bought all 3). I listened to it with a Proceed setup back to back (my post elsewhere on this site) on the same speakers and it was nice but I did HONESTLY like the Mc better because I have a fondness for warm and open music and found the Mc better in those regards, as well as for their distinctive look making them stand out in the "plastic box" crowd. As "Stasis" said, their over-engineering also won me over. If Mc has the passion for perfectly executing every last detail, then that passion is what I want to buy to satisfy my passion for passionate audio equipment. And to me, I don't believe the stereotype that only older doctors and lawyers buy Mc because I don't fit it as a Mc lover!
Also, I have looked inside many nice "audiophile" amps and preamps and from a design standpoint Mc clearly knows what they are doing (the autoformer is true genius). I have built several amps with nearly unmeasureable distortion (e.g. 0.0005%, 10-30kHz, it's not hard - they are just 1 big discretely-made power op-amp). So why then did I buy a Mc amp if mine was great? For the aforementioned build quality and for their reputation (which obviously has 50 years of merit) due to over-engineered details that make it much more special than my excellent sounding pile of wires. If any of you have a chance to visit Mc in Binghampton - you seriously should.
I will admit to fitting one Mc stereotype however: I will buy Mc equipment next time I upgrade.

Arthur