Why do no audio enthusiasts use McIntosh?

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

I bought some Electrostat/hybrid speakers and wanted to biamp them using my Mcintosh amps - when I called my speaker dealer to ask if I could try an external crossover to see if it would be a better situation he came over to check things out. I had my two amps hooked - one tube(2102) and the other the 352 - but hidden in cabinets. He was amazed at the sound and how natural and balanced it was and said the crossover would not help anything. I told him I was thinking of Mac amps to see his reaction. He said - never - and I couldn't get the sweetness I was now getting with what he thought were Mark Levinson amps because I had originally had a pair. When I showed him my amps he busted out laughing and admitted that he had never listened to Macs. He told me not to ever let this story out but as you can see I did not agree to that. A lot of vendors make good stuff and we all have sound characteristics we like and don't like. It is amazing how many people have opinions on gear they have never even heard. Look at the reviews on the latest Mac gear in Stereophile and you will see some very well known audiophiles giving them A ratings. To each his own - it is what makes this hobby fun. Graet gear that is built like tanks and very relaible with natural music sounding ability may not appeal to some.

A few months ago I was bitten by the Mac bug. It's hard to understand, but as you do some research you start to get pulled in and the next thing you know you want to sell all to build a Mac system and, I don't want to be too negative here, you sound like all the rest of the die hard Mac owners talking of Mac's "over engineering and build quality...".

I believe you can build a Mac system that sounds wonderful, but I don't think Mac has a corner on the market for engineering and build quality, in fact I recently owned a Mac C42 and it is a nice piece, but as far as the smoothness of the controls and their use, IMO, they were not up to the level of the Levinson I used.

So, I suppose the point of my post is to give my point to two views I see.

1) The original poster questioned why there are no audio enthusiests who use Mac, I believe there are. Mac is one of the players in the high-end arena. Like many manufacturers, they have some great products and some maybe not so great.

2) Those that are die hard Mac users, the Mac bug has bitten so hard it has brought blindness! I am talking from experience here. I was reading the comments of those who have used the same amp and pre for 20-30 years and wouldn't change, Mac is so musical, Mac's unique looks, etc. Next thing you know, there is no other brand.

As to the young man that just purchased the MC352 and C42, that was the exact combo I was looking to, and from my research this is a nice setup, enjoy them.

We all could be blessed by buying pieces that we were just so happy with that we didn't want to change them and enjoyed them for 20+ years!

The Mcinstosh stuff is ok, but not nearly as dead-solid reliable and overbuilt as everyone here seems to think. I have seen and talked to first hand a repair tech here in the Northeast, who works full time servicing equipment, all high-end stuff. At least 1/2 of the stuff he gets that is broken is Mc stuff. From his discussions, he finds it really not all that reliable at all, and build quality to be nothing special.

Just because Mc products haven't changed style with the times (e.g., love it or hate it looks... most of it I dont' care for personally), doesnt' mean they are built the same as they were, or even all that well in general. Vintage looks = vintage looks. Nothing more to be inferred there. I am friends with a couple of Mc Dealers, and have seen/used/listened to the equipment extensively. The only product I really liked and would consider buying was the MC275 reissue amp. Everything else has been tubby and loose sounding (the tube amps). The solid-state amps (MC600, etc.) are better, but still not a match for the Levinson, Classe, etc. that I compared with. Overall, the Mc 'house-sound' is dark, and flabby in the bass. Tube choices could be better too, most of them are ho-hum kt88s and kt90s, not what I'd prefer personally. (more of an El34 person myself).

Agreed that the bug bites some people to induce deafness/blindness to other, obviously superior, choices. People buy Mc for several reasons, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to own. There is occasional speculation on their stuff too, notably the MC275 reissue and the Mc2000, both of which havent' really held their value or appreciated as expected. (to wit: the blowout prices of them here on Agon on occasion.)

Mc owners remind me of the typical mid-life-crisis Corvette owners. It's the closest analogy I can come up with.

FWIW,
-Ed