Do true audiophiles own Mcintosh gear

I will cite Marantz as an example of Schubert's good point.
With the Superscope purchase profits went up but quality certainly went down.

I own a pair of McIntosh MC 60s,1956 vintage paired up with Zu Def IVs. Sounds pretty good to me.

I find it interesting that many of the competitive brands mentioned here are actually more costly than McIntosh. For years, I've maintained "you can spend more money, but you can't get significantly better than McIntosh" and I still stand by that assertion. The build quality is second to none, the sound quality is entirely comparable to the other "names" and the value is without equal. I auditioned Audio Research, Cary, Classe, Krell, Linn and Mark Levinson before I went Mc, and all of them were quite a bit more expensive. Of them all, only the AR and Classe performed at the same level and were decidedly feature-limited in comparison. The happiest aspect of my purchases has been that I feel absolutely no need to revisit any of them. That one fact has permitted me to concentrate on what is truly the most important aspect of the audiophile hobby: Finding and listening to great music!

Effischer, I believe you are correct.
But I would be GREATLY surprised if it remains so under new ownership.

Classe,Mc,ARC. Three top notch product lines that focus on sound and quality and offer good value on the grand scale of things yet each is unique and will have its dedicated following. Like Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, etc...