This has been said before, but Mac is the Harley Davidson of audio. Not the fastest, most reliable, smoothest or best out there, but you ARE buying a piece of American culture. Those who defend McIntosh do it with the loyalty of a cult following, and many Mac lover's out there simply do not have the objectivity needed to make a neutral evalutation. It's ok, as many audiophiles are ''fans'' of certain manufacturers, and pride of ownership make up I feel a large part of audiophilia as a hobby. I am absolutely convinced that most Audiogoners here are not in it strickly for the music, but for the love of equipment itself in a larger margin that most of us will admit.
Back to Mac. My personnal experience, and by no means enough to base an definite evaluation. I admit to having purchased a 6450 Mac integrated back a few years ago. I bought it to fulfill my high-school years dream of ''owning'' a ''McIntosh''. The legendary status of Mac made me buy this integrated. The musical performance it generated made me sell it soon afterwards, as it was a big let-down for me, compared to the previous gear I had owned up to then, and especially when compared to my hyped-up expectations of this cult brand.
Still, I would buy a McIntosh product again, probably one of the newer designs, and maybe even vintage, and this after owning a lot of gear, most of it better than the Mac integrated I had once owned.
Looking back now, and closing the audio circus buy-sell-buy loop, I would buy one again as I feel that just buying it for the looks of it, the history behind it, and the way it transforms any ordinary living room into something special, is worth it. Even if it is at the expense of not getting what most audiophiles would consider top-shelf performance all the time. It would surely be good enough for me and all things considered, a wise choice.
