Disappointing On Mcintosh......help


 3 Months ago  I went to NYC and stopped by the WOM  and auditioned several MCintosh gear...........and left a bit disappointed or not impressed...then I told myself   " lets give a second shot"  and went today to a  HIFI store and again Good room accoustics10K speakers , MC Preamp , MC Amplifier........ and again  the same disappointment I felt 3 month earlier.

Is that the "warm" sound people reffer to about Mcintosh?  
The sound is ample, base is powerfull  but the the sound is simply  not to clear, the hights are not too "crisp"  It sounds like the treble is set at 3 and needs to be adjusted at 9 or 10.
It seems like  the sound is  coming through a thin layer of paper ...that is the way I describe that sound.  

Then 20 minutes later I auditioned a Parasound A21+ and a JC5 and the sound was more clear and the highs were crispier

Whats your take on my experience?  or That is the MC "warm sound? 
128x128cydrone
Long time Mac owner, 501’s for 15 years matched with CJ ET5 and driving Thiel CS6.  Great sound!  Mac takes a beating, oh and all MIT cabling which gets about the Same Treatment.  
Mac owners have a deep pride of ownership, love the sound and nonowners think the brand isn’t high end.  That about sums it up. 



I’ve own Mac gears for year and heard lot of combinations of Mac gears and speaker. So far for me one of the best combo with Mac amp and preamp are the Vandersteen speakers, not just warm but great soundstage and sounds very natural, instruments are all well balanced.
Mac and B&W are very synergistic. Very nice rich overall sound with the tweeter tamed a bit. 
 But I will say that I formerly owned the MC2102 (100 WPC tube amp) and the C1000 3 piece preamp with Wilson Watt Puppy 7s. I was determined to purchase the MC 2301 monos. When I went to my local dealer and listened to a full Mac system with my preamp and the 2301s , I was ready to buy. Then my dealer suggested swapping out the upper tier Mac electronics for a mid level Audio Research preamp and amp---just for a listen. I was a bit insulted at first --as I was a died in the wool Mac tube fan having owned a number of Mac components and I thought the salesman was a bit presumptuous to suggest that I might prefer an ARC system which I assumed he preferred at less than a third the price of mine.--I was astonished about how much better the ARC system sounded, especially in the midrange. I heard  previously unheard detail on numerous test cds I brought with me. These were cds that I had listened to hundreds of times.  I could count the background singers on one Van Morrison track when before they sounded as a massed group. I heard each individual voice and how the harmonies were constructed. This type of detail added to musical enjoyment. On another track from a David Byrne cd, I clearly heard low level detail in the midrange that I had never heard before. And the sound was not harsh, just revealing and much more transparent than Mac with a light touch of sweetness.
I went back home to my system and listened again to those tracks. Even knowing what I was missing and listening for them--the sounds were simply not there--masked by a slight scrim over the sound that makes Mac easy on the ears but far from transparent.
I was upset at the time as I knew that I had to sell all of my Mac gear and go ARC. That conversion occurred years ago and I remain glad that it did.