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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
fleschler
2,023 posts
 
Moving from my former good quality media room to my great/expensive/custom engineered designed listening room was an eye opener.  The same very good/not SOTA audio system became a fabulous sounding system, making 30 year old, very good speakers sound like high end costly speakers.  With my tweaks added, I can enjoy most recordings including early acoustic ones with only the most wretched recordings remaining unlistenable.  No tone controls or DSP, just a great room (SOTA) acoustically and good room electrically (not SOTA) providing the basis for my equipment and tweaks to perform maximally.
banffjiang
1 posts
 
I am Mac lover (Mc2301, Mc452, C1100, D1100) and I have B&W signature diamond and signature 30 speaker, they are beautiful warm. clear sound. I want to say that all personal preference is different and demo systems (include cables, rooms, or speaker positions...) make huge different too. nowadays it is very hard for listen to the high end demo system sound in local dealer or retail store. sadly watching this hobby will get older and shrinking...:-(
decooney
2,151 posts
 
Off topic a bit, speaking of shrinking hobby,  one trend I've paid attention to is the kids with portable devices with headphones resurrected headphones a bit and then they wanted better separate/amps for their headphones, then they started dabbling in tube/headphone amps, which then seemed to help drive a resurgence in small tube amps for headphones.  

Now some of them are buying small tube amps for home use.  Now we are seeing tube amps pop back up in the USA and of course China is cranking out tube amps like crazy.   

If you check around there are several new USA based tube amp builders popping up too, who woulda knew... found several new Co.s may not making a killing on sales but surviving.  Kinda cool to see this happening. 
audioquest4life
774 posts
 
was the McIntosh a tube system? If so, your listening to two different topologies, tube and solid state. no wonder you heard two different sounds. With tubes, you change the sound character by swapping out tubes. At the end of the day, get what sounds best to you. I went from transistor to tubes years ago after listening to various types of amps. 
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,480 posts
 
In the old days I lusted for Mac......now that I've heard their sound, I bypass.
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