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Why do no audio enthusiasts use McIntosh?

With the exception of some of there tube gear, not many really use this stuff(or admit to it anyway), I am mainly referring to there amps. They look pleasant, they look good on paper and have the price of high end gear, but I seldom hear anyone claiming to like or one day dreaming of owning McIntosh. I have never really listened to there stuff, no good word of mouth sort of scares me away from it, the only people who like it are those who sell it, an uncanny coincidence? I don’t know. Sorry it this has been covered many times in the past, I ran a search and could not find anything.
tireguy
luxmancl38
580 posts
 
WoW!!! On 11/28/2020 this thread will be 19 years old. Do we have a consensus yet? Or will it go on to infinity??
pops
2,275 posts
 
+1 gmercer. I am enthusiastically an enthusiast who uses Mac amps.  
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
My definitive review of McIntosh amps will be completed by Christmas!  Stay tuned and let’s take this thread into 2021👌🏻
jastralfu's avatar
jastralfu
447 posts
 
Bumping thread into 2021. I have an ma8900 and love it. It is my first high-end integrated amp but it has a wonderful sound. Warm, well articulated, excellent sound stage, controlled.  Running vintage Polk Monitor 7s I have owned since new in 1989 and a Sunfire True Super Jr sub.  I recapped and replaced resistors on the Polks but will eventually replace those with B&W or Sonus Faber.  I’m looking forward to hearing it with a better set of speakers.  I also spent a lot of time researching Accuphase, Mark Levinson, Gryphon, Hegel, Bryston, Krell, etc. and decided on the Mc.
phillyb's avatar
phillyb
402 posts
 
I owned AR, Rowland, ML, Mitner, Krell, and I have had my McIntosh MC 402 longer than any of them, and the reason why the amp sounds good on very speaker i have owned from dynamic speaker, Electrostatic, and now open baffle. I never thought I own McIntosh but when I heard one I had to admit it sounded dam good, and I would never have given a McIntosh a try due to hearing for years McIntosh was for the doctors and lawyers, well is just not true. The sound I hear sounds like groups are playing in the room, the amp is neither bright or dark, it does give body and weight to the music, and with the audio transformers, I can match any speaker to my amp and get the best sound with either of 8,4 or 2 ohm taps, and that is a full 400 watts on any of the taps used to connect my speakers. 
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