Why the hate for mcintosh amps?


Why dont people,like mcintosh? Who motivates this?

so what are the alternatives??
emergingsoul
Also, more expensive never means better. Look at what Corvette is doing to the auto industry now with their mid engine vehicle or what Dodge Viper Acer did to 10 out of 13 track records, lol. You never know, lol!
“McIntosh are like elephants, nice to look at, but, I wouldn’t want to have one.”
W. C. Fields 
100% agree with the theme of enjoying what you have. It is hard to stay in the present long enough to appreciate the moment and audiophiles (myself included) seem to often have our feelers out for the next upgrade.

Love my Mac tube gear, sourced with VPI Aries 3, delivered with Magico A5's, supported by a B&W DB3D.
This is an interesting one, and perhaps I have an answer.

I think the "hate" comes from not understanding what McIntosh is best at.  That is room flexibility.  I've never had the luxury of having a dedicated stereo room, so I never could get optimum acoustics.

They even have test equipment at the plant to make their equipment more forgiving.  McIntosh amps and preamps work the best in unoptimized rooms.

Let me explain.  During my solid state days, I tried out a Rowland amp and compared it with my Mac amp at the store.  The Rowland sounded quite a bit better with perfect setup at the store.  I take it home and set it up in my living room--the Rowland sounded a lot worse.  My wife, who has better ears than me and could care less about the equipment, asked me what was wrong with the stereo.

I put the Mac amp back in the system.

Frankly, I don't even want a dedicated stereo room.  It is more fun to share the equipment with family and friends in a more comfortable setting.

I am sitting in my room with one of my systems, and it is wonderful.  Is it as good as the best setups I've heard?  No, but with the Jean Nantais turntable, it is very, very close.  And I can enjoy it while I am working, like right now.  I don't have to sit in a specialized room to enjoy it.

That is probably one reason McIntosh equipment is still quite popular.