McIntosh -- good for show, not for sound, says dealer

Truth be told for the longest time I dismissed Mac as just high priced home theater gear. I finally heard a SS Mac rig paired with some big ass Electrostats and I woulda swore it was a tubed system. Impressive. 

I love my MA8900. Outperforms the Vintage Nakamichi I had before. Not saying much, but if you don't believe me, listen to my Belle Klipsch. They love it too.

I am running a McIntosh c53 preamp, mc452 amp NAD c658 streamer McIntosh mct500 sacd and KEF Blade speakers. The sound is absolutely amazing. The wet blanket analogy is just not right. This system is very musical and very non fatiguing. I have listened to these speakers on arcam amps and didn’t care for it. All I know is that when I put on whatever I’m in the mood for and turn it up, it makes me smile. Happy listening!😎🎶

McIntosh isn’t the only brand Mikey’s trashed. Audio Research and Magico are a couple of other brands he isn’t impressed with. His beef comes from when a company sells out to corporate buyers and take an iconic name and start watering down the brand to maximize corporate profits. It’s happened with a lot of brands including Marantz.

Mikey’s passionate about great sonics, that’s where his heart is. As a guy searching to improve the sonics of my system, I respect that about him.

Jay from Jay’s Audio Lab said flat out that Mikey’s system is the Formula One race car of HiFi rigs. Jay was really impressed and he’s had all of the ultra high end gear!

I bought Magico A3 speakers because I’d never heard anything like them. The sonics were overwhelming. However, so far I don’t think they’ve sounded as good in my listening room as they did during the demonstration at the high end store. I’m on my second amp within a year since buying them.

Mikey has already helped me with getting my system to sound better with my current amp. I’m upgrading my amp and preamp, going with NAT Audio gear from him. He brings tremendous value and only cares about helping people get the best sonics as they can. Anybody that can’t appreciate that has issues with hurt feelings.

@gregp858  MC452 dude I’m jonesing for that amp! Not looking to hijack this thread but one quick question, @ 450w it’s a beast, does it need a dedicated line?