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

McIntosh has arguably the best brand in Audio. Decades of quality products (a few turds), great service, and a unique style. Is it state of the art? No, but that's not what they're trying to do.

You can argue that you don't like the sound of McIntosh gear. "House Sound" and all that. Some people like it, some don't.

You cannot argue that McIntosh gear is expensive. That's just shortsighted foolishness. The biggest cost of this hobby is the cost of depreciation. As a rule, electronics depreciate exceptionally fast. As long as you take care of it, you are risking very very little when you buy Mc gear, especially if you buy used. Every piece of Mc gear I have bought was essentially "free", I bought it, enjoyed it for a number of years and quickly sold it for what I paid or more.

@vuch  I agree. Peace.

Like others reading this thread, I don’t post very often. But since I’m using an MC352 to drive Quad ESL63s, I’ll say that my rig sounds amazing to me (and others who hear it). The Mac, to my ears, doesn’t sound like anything. It’s like looking into a pool of clear water. The goal for my rig is to sound like nothing at all. This is the closest I’ve ever gotten. Will grant that maybe I don’t have the depth of experience with other brands (or budget) of others on this forum. 

Got a good deal on my Mac used, but still paid a premium for it. But that’s what branding is all about, right?  It looks good, but I think ALL audio gear looks cool. 
 

… and to the guy with JBL 4350s, Cool!  I listened to a pair of 4330s for a long time…

It took reading all the way down the first page of this thread before someone mentioned value (thanks henry53). There can be no doubt that McIntosh products are very well built, last a long time, and for most people, sound just fine. If you don't care about money, by all means buy McIntosh. But if you do care about money and value, McIntosh products are very expensive for what you get. Since I'm always concerned about value, McIntosh products are a non-starter for me, but that in no way means they're bad performing products.

So, umm, lemme guess, 11Stereo is not a McIntosh dealer, but is a dealer for other brands at similar price points to Mac gear. FWIW, I have been using a C220 preamp for over a decade. Yes, I like it’s looks, but I bought it because of its flexible functionality. I did swap out the tubes and got better performance and lowered the noise floor. To my ears, in the context of my system, it sounds fantastic, and has the features I need, like a balance control with great range, and a tape loop. The MM phono section sounds wonderful, and needle drop digital copies of my LPs sound awesome. Overpriced? Not to my ears, although I did by used. YMMV.