Seeking Honest Opinions: Your Experience with McIntosh Audio Gear

Macintosh is a well respected and loved company by many folks. Their equipment is very well made, looks cool, and retains its value well.

It is not remotely neutral sounding. It is very heavy on the midrange and bass and is excellent for systems designed primarily for rock music… to thunder and hit your chest with bass. But not to come across as harsh… hence extended midrange. But it lacks detail. I consider it to be the muscle car in the audio world.

I have multiple times over the last decades decided I loved the look so much I was going to invest. I would go to the dealer and audition whatever the latest was. Each time, I would within seconds be so disappointed with the sound quality. No nuance or detail of a natural sounding soundscape. Lacks sophistication and detail. I have a dealer / friend that carries it now. I frequently it is playing. A few years ago he was excited to say that, they had really improved and have a more well balanced sound. I got very enthusiastic. It took ten seconds of listening for disappointment to overcome me. This does not mean you will have the same reaction. As I said, many people love the sound. It has unique strengths. It does what it does really well.

Let me reiterate… you put this stuff with some big B&W speakers and it does rock as best as it can be done and Blues You are just engulfed. With the accentuated bass and mid-range you can turn it up loud without the treble being uncomfortable. Great sound for this music. But for jazz, classical, etc. it really lacks the finesse, nuance and balance.

Do not think I am someone that is into systems that scrape details… I am not at all. I want natural, musical sound reproduction, with details in proper proportion… and especially musicality. With over ten years of 7th row center at the symphony and another ten years finding every opportunity to train my ears to what real venues music sounds like, I really do not like “the high end sound” of overly trebly and bassy sound so that triangles and cymbals become solo instruments and the guy plying the cello that moves his foot sticks out. Hence I slowly zeroed in on the equipment I have to be faithful to natural sound and make all music sound great… yet be forgiving.

I have Never owned a Mac piece or Moon.  But I have purchased several other lower end pieces from my local dealer over the last 15 years and they deal on both Mac and Moon as well as other, But their high end rigs are based around these 2 platforms.   As a customer good will I  have been granted many auditions with their higher end gear.   If  and when I have the resources to upgrade and I choose to purchase new,  it will be Moon.  

what Dean_Palmer said.  I bought a new BIG unit, and it needed a bias adjustment right out of the box.  McIntosh folks were easy to talk with directly, embarrassed and extremely helpful, handing me off to the unit's primary designer.  It shipped to their suggested repair facility 850 miles distant.  Turn-around was 2 weeks. Zero cost to me, along with a loaner offer than I declined.  It has worked flawlessly since and runs amazingly cool for the massive power.  I have another Mac piece that has fabulous performance and flawless performance for many years.  Both units work amazingly well with a wide variety of speaker designs and efficiencies.  Like many, I had never owned a Mac piece but was always intrigued and drooled over them as a "yoot."  Once I got my first piece, lightly used, I was hooked.  The second giant piece, was a bucket list thing, and sure, for the money, I might have done better elsewhere.  However, this piece will never leave my possession and will be handed down to some lucky family member.  I've no doubt it will be working perfectly 30 years from now.  If something should ever happen, it will be meticulously taken care of by McIntosh themselves if one desires.  Even though they've changed hands, and may change hands again, what other company can fulfill on that level?

I had a SACD player up until a few weeks ago when I sold it

@glennewdick  , I know this is the amp/preamp forum, and I also know there is a digital forum, but I have been really curious about the Mac SACD player for a while now.  What did you think of it?  (I opted on the Maranzt SA10 instead, although I idn't want or need streaming capability.)

I own the MA8900 integrated amp which I love.  As far as directly answering your questions:

1. Sound Quality: I would describe my system likely on the slightly warm side of neutral but with plenty of detail.  It has a wide, tall and deep soundstage, excellent imaging, transients, decay.  The midrange is excellent as well and probably slightly more forward.  I do not find the bass to be “fat” or bloated, there is plenty of it and it’s full but still a bit punchy (I have a couple of REL subs I run as well).  The treble is a bit rolled off but there’s still plenty of airiness and detail.  It suits me given that I am susceptible to fatigue from too much treble.
2. Build Quality and Design: My integrated is built like a tank and weighs about as much at ~75 pounds.  I love the blue meters and the green logo and font.  It has a bit of a retro look which I enjoy.  I’ve heard several complaints about the knobs being plastic and the pots not having a “click” or resistance to them.  The knobs are milled aluminum and it did take a little getting used to spinning them but I really like them now.  McIntosh has a reputation for outstanding build quality which is my experience in the short time I’ve owned it.
3. Value for Money: Price of entry is not cheap but there is plenty of value with respect to quality of build, quality of sound and resale value.  I don’t think any other brand has the same resale value.
4. Customer Service and Support: I have no experience with service as my integrated is only a few years old and has needed no service.  I will say that the company still supports every model they made and would expect stellar service if I needed it.  I did email customer service when I first bought the unit, which I bought used, and they promptly replied to my question.
5. Overall Experience: I would absolutely recommend McIntosh for all of the reasons stated above. I love my integrated, it does everything I want and more.  It has a quality phono section which I haven’t even gotten into yet as I exclusively stream at the moment.  It has an excellent head phone section as well which I think can be turned off. I don’t use it often but enough to speak well of it.  It is not to everyone’s liking/taste but I would strongly encourage anyone looking to build a system to go audition components on the McIntosh lineup.