@mikepowellaudio
hi, sorry for misspelling your name in my initial post. They don’t let you edit the title fields on this forum, only the body of the message.
My hands don’t work very well and I have to dictate.
your Nat amplifiers with their very oversized tubes are exceptionally cool and yes Breaking them is a valid concern because they’re so big and likely very fragile. Replacing them is a concern as with any tube in an amplifier. Maybe you’ve done it but it would be nice to know what it is that makes these amplifier so good and why the $95,000 version of this is deserving of $95,000. Clearly this is not in your overpriced concerns that you have when you see other gear that’s extremely expensive.
By far and it’s not disputed, you are vastly more knowledgable and go to the effort of providing, at times, a very graphic credible critique of the inner workings of audio gear. The autopsies you have done are amazing and not done that often. Being provided a View of the inner workings of these mystery boxes we call audio gear is awesome and anyone would love to see more of this. People spending $5 to $30,000 or more for a mystery box deserve to know more about what’s going on. The producers of these products fall far short in doing this.
The Best Buy sale of audio gear via Magnolia is horrifying the way they stuff all the audio gear together in their sales rooms. And yes some of it is of cheaper Quality but still very worthwhile for many people.
Why Mcintosh hurts it’s image by being associated with Best Buy is sadly profit motivated. However, it could be a good thing since it exposes the world to better quality audio gear which is in your interests I would think.
You’re negative comments about McIntosh are very broad-based and yes certain of their products is not as good as some of their other products. You need to provide more details on why you don’t like certain of their products and maybe you do like certain of their products. I don’t like their av processor equipment, and the lack of their producing a standalone line stage tube pre-amplifier without the damn phono stage which has always been a concern. But their tube amplifiers are very good and to criticize this area doesn’t make sense unless you’re willing to explain why. And you clearly have capabilities and technical expertise to offer these insights.
Also B&w speakers, also disappointingly sold by Best Buy, is a speaker that you criticize. You did a video with a BMW 802 D3 a while back. It was in a dealer sales room which had a good amplifier connected to it as I recall, and you took a quick listen and I you recall you saying that it was deserving of more attention. Have you ever given an 800 series B&w speaker a serious listen?
You provide comparative listening on your YouTube channel quite a bit, knowing full well that most people can’t hear a damn bit of difference when they’re listening to this despite how good your microphone is. in These situations I think all viewers would love to hear your comments about what you are hearing?
