Mac gear "Slow" or others "Fast"

Two words: system synergy. So many people don't realize it and your post makes it sound like you don't either. I can take the best amp in the world and make it sound fast, slow, mushy, analytical, bad or good simply by changing what it is hooked up to. IMO, the speakers play the largest role in deciding what amp to get but don't overlook the source, preamp, room and personal tastes which also need to be factored in.

Your only option is to experiment. I have owned Classe and McIntosh and find them more similar than different. My McIntoshes have the most natural pace and rhythm I have ever experienced and I attribute it all to my care in component matching - and not to the amps themselves. Good luck! Arthur

They all sound the same if operating within their design limitations. I suggest a variation on double blind testing that calls for putting your head in a gunnysack with two holes of the exact same (notice the American redundancy) size for the ears. Listen to any amp, side by side, with whatever music you want for whatever period you want and then go to a mirror and try to say to yourself out loud the all have a "house sound".

You`d be slow too if you had dinosaur design autoformers (their term for output transformers).

I guess that means Porziob doesn't like tube amps nor does he appreciate the complexity of amp/speaker relationships where a transformer can greatly improve signal integrity.

hmm, I have to say that mcintosh does have a sound of its own, but it is very natural as stated, straight forward raw. But this is more attributed to their preamps in my opinion, because just about any good amp in this class hooked up behind their pre's have about the same signature even as their own amps as long as the impeadance is within range to match well. Classe I have heard only one amp I owned from them and it was good but a little dry, but it was a small power amp and not the greatest preamp hooked to it. So it all comes down to you need to listen to any choice you make and go from there, they are both very much capable companies, however I will go on to say Mcintosh is overpriced to an extent compared to competitors, but its the Harley davidson name plate that causes that, not necessarily an overrated component.