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Hail to Mcintosh

In respnse to another thread about why audiophiles dont' pick Mac.I think (in my humble opinion) is unfounded. Not everyone (as this is a BIG world) spend their time on audiogon or any other forum "playing expert in hearing sound reproduction". Sound is subjective.In the guitar amp world many players choose their amps for different reasons....some monetary,others by what their heros played and some by what their ears are hearing, build quality or a combination of things. I've owned many boutique,vintage fender and clone amps of famous designs....,to me ,nothing beats the sound of a 60's Marshall w/ a Strat or LesPaul guitar. And many would agree......but not everyone. SO WHAT!! Now getting to Hi-FI..... When I was 16 or so (I'm 43) I heard my friends Uncles stereo I was BLOWN away,much like seeing a rock concert when the band Has that......MAGIC and everything flows. I wanted it! It was some Mac tube gear and Klipschorns. The passed 3 years I've listened to MANY systems tube and solidstate and to my ears the Horn loaded speakers w/ tube gear does it for me . Doesn't matter whether Rock,blues jazz or folk. I've chosen Mcintosh first for sound,quality ,history,looks and convenience of my dealer ...Audioclassics.com. I live 1 hr away from both the factory and them! I bought my Mac gear from them used (MC 2102's, MC2000 amps,C2200 preamp,Rosewood Khorns,ect..)My C2200 went awry,I explained my problem to "Ryan" at audioclassics and he contacted Mcintosh,they never encountered the problem I described. I thought to myself "OH brother" NO stereo for awhile......WRONG!! Ryan drove down to my house with a Brand new factory sealed C2200 and said "here, its yours" and took the other one back. No, it was not a loaner but an exchange,what company or dealer does that??? Nuff said!
128x128tjnif
aball
2,016 posts
 
The McIntosh look is beautiful to me. I hope they never change it. The sound doesn't have the last bit of resolution, but with all negatives comes positives and the coherence and musicality is definately worth the tradeoff. It's a compromise that favors the music instead of the audiophiles. For me, that is the way it should be.

If McIntosh didn't please so many people (most of which don't give a rat's ass about audio forums) they would have gone out of business like so many others did in the 80s. But no, they are one of the top dogs today because they are doing it right, obviously.
kehut's avatar
kehut
668 posts
 
Yes..Me too. I am the quintessential prodigal son who returned home to vintage McIntosh after wandering 25years in the audio desert. Now at age 49.. I grew up in a home rich with McIntosh gear.( C-8,C-11,C-22,C-28//MC-60/MC2105..My Dad had them all paired with the then SOTA KLH-1/JansZen ELS speakers..I still get to hear the Janszens with the 2105/C-28 combo at his place on occasion!

While the audio journey has not been all bad, I have enjoyed many other fine components including some nice sounding tube amps...There is a certain "rightness" to the sound of Mac's. The vintage 60/70's gear with or without tubes have a nice balanced freq response that gives weight and power to music..I love classical orchestra in-particular in my system. Clearly the best I have ever heard for me.

Toady's newer Mc gear is certainly more extended and is more transparent. Excellent sounding..perhaps better suited to all music genres. Lovely to look at and proudly display. Fit and Finish as well as customer service at Mc exemplary indeed

When Im at the point to change again..( no doubt will have the itch to try more gear!) Im certain Ill audition the latest Mc gear too.
horseface's avatar
horseface
222 posts
 
A pair of Mac 275's, a pair of Klipschorns and some good Jazz on the turntable ... Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

And some say there is no God, somebody hand me a beer.
rhyno's avatar
rhyno
649 posts
 
Flyski had it nailed when he said: "Some people say McIntosh does not have the last bit of resolution, to them I say, keep your resolution, my system is warm, analog sounding with a spacious soundstage, midrange to die for and it makes music sound like music not some analytical collection of sounds which you get tired of in a month."

the thing is, the mc 501s (my point of reference) exert such a strong influence (read: coloration) on the overall presentation (which Flyski partly IDs, and i cover a bit on dagogo.com) that the whole system's synergy and holistic performance falls in line with their voicing. whereas other amps require tweaks, careful system matching, etc in order to get, at best, slightly better sound, though if the whole system is out of kilter, other amps sound inferior.

2 things: 1) the 501s are not the best amps out there, not by a long shot. 2) they're so easy to use and so good regardless that they're an ideal amp for music lovers, but less so for audiophiles (who enjoy the tweaks and absolute performance).

for those who love this brand, i salute you for getting off the merry-go-round. just don't say they're the "absolute" best.

rc
audioi's avatar
audioi
3 posts
 
Lets face it, McIntosh has been around so long that our grandfathers owned it but its still some of the best built, best sounding product on the planet. I only wish the U.S. had more companies like it !
Mike
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