Do people buy MAC gear for the blue meters

nonsense. they have a fantastic value proposition:
great sonics (but admittedly not close to the best)
aesthetic value (the meters)
tremendous power to control any load
great reliabilty
resale value
zero heat output (from SS amps)

when i find an amp that has no heat output, can drive the piss out of any speaker, and sound better, i'll sell my 501s.

I bought a Squeezebox Touch and often have the "meter" setting on because I like it. It's cool and reminds me of my wasted youth spent in recording studios (now I waste my oldness in my digital, led metered studio). I also think the Appearance Factor as previously mentioned is a big part of this hobby...a very big part...and the wristwatch analogy is apt...I have a pile of mechanical watches and they have a vibe to 'em that only a watch geek can appreciate (I set my Valjoux or ETA loaded paperweights often when I'm at my computer so they're almost accurate). I refuse to buy a little "Class D" amp because they're too small (I want to put one in a large case with big meters!)...I like a nice brushed faceplate of several square inches for some reason, and the retro McIntosh stuff is hilarious to me, and most of it sounds great supposedly...certainly the Checker Car company of modern audio.

The funny thing is my friend has Mac gear from 1995 and now he wants to update all his gear to the newer stuff. I told him the face plate and meters haven't changed so why bother updating. I think the one person that said he has more dollars than cents is correct.

This fellow goes to all 'Blue Man' shows, I can always spot him since he wears blue face paint, with meter highlights.

Theo... Ayres billet housing is part of the cooling system . Form vs function .