Is McIntosh a stepping stone into HI/FI?

I interpret the post to read, is Mac gear a stepping stone into High End audio, not Hi Fi. There is low end, mid fi and High end equipment out there, just as there is for computers, automobiles, watches, etc. In most cases, (note I wrote "most cases"), you get what you pay for. One article I read recently said it correctly. If you listen to the system and it totally disapears from the room and you are left with the artist, sound stage, depth, etc. then you are there. If I close my eyes and listen and can tell that I am listening to speakers, then something is wrong. I don't believe that audio reproduction will ever get there 100%, due to the audio recording chain and playback/reproduction chain. There are just too may items that can add distortion, or negatively impact the recording or reproduction. Such as cables, connectors, speakers, amps, pre-amps, etc. All add their distortions and colorations to some degree. However, Mac Gear has lower level equipment and High end equipment based on design and price points and compromises that must be made to meet such design and price points and to compete with similar priced gear. All that said, in my opinion, there is some Mac Gear that is definitely High End quality. The rest may be low high end or mid high end and some may be upper high end.

I have auditioned many times over the years Mac Gear and combined with other wonderful equipment, it can sound great. But this depends on system interaction and which Mac equipment you are using. This is true for any equipment. But the test is to select a price point. Look in magazines and they should you what the manufacturers offer within specific price points. So, pick a price point for a piece of equipment and compare Mac Gear with similarly priced equipment from other Manufacturers. Then, you will see that within the price limitations, Mac Gear is okay. I am a firm believer in comparing apples to apples.

Enjoy.

How gear sounds and how much gear costs are not mutually exclusive.
Having traversed about 25 audio shows in my life and found that cost and sound don't always travel in a paralel universe. Really liked a $600 a pair speakers at the Newport SHOW.
Really expensive audio and BS do uaually seem to travel together. Verbal justification always seems to trump poor sound quality.
Still wish I had my pair of Mac 240s and Marantz 7C and Chartwell LS3/5as. Still difficult to replicate that musical enjoyment. High end is what sounds good to you!

Absolutely not. Just another flavor in the ice cream shop. And a good one at that.

When the straight wire/minimalist designs--spearheaded by the original Mark Levinson preamps and meterless amps--came into fashion, McIntosh with its old school face of knobs for bass, treble, mono, stereo reverse, and balance, and SS power amps with big blue meters and output transformers, quickly fell out of fashion, and for a long time took on an old school, "this is your dad's stereo" reputation. But I've gotta say, I've never heard a bad-sounding McIntosh and some of their amps are some of the best I've ever heard. I have had a pair of Mirage M5si floorstanding speakers I bought in late 1996. In the audition I found a Sunfire amp wanting so then tried a big-ass McIntosh. I never could come up with the scratch for an amp like that, but 15 years later, the way that that Mac pushed Holly Cole's "Temptation" album through those speakers haunts me still.

Great stuff. I own one MC275 and I just keep putting record after record on, and before you know it half the day has gone. I have never listened to my records and music so much.