McIntosh - is it that great?

I'm just curious if mcintosh audio gear is all that great. How does their older power amps compare to new products from other high end manufactures? Are there any products I should stay away from. I like the idea of owning vintage McIntosh stuff. Most of their stuff seems pricy. Is it because it's that good or do people just like to collect their products. thanks for you opinions--Matt

 

IMO super overpriced for what you get. Of course I see tons of McIntosh stuff in Florida since we are the land of rich old farts. I don't get the hype, but I heard one of their headphone amps is interesting but I'm not willing to pay that much.

 

I've heard some good sounding Mcintosh based systems (2ch), but if you pay attention to synergy you can build a decent sounding system out of almost anything. If memory serves they almost always use output transformers, even on their solid state stuff which gives them a kind of niche sound in the market. Some Friends around here use their amps on certain headphones (synergy).

Value? Well they do price on the upper end of the market, but only you can answer the wallet question...

 

Modern McIntosh is pretty focused on brick and mortar stores and real reluctant to allow online dealers sell their product. I liked the products when I worked at TSAV but never copped any units for myself since I always thought if I copped, what else could I have bought for the same price in headphone world.

They have constantly been traded around, became independent again only to be bought up years later. They have been slowly adapting to the times, owned Sonus Faber for a while now as part of the McIntosh Group and others before their most recent buy out. Sonus Faber really good and efficient at building speakers, McIntosh not their specialty but McIntosh makes a product in every category. The newest XRT1.1K I help assemble with a colleague at TSAV years back, he remarked how they were so much easier to assemble and seemed better built compared to the XRT1K. When we looked at the box, big "Made in Italy" text there. McIntosh slowly realized, why build speakers in USA when you own a speaker brand from Italy focused on building speakers.

 

have you ever actually listened to any McIntosh gear?

 

I love vintage Mac equipment from pretty much every era (late 40s to early 80s). I am so far gone from hi-fi but if I was ever to get back into it I would buy and carefully restore some vintage Mac pieces. I like the aesthetics, the rizz, the touch of class. The sound ranges from fantastique (MC30s, 20W-2, C8, C20, MR67) to very agreeable (MC2205, MA5100, C26). Just like old Fender's and Gibson's they will only continue to appreciate in value.

A great online resource: http://www.roger-russell.com/aboutmc.htm

 

Yes I have countless of times. From the 70s stuff to their more modern stuff. Every single time I just shake my head when I get told the price.

 

That's different bro... You read one of their headphone amps was interesting, but you're not willing to buy it. cool. But now you've heard countless pieces of their gear? I'm just confused - maybe just list off a couple pieces of McIntosh gear you've heard.

 

I like this. While McIntosh products never sound egregious I wouldn't put them on a shortlist of hifi electronics brands.

 

Bro you think I will remember every single Mac product? No, I can’t. However, for the products that I listed to none of them sounded like shit. However, all of that interest goes away when I found out the MSRP of these products. My interest goes down to zero with me saying “I could get similar sound for less since these products are overpriced.”

Let me put it this way: All the Mc stuff locally are sold by ultra high end dealers who are aiming for the ultra rich old farts. That’s why the dealers other product lines are pricey that can run high five figures to six figures. At least locally, those who have the Mc stuff that I listed to were those with big government pensions working for someone like the CIA or made millions up north.

 

Sparking a gold flaked joint with a Dupont Line 2 lighter

 

Sitting on a gold toilet, getting peed on by Russian hookers...

 

hello,

once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away... i sold a car to buy a 2 channel system.

my then wife and i (wife #1) went to Magnolia Hi-Fi on Roosevelt (the then mothership) for their blow out sale.

i wanted: a Mac receiver, a B&O tangential turntable and Dahlquist DQ10"s. alas, only two of these three ended up with us, the Dahlquist were sold out and we ended up with some B&O's instead.

wife #1 was a violinist, she was invited to play with the national symphony in her home country in Central America, she declined and attended university in the U.S.

music was very close to her heart. i had earlier dragged her to the original Definitive Audio location (across from the cemetery) to audition the Fulton J Modular loudspeakers. (absolutely un-obtainum for us.)

i had purchased a Deutsche Gramophone recording of some Beethoven symphony with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert Von Karajan, as that was the stuff she liked.

her comment on the J Modular: "This is very frustrating, I can hear them, but I can't see them." meaning the orchestra.

when our new system came home, i set it up rather clumsily, but noticed one channel was cutting out. a Magnolia rep visited us, confirmed the problem, and got us a new receiver.

back in the day McIntosh Labs sent reps out on the road to certify McIntosh products, and test other makers stuff for a modest fee. my receiver was rated at 75 wpc on the spec sheet, it tested out at over 100 wpc with the lab rep.

the kicker: i came home one afternoon to hear the last notes of the DGM recording decaying in our living room, wife #1 was in tears (of joy) in front of our system.

this shit is over-priced, over-hyped, aimed at the OFAS, over-built, over-engineered, and worth every penny, if you can afford it.

this is hardware that serves music.

ymmv.

cheers!

 

@dubharmonic can attest the the MHA150 and Susvara. I'd love to hear that combo based on his experience.

 

After 7 years with the MHA150 here’s my take on McIntosh priorities:

• Top notch support network: you’ll never have trouble getting help or repair on any model from the last 75 years
• Flashy casework: They've said themselves that a decent amount of time and money go into the chrome and glass
• Sound tuning: walks the line between making great recordings sound great and bad recordings sound their best

I’m a big fan of the tuning and the VU meters!

 

Overrated but also overhated. I think I haven't ever heard a downright bad Mac system.

 

So, McIntosh were part of the lines that I “raced” back in 1990 (along with CJ, AR, Classe, Spectral, Levinson, and Classe’) to drive my “chosen” speakers (Apogee Duetta Signatures). As others have poster here, their gear (then, for ME) did NOT suck.

But, for me and my priorities (I’ve always measured against the sound of proper/minimally miked, LIVE, acoustic music in real spaces - preferably halls that I’ve been to many times, etc.). With that caveat, here’s the “order” I had put them in, again back in 1990. I mixed and matched over the course of over a year (at both the dealer, and once I had the speakers, also at home.

1. Classe’
2. ARC
3. CJ
4. Krell
5. Levinson
6. Spectral
7. McIntosh

The Classe’ synergy (Amp and preamp were $7K new) with each other was epic, both were better together. The Preamp I liked the most was the SP11, but, it didn’t synergize with any amp to work “right” with my Apogees. I have Krell through McIntosh so low for reasons:
1. Spectral just sounded (to me) like metal floss scraping between my ears
2. McIntosh was just too “tubey” (then) and their amp that could control the Apogees was insanely expensive
3. Levinson was simultaneously too expensive and too dark (for me)
4. Krell was too cold/clinical

It was close for my “top 3” but I went with Classe’ after a LOT of consideration. I decided that whilst I loved the CJ tubey sound, it just wasn’t “right” for the Apogees, etc… the SP11 was just too much money, but only “synched” with the AR SS amps, and I just didn’t love their sound.

McIntosh is undeniably expensive, and there is other gear at similar and slightly lower price points that can - in many cases for many people - deliver musical synergy and involvement. It is absolutely gorgeous gear; hell, wanted it since I was 13 and saw the pics in catalogs.

Keep in mind that at the time of my system changeover (it was around $17K in 1990 dollars), my rig was an Oracle Delphi, Koetsu cartridge on SME309II arm, into an AR SP3 (and then SP6), feeding an Adcom 555 I’d modified, then bi-wiring into Vandersteen 2C’s. I have NO bias to/for/against tubes; it’s all about fit for purpose measured to ME.

If I were asked to create a McIntosh only system today and it was paid for, I’d be curious if they yet build an Amp that can handle/not mangle my Apogees. For any other/easier speaker, I’m sure they are quite good.

My $.02

 

All other things being equal, that is a huge recommendation for the listener that wants to buy once. Or, at least, those that keep their gear for multiple years, and are fuelled by the music, not the search for better gear. I could live with that.

(Oh, I hate vu meters. Are they of any practical use at all on a domestic amplifier? Seriously? And I hate fake digital ones even more. At least the real ones have a certain charm to the mechanism.)