McIntosh - is it that great?

Mixed bag for me. I had one that put on my HD800s and was rocking out to them. Another was over when I had the Atrium loaner and commented they lacked bass which completely threw me. Other reactions have ranged from meh to shrug. In retrospect a lot of those reactions mirrored the relationship LOL. But my setup lacks large speakers so it doesn't give the appearance of utterly exuberant spending so I don't remember a lot of sticker shock

 

The girls I'm into think dorkiness is attractive and being into something niche and really passionate about it is attractive. Especially as they see how involved I am making my own headphones and how much I think about it and how much it means to me.

But I could see them being very unattracted to simple gear hoarders- gear of any type. I mean the folks that just own a million headphones for the sake of it like medals on a wall or something and have rooms full of gear setup but no furniture. I've got a lot of gear right now, but it's not permanent. I can't go to meets to listen to gear, so the only way I can test amps is to buy them and then sell them. Going to be selling a lot of amps soon. And getting. some cool new ones

 

I remember the Roosevelt store of that era and those Dahlquist DQ10 which I also wanted but they weren't available. I also wished I could have afforded McIntosh but as a student with modest means of income, a Marantz 2270 was the receiver I could afford.

Also heard the Fulton J Modulars at that Definitive Audio when they were located across from the cemetary. Likewise couldn't afford them. Ended up with ESS towers from Magnolia instead. Did get an ERA turntable with Formula 4 tonearm and Stanton 681EE cartridge from Definitive. That, the 2270 and ESS towers served me well for many years.

If earlier I had been able to acquire a McIntosh C22 and MC240, I would likely still have those today even though they would have required re-capping and re-lamping many times.

 

I've heard 2 headphone amps, 1 pre, 2 power amp and i have to say i really like the way they look, the way they are built and the sound they provide, but i would never, ever buy one. It's a very low price/performance ratio with them.

 

hello,
@Walderstorn, as noted, this shit is way, way, way overpriced. and worth every penny, if you can afford it.
buy once, and then be done.
ymmv.
cheers!

 

FWIW, YMMV, and all the other caviats.

I bought a Mac 4100 and thought it was soft, fuzzy and out of focus. It was that older Cadillac-ride 70's equipment vibe and honestly I'm more into the newer detailed HiFi sound than the older softer limp dick hifi of the 70s.

I paid about $900 to have it fully gone through and recapped and anything at all that they found that should change, they changed it.

When I got it back, it was still that codeine-fueled soft fuzzy HiFi that I associate with the 70s.

I like more energy, more resolution, less softness in my sound. I sold it after trying to adjust to it for a bit.

Incidentally, when I first got my everyday speakers they were the same. After replacing the mid and tweeter (compression drivers) and the crossover network, and allowing for proper break in time, the speakers are super revealing and have excellent technicalities. I have to tame them with gear that dials things back so they're not just scalpels.

When having the right synergy in the system I get all the technicalities while still having it easy on the ears.

Maybe McIntosh is just a little TOO easy on the ears for me, and when dropped into a crazy system they help balance it out, but Mac seems like the Cadillac suspension product and that's not a great match for everyone. Some people like a little more hyper reality with their music playback.

 

Short version:
Most McIntosh amps I've heard have been between a 6 or 7/10 for me. This is a 6 or 7 on a bell curve, with 5 being average, not 60% meaning D student who isn't going to get their diploma or degree. Of the best and worse, I have never heard a McIntosh amp that was above a 7.5-8 / 10 but more amazingly, have never heard one below a 5.5/10 for me (again, all bell curve).

For my personal taste, I would buy a McIntosh amp for the fact that it won't be bad in any scenario I would realistically encounter, not because "it's the best".

Long version:
Have heard a moderate amount of McIntosh amps, mostly within the last 15 years, but a little vintage as well, at various stores / dealers around the US and world with very different gear in front / behind the amps with very different music. And the most impressive part to me is that I've NEVER heard a McIntosh amp sound bad, even if it was not "the absolute best thing here". And often times, I find out later that "the absolute best" was only the best because of synergy and that 8.5/10 becomes a 3.5/10 in a different chain... or just costs way more than the McIntosh.

Also, when I wanted the RAAL SR1a (before realizing that I just can't make it fit my head) - I didn't try A LOT of amps, but of the 6 or so I did try, I actually thought the McIntosh amp (don't remember the model) was the best one I heard with the SR1a. Including against 2 amps that were more expensive than the McIntosh.

Pricing:
I will also agree with what others are saying - expensive for the segment products, but dealers and McIntosh themselves will fully and openly admit that they're relatively expensive for the segment and that you are definitely paying extra for the looks, backlit VU meters, large support network, having it made in the USA (when applicable), having hand wound transformers (and some other similar details), etc.

Even with all of the above, although I haven't done a component by component analysis of a McIntosh amp before, I've never looked inside of one and off the top of my head thought "there's no way to justify the pricing here".

Lastly, a big part that only YMO has touched upon - I think McIntosh knows where they sit in the market. I am 99.99% sure that they know a lot of their customers are going to be ORFAS thinking "McIntosh or bust" the moment they walk into the store without actually knowing why McIntosh is supposed to make their 572nd remaster of whatever Eagles album that much better. If anything, I bet they would a lot of this business in the long run if they started making their gear significantly cheaper. I'm also sure they COULD choose to have a 2nd line of "cheaper stuff" or more expensive "custom shop" stuff, but it probably isn't worth it to them.

Other stuff:
With their "other stuff", I haven't liked it as much as their amps, but I reserve further judgement as my overall experience here is still somewhat limited.

 

I bought an MA6100 from a tech probably four or five years ago. He had gone through it and said if it needed replaced he replaced it, and If not, he left it alone. It really is a beautiful piece. Sonically, it has never competed with my primary system which has always consisted of separates and often either a combination of class A solid state and tubes.

However, it is just a relatively low power integrated amp that is older than I am. It has bettered the other solid state integrated units that I have owned including a Rega Brio R and Outlaw Audio RR2160. It also sounds better than any of my friends’ systems…of course none of them have “the bug” and just get their stuff from Best Buy. I doubt any of the above will be worth anything or even function in 40 years, unlike the Mac.

I have no idea how an equally expensive all Mac system would sound next to a competing system in the same price bracket. I have never had the opportunity to hear one. I would imagine there is a lot of competition there. I can also see why some are turned off by a brand that markets itself as a lifestyle brand.

 

I think like everything in the hobby, it comes down to synergy and your ears.

The MHA200 is magic for my Utopia’22 and Yggdrasil A2 (with Freya+ diff buffer in between, and Yggdrasil eating gourmet Urd bits). Does that make it magic for everyone? No. Some folks don’t even like Yggdrasil A2.

There is a house sound for sure. The soundstage puts the vocals up front and “in your face”, and they do like to separate the rest out and back. Their stuff is really quiet (as in the devices themselves) and the blackground is remarkable.

 

I’ve owned and traded a bunch of the ‘more modern’ McIntosh amps and preamps. Nothing vintage SS. I buy used and have been able to sell these things for more than I bought them. Negative cost of ownership is hard to pull off with other brands. Sure they’re expensive to purchase initially but they hold their value over time.

Not all McIntosh pieces sound great. I had a pair of MC 601’s and a C 2200 that just didn’t do it for me. Smallish soundstage, not great timbre. Off they went.

Now I have a C 1100 and MC 2301’s that I really like. I’m sure there are better but these do it for me.

If I have a problem Dave or Sharon are a phone call away and always helpful.