Amp / Pre-Amp for Sonus Faber Serafino

Are you saying that McIntosh is technically inept and you are the know all, end all?

George, its always the same old story with you regarding McIntosh.  If you don't care for them, that's your business.  When you steer someone away from it because of your beliefs which don't seem to match McIntosh's beliefs, you do that person a disservice.  They may actually like their equipment.

Why am I technically inept, please enlighten me?  I am not an electronics engineer nor a DIY guy but I am curious as to why you think that?

McIntosh is shown often driving SF speakers and get good reviews. I wouldn’t pay too much attention to what George said regarding the output transformers.  McIntosh has been using them for 70 years and if it wasn’t any good, no one would buy their equipment and they would not still make them.  It is those transformers that gives McIntosh their house sound. 

Sorry Dave, but I never heard a Krell I liked and T & A doesn't tempt me.  I have been into this hobby before you were born (I think) and after 50+ years of buying equipment and always upgrading, I realized I should have bought McIntosh since day one.  I had the same attitude everyone else seems to have regarding Mac, but that all changed when I took a chance on a used MA6600 200wpc integrated amp that I purchased at Audio Classics.  When I inserted I into my secondary system, for me it was a wow moment.

My personal taste runs to the warm side of neutral and I do not care for the overly detailed sound.  The Mac MA6600 is a perfect match for my GE Triton Ones.  I liked McIntosh so much I bought one of their SACD players and a Tuner which replaced a highly regarded Magnum Dynalab.  
My main system at that time had just received the GE Triton Reference speakers and using my Conrad Johnson MF2550 (250wpc) amp made the entire system sound slow, thick and syrupy with no defined highs.  I found myself hardly playing the system, so I bought a McIntosh power amp, tube preamp and their top tuner, again all from Audio Classics.  It was another Wow moment and I am thrilled beyond thrilled.  I ended selling off the Conrad Johnson amp, Rogue RP5 tube preamp and Magnam Dynalab MD102 tuner and recouped some of my money.. Back from 1970 until 1985, I was an audio salesman in a mom and pop store and although we sold a lot of mid fi, we did sell Accuphase, Bozak, Rectilinear, Empire plus others I can't remember.   I am telling you this so that you don't think I am someone who doesn't know how or what to listen for and  who is clueless about putting together a fine sounding system.

On Sunday, someone from the Gon stopped by my house to pick something up.  He has Pass equipment plus a lot of other expensive  pieces.  He kept saying how unbelievable my system sounded and was raving about the imaging.   This guy also had McIntosh at one time but sold it and purchased Pass equipment.  His parting words were that he never got that kind of sound from his Mac system and never knew how good the McIntosh equipment really was.


Peace...………….

George, we all are entitled to our opinions.  McIntosh has sold tens of thousands of their amps with auto transformers over their 70 year run.  With yours and Audio Doctors way of thinking, we McIntosh owners must all be deaf.  That is your right to think that and I apologize for the attack in my first post.  It wasn't warranted.

CORRECTION

I stated above I never heard a Krell I liked, but it isn't so.  I once was loaned a 50wpc Class A Krell in the early 90's time or so.  The amp was warm sounding with a lot of oomph behind it.  I had forgotten about that amp.  If I had the dough at the time I would have bought it.  I was using a Classe' amp at the time.  Sorry for the confusion.

David, I never said my McIntosh was better than Pass, nor did he. He said he never heard a McIntosh system ( mine) sound so unbelievably good. He said he couldn’t get his McIntosh system to sound anything like mine.  He moved on to Pass.  
I am not going to discuss the virtues of Mac over other brands. McIntosh does for me what I want to get out of my system.  I am thrilled and don’t think about upgrades.   For the past year or so I have enjoyed my system every day and I play usually 4-5 hours listening to it and some days much more.  

I’m out of this conversation.  You know the old saying,  “You can’t beat a dead horse.”