Are mcintosh rca and xlr cables any good.

Are. Compared to what?

Transparent Ultra cables

No experience with McIntosh, but I did own Transparent.

IMHO, way overpriced, and uses a rather dubious Network box. As far as sound quality goes- Meh-especially when considering how much I spent.

But, hey, if they sound good in your system, then more power to you.

Which begs the question-What is in your system?

Bob

What’s not to like, gold plating is to die for! If you own McIntosh components they will be the ideal match! 

“McIntosh premium audio cables are engineered to optimize the performance of our amplifiers, preamplifiers, source components and speakers…..the construction quality of McIntosh audio cables has to be of the highest order since they are built to match the renowned longevity of McIntosh products.”

Do you know who makes there cables, I understand they are made by clear audio

Thought it is Tributaries.

I believe it is Tributaries as well. They are kind of pricey but if you search around you can usually find them used for a reasonable price. I do not own any but they seem well made. 

McIntosh turntables are indeed Clearaudio, and the cables are Tributaries. One should remember that McIntosh Labs is a bastion of objectivist engineering types.  They make very good gear, but aren’t into magical thinking. The cables are well made, but subscribe to no unproven principles of signal propagation. 

Once I had Mcintosh xlr cables on loan (not sure is there many or just one model), from dealer, as I needed longer run and cables from other brands were not available to me at that moment. The system was Dcs Puccini w clock, Arc Ref 3 and Avantgarde Acoustic active speakers.

I’ ve read that they are made by some other company and I tried them out of curiosity. Dcs can be quite ruthless sounding machine, so I needed a cable that would not ’open’ the sound more (lets say, like some silver AQ) and in that regard the Mcintosh were ok. I would say that their ’character’ is on the warmer side, they might suit gear that is very resolving and that perhaps needs little ’taming’, but are not the last word in transparency or speed. I do not remeber their exact price any more, but I would say that they might compare with copper cables costing around 1k or little bit less new (with AQ prices as referent point) They are ok but nothing special...