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Disappointing On Mcintosh......help

 3 Months ago  I went to NYC and stopped by the WOM  and auditioned several MCintosh gear...........and left a bit disappointed or not impressed...then I told myself   " lets give a second shot"  and went today to a  HIFI store and again Good room accoustics10K speakers , MC Preamp , MC Amplifier........ and again  the same disappointment I felt 3 month earlier.

Is that the "warm" sound people reffer to about Mcintosh?  
The sound is ample, base is powerfull  but the the sound is simply  not to clear, the hights are not too "crisp"  It sounds like the treble is set at 3 and needs to be adjusted at 9 or 10.
It seems like  the sound is  coming through a thin layer of paper ...that is the way I describe that sound.  

Then 20 minutes later I auditioned a Parasound A21+ and a JC5 and the sound was more clear and the highs were crispier

Whats your take on my experience?  or That is the MC "warm sound? 
128x128cydrone
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Some say the Paradigm Persona speaker is bright and hard to listen to, I heard the 3F paired with a McIntosh and it sounded anything but bright very detailed smooth sound I loved it but I am sure others would hate it that's  what makes the audio world go round so buy what you like.
vegasears
1,173 posts
 
I only have a C2500 pre-amp.   It's sounded slightly muddy with stock McIntosh branded JJ tubes when I fired it up for the first time.  I put in Gold Lion 12AX7's solved my issues.
heyanming
26 posts
 
I have MC152, and I also had Benchmark AHB2 and Hegel H20 before. Overall MC152 is better than both in my system. AHB2 is accurate but lacks emotion and soundstage. H20 has stronger bass but not clean as the MC152. My speaker is KEF R7.
hsw
37 posts
 
Best McIntosh demo I’ve heard is at Noho Sound with their multi piece preamp, mono blocks, TAD DAC and large TAD speakers. Consider checking them out the next time you are in NYC. The WOM house looks gorgeous design wise. I haven’t been but would like to check it out sometime. 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
cydrone
Is that the "warm" sound people reffer to about Mcintosh?  
The sound is ample, base is powerfull but the the sound is simply not to clear, the hights are not too "crisp" It sounds like the treble is set at 3 and needs to be adjusted at 9 or 10.
It seems like the sound is coming through a thin layer of paper ...that is the way I describe that sound.  

Then 20 minutes later I auditioned a Parasound A21+ and a JC5 and the sound was more clear and the highs were crispier

Whats your take on my experience? or That is the MC "warm sound?
It's why a tube amp's most challenging/degrading component is it's output transformer, (and why Mac's sound like that). Why OTL's kill them but also have their own problems

They're (Mac's) are soft and cuddly, dynamically challenged, and frequency extreme neutered.
Why someone would want to put an output transformer on a "perfectly good designed" solid state amp, is a wonder.
All it serves to do is make it sound like the above tubes, does make it bomb proof though, or it can also hide that the solid state amp is a bad design without the use of the transformer. 

Cheers George  
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