As a current McIntosh owner in my late 20s, I have found the RIGHT pieces in the RIGHT combination to be one of the better values out there. Scoff if you like, but I am a fan. As so many have said, if it works for you, great - if you can't see the appeal, that's fine too.
One thing I'll say - my wife is constantly ribbing me (half-seriously, by the way) that "there's really no difference between all of my 'stereo boxes' and the sound out of our computer speakers.. it's just LOUDER." The first time she walked into the room after I unboxed and hooked up my MA7000 Mc integrated, she looked, paused, and said, "well, it sure is pretty," before just as quickly leaving the room.
I count that as a win. Even if it is visual approval from my wife - that has to say something, haha!
Regardless, some of the pricing has gotten ridiculous. I was excited to see the introduction of the MB50, a streaming music player with balanced outputs and all. As a 'millennial' I am interested in getting into lossless streaming, etc. How better to do so than with McIntosh? But after seeing that this 8" wide box with two antennas on the back, weighing in at 10 lbs or so will retail for about $5,000.. are you kidding me?
Let's not alienate the next generation of enthusiasts (me) with 1000% markups. For now, if I want to venture into streaming, I'll buy a Sonos unit and a halfway decent external DAC.
One thing I'll say - my wife is constantly ribbing me (half-seriously, by the way) that "there's really no difference between all of my 'stereo boxes' and the sound out of our computer speakers.. it's just LOUDER." The first time she walked into the room after I unboxed and hooked up my MA7000 Mc integrated, she looked, paused, and said, "well, it sure is pretty," before just as quickly leaving the room.
I count that as a win. Even if it is visual approval from my wife - that has to say something, haha!
Regardless, some of the pricing has gotten ridiculous. I was excited to see the introduction of the MB50, a streaming music player with balanced outputs and all. As a 'millennial' I am interested in getting into lossless streaming, etc. How better to do so than with McIntosh? But after seeing that this 8" wide box with two antennas on the back, weighing in at 10 lbs or so will retail for about $5,000.. are you kidding me?
Let's not alienate the next generation of enthusiasts (me) with 1000% markups. For now, if I want to venture into streaming, I'll buy a Sonos unit and a halfway decent external DAC.