McIntosh -- good for show, not for sound, says dealer

@mikepowellaudio ,

good riddance

Wow, I wish you well Mr Mike.

Regards

@mikepowellaudio

The claims you made in the video were quoted, verbatim. They were outrageous. You got some over-the-line flak, here, but there were others who defended you and others who made specific points about what you said. But rather than own up to what you said -- or man up and try to defend it -- you’d rather pull a middle-school move and say it was just an "opinion"? To disparage this forum and its members?

Taking the nasty, dodgy route just highlights your true character. Future customers might want to look out for Stereo11. They might get insulted, or worse.

Don't be coy. You want the views, the subscribers, the clicks, the love. Your channel has 12.8k subscribers and your video got 5.3k views in a little over a week. Like it or not, you’re beyond single dude with an opinion. You’re playing a professional businessman. It’s time to grow up.

Bless his heart. 

i made the post below a few days ago on the thread that was started showing ocd hifi guy’s video about 1% etc etc... shortly after i made this post, the thread was deleted -- i don’t know if it was my particular post, or the comments made by others, that led to the thread deletion

i have been asked to repost my experience by those who saw it the other day... and thus i do so here

i make no further commentary, but wanted to share the experience i had, trying to make a small purchase

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

a month ago i got a set of maggie 1.7i’s... really enjoying them... read about the rear fuse bypass etc etc, figured i would try that, so i find this fellow’s site, with his jumper and fuse rod kit, $107... so i order it, pay at time of order (he is in texas or georgia i believe, i am in california)

a week goes by, no update, no reply, no shipment progress, no tracking number, just silence

i send him an email, hey there just checking in, here is my order #, did the order ship yet? silence

wait couple more days, send him a second email (two email addresses are prominently shown on his site, on his order confirmation, rec’d at the time of my order and payment)... crickets

three days later, given i had paid using paypal, i file a case to get the transaction reviewed... two days later, i get an email reply:

Theres a backorder on pure silver from our supplier. My apology for not reading your email. Have you tried calling ? I know its an old technique but I dont sit at a desk any longer it makes me ill.. Call me old school but the phone is what works best for me. I have changed the website to no longer take orders for whats not in stock. The demand has fully overwhelmed my ability to supply based on the raw materials availability from my vendor, so I apologize.

The silver jumpers should be here this coming week I hope. could be as much as 2 weeks. So let me know if youd like a refund now or can just be patient with all the others waiting for this product. It will be fulfilled for sure. Clearly you did not search the net to see if theres even one time in 23 years of doing this as a career that Ive stolen anyones money ... I dont do that ... I also am not Amazon with 24 hour delivery... But I think I will be now... This PP dispute will cause me to eliminate the possibility to order unless Ive got them in stock and Ill make them in batches from time to time and inventory will be listed on the site .

Mike Powell

my answer...

Don’t mind waiting Mike. Just need communication.

Most things are bought online these days, and order status, inventory status should be shown, along with leadtimes. Especially long lead-times. Yes Amazon Prime has spoiled us. And there is Covid and supply chain disruptions. But a vendor still needs to communicate. It isn’t on the buyer, it’s on the seller. So why do you imply it is my fault to not call you? The burden is misplaced.

I am glad the dispute got your attention to even get a response. But why did it have to come to that?

Steve

it has been another 8 days, no reply

paypal writes me, says they reviewed the case, issued me a refund

i got other jumpers and solid copper rod to bypass the maggies, improvement is minor but noticeable

no value judgments or commentary... just what happened... end of story

Thanks Steve. I missed that story first time around, and it's very telling.

Well. That was fun.

@jjss49 thanks for sharing that experience.

It’s one thing to display an arrogant, know-it-all attitude on a YouTube channel. Let’s face it, these days you have to sometimes scream to be heard (or clicked). It’s a hard life for these social media “influencers”. 😄

But in Mikes case, he appears to be under the delusion that screaming and insulting his customers, in a niche business where word of mouth is EVERYTHING, would somehow work great for his business!
 

Reading his rant above and his unique communication style with customers (as evident by what you shared), I’m now convinced this dudes a shoddy businessman and may have been rejected by McIntosh for representing their brand. He clearly didn’t take well to that rejection!  😂

@jjss49 Your reported exchange with Stereo11’s Mr. Powell shows that his irascibility and petulance -- exhibited in his videos and in his posts on this forum -- can extend to his dealings with customer. To quote Maya Angelou again, "When someone shows you who they are...believe them."

Those who have gotten good service from Stereo11 have their experience and, judging from his YouTube comments, he has lots of fanboys willing to attack anyone who questions him. But fanboys on YouTube does not a business model make.

He’s flailing. He’s angry. And pouring it out on others isn’t helping. He’s crapping in his own back yard. If he has any friends out there reading this, he needs an intervention. Go help him.

His physical appearance pretty much tells me what I need to know. He looks very unkept and non-professional. I know you can’t always judge a book by its cover but in this case I think it’s obvious. His character is crap and being a dealer he never should go online much less a YouTube video and bash a company. Just not good business and shows severe lack of social skills.

FYI, from another thread (Your single most significant purchase mistake?)

benzman

233 posts

02-12-2022 10:41am

Biggest mistake was dealing with Mike Powell   Bought a pair of AGD Tempo GAN amps and just didn’t work out in my system. Sent them back within 3 weeks of the 30 day trial and he said he spent my money. He pieced me back the 9k over a 10 week period while calling me names, and dogging my system. 
The dude is just the worse dealer by far I have ever dealt with….stay away

If he's so overwhelmed, maybe he should concentrate a little more on his business and not making YouTube videos.

Mac way overpriced, glitter audio gear! Looks great, sounds ok! Not great! No value proposition! 
 

McIntosh overpriced! Underperforming! Legacy Design!

@kaplandesign ,

Did you ever own any Mac or is that your blanket statement?  Just what do you have?

I hope Mike Powell Audio goes out of business. Reading his posts, it's obvious he's a scumbag. If that's how he deals with his customers, it's amazing he's lasted this long. 

I read a lot of reviews from people expressing regret waiting so long to get a McIntosh.  So I splurged and made the plunge.  My brother calls it my mid-life -crisis stereo.  Whatever, it sounds great and the blue meters add a little panache to the space, like a glowing piece of art.  I plan to keep mine forever.

And as far as performance, I can pick out a poor recording or weak mastering technique, and I can pick out the difference between mp3 and CD quality.  Beyond that I can’t hear the difference and will am happy to remain blissfully ignorant.

I hope everyone enjoys their audio pursuit, I’m feeling like my system is pretty dialed in at the moment.  Cheers!

kaplandesign, you are a no value proposition. No idea of wat you're talking about and no value at any price. 

This thread is hilarious! Two things I have learned reading this threat while listening to my McIntosh MC462…. “Buy Mac don’t look back” and “denafrips won’t get you laid”, wise words lol!

Mac is expensive relatively compared to others in UK so although I love the look.... I bought UK made at first for value for money but have since gone Japanese for amps with a class luxman...

And as pretty as my amp is.... The mac is sure purdier 

If Mac stuff is so bad, why was my friend able to sell his piece of equipment at 100% profit? lol Why is there always a thread like this? makes me wonder. LMAO. they must be doing something right.

My suggestion is do not wait so long. Buy your MAC earlier in your life because you will ultimately go in that direction anyways.  Its just a matter of time and wasted money spent.

I take it that smaller one take-away from this whole exchange is that it's a turn off to see dealers who don't carry a particular brand (McIntosh, Magico, Wilson, are the video's examples) try to boost what they sell by dismissing or denigrating another brand. @kaplandesign -- you clearly carry good brands, as evidenced here:

https://www.kaplanhtdesign.com/Brands.html

But you're engaging in McIntosh bashing on this thread. So, maybe you do believe what you're saying based on experience; ok, I'll stipulate that for the sake of argument.

The objection argued for here is that your position as a seller of competing brands, you're better off -- you, your business is better off --  taking the high road and not denigrating what is effectively your competition. 

Here is your opportunity to retract your comments and apologize, or double down and be lumped together with the Mike Powell Scorched-Earth-Business-Strategy.

It isn't a requirement to love Mac, or ANY brand / product.

Why people get soooo bent out of shape when the gear they own isn't praised by someone else.  Who the hell cares?

Certainly, stating obvious incorrect facts or just being a plain troll/shill is different, but people buy and stick with what they have because they like it.  That is all that matters.

It would be pretty damn boring if we all had the same gear, same tastes etc..

It isn’t a requirement to love Mac, or ANY brand / product.

That seems eminently defensible. Very, very safe thing to claim.

It would be pretty damn boring if we all had the same gear, same tastes etc..

This, too, is very, very true. Almost tautologically true. 

WoW this thread is like "ctrl-alt-delete" for my post.

Come to think of it a LOT of my post are being disappeared

I gotta find a new place to hang my hat.. 

Canada? You guys got any room up there? I'll bring my own money and job how's that? I can learn to understand French, speaking it, I don't think so.. You guys got a "Statue of Liberty" somewhere? I love maple syrup. Moose not so much..

I like Canadian and Australian actors too.. I want to start a Vanilla and Truffle Trade and call it the "Something".

They got the corner on Canadian Bacon too. I wonder why?
Canadian Bacon, Truffle, Vanilla and Canadian Goose eggs, (they got the corner on that one too.) Come to think of it Canada sounds pretty good except for the snow.

Maybe I could hunt up Master M and we could go on Tour.

"Embedding you System" I'll bring pictures of the Rabbit and Dog..

Say they got crawdads up there?

I'll bring my Mcintosh gear with me (on TOPIC)

Now why would they "ctrl-alt-delete" this post. :-)

Regards (respectful)

When I decided to splurge and buy my final preamp and get all the features I wanted I made a mental list.
home theater bypass function

built in good quality DAC

a topnotch phono stage

balanced output

ability to rename inputs and disable unused inputs

input name display clearly visible from across the room (hate little led dots under tiny labels)

tone and balance controls

The two least expensive preamps I found that I could order that had all that were the Anthem STR and the Mcintosh C49.  The Anthem was $4200 and the Mac was $5000.  I ended up buying the one made in America with a sterling reputation for service.  In addition to all the above, it has two separately switched and buffered outputs, a fixed record out, 3 12v triggers, 2 of which can be programmed to come on with an input or inputs,  a 12v input from an AVR or AV processor that automatically puts it in HT passthrough.  It helps that it looks great.

$5000 doesn’t seem like a bargain and you can certainly get things that sound  as good for less money.  However, nothing I could find has all those features for significantly less.

I’ll let Mike Campbell speak for me on this.  

After watching this thread go back and forth, and the OP taking both sides as "the messenger", I'd like to ask the Op to explain this statement from the original post that is his own:

"More unvarnished truth from YouTube" - hilde45
Definition from Dictionary.com: Unvarnished - Plain, Clear, Straightforward. 

So, is OCD Mikey's opinion the truth or not? You did call him out later, but to me it appears that you agreed with him early on or at least just wanted to start another McIntosh bash thread for self serving purposes. Prove me wrong and go on the record with your position and why stating McIntosh specific gear and experience. If I missed it in the thread, my apologies. I believe this thread has demonstrated that McIntosh owners are tired of being bashed with generic blanket statements and have made their position known. So, Op, what is yours?

"Who actually buys from this man?" @roxy54, I do. I'll be replacing my PrimaLuna EVO400 Power Amplifier with NAT Audio Generator monoblocks. I'm also upgrading my Dyna PAS-3X preamplifier with a NAT Audio Symmetrical. Mikey assures me I'll be completely satisfied. I'm really looking forward to it! It'll be a fun road trip to pick up the gear, hang out, and listen to his AMAZING system!

I must admit that in the past, having a visually cool-looking system was one of my considerations but over the last couple of years, I've been focused on attaining the best sonics that I can.

I think having a local HiFi group has influenced and sped up that direction as well. One of the benefits I have is the ability to try other gear in my system and go to other local audiophiles' homes to listen to their rigs. Currently, we have 7 local guys who have nice systems, several of them with multiple systems. One guy has a system valued at 500k. He has VAC Statement amps, an AMG TT, Magico S7's, and other top gear and cables. I had my Magico A3s before we met and was heading towards improving the sonics of my system. After he hosted a monster 8-hour listening session at his home for several of us, I realized the next day that I wasn't getting everything out of my speakers that I could. 

That's when I consulted Mikey and things progressed from there. Implementing his advice, I rearranged my listening room and changed speaker placement and toe-in. Mikey's not into analog but I also tweaked the VTA of my tonearm and it was as if the sonic puzzle piece fell into place! It was like going to a chiropractor with a painful back and after he adjusts you the pain completely vanishes! The change in sonics was that stark compared to my old layout! Others have said that I don't need to do anything further now, and I would agree but I trust that the changes we are going to make will take my rig to a completely new level. 

No matter what anyone says about him, Mikey is an expert in HiFi. He's backed up that fact. In the latest video he put out, a guy said he's heard the PS Audio system with the Infinity towers and basically said there was no comparison to Mikey's rig.

I'm looking forward to benefiting from his HiFi experience and passion every time I put on an album!

@stephens770 It was sarcasm. "Unvarnished" added to "truth" was hyperbole meant to convey irony. I have no "purposes." Sorry it wasn’t clearer. I'd hope that your reading of my other posts make the case (to you, to others) that the video is ridiculous, irresponsible nonsense. No way for a dealer to behave.

Good for you vuch. Lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas my Dad always said.

@roxy54, I guess your dad never had good dogs.

@mikepowellaudio As someone who values justice and fairness and not making unfair and unwarranted assumptions I have the following to say:

I have done business with Mike Powell on two occasions since I got back into this hobby several years ago. First was several years ago when I bought his Maggie silver upgrades for my Maggie 1.7is. He was professional to work with and always pleasant, available and communicative. The upgrades were great and I highly recommend them. The second time was recently, when I got a good deal on a pair of NIB, sequentially serial numbered Jeff Rowland Model 125 amps. Again, very professional, great to work with, available and communicative. I would definitely do business with Mike again.

Some of you may not like his style. Fine. To each his own. But he tells you what he thinks and doesn’t BS. I would rather listen to him and do business with him than say the Innuos reps I talked to at AXPONA who fed me this BS rationalization about why they use underpowered cheap parts in their Zenith. Mike you exposed their BS and confirmed my suspicions with my Zenith Mk3. I feel that Innuos and possibly other Roon Core server vendors take advantage of us audiophiles with a bunch of hype and BS to sell us a product inferior to a well spec’d NUC for thousands more. I feel like I had been taken advantage of. You like that style? Mike exposed their garbage in one of his videos. He is doing us a service. For those of you with Innuos gear who like it. Great. I am glad you are happy. That is what matters. It’s a hobby.

The point is he gave an honest opinion about McIntosh. You don’t like it? Great. You don’t have to like it. You also don’t have to agree with it. Just don’t be a jerk to Mike because he has a different opinion to you. Don’t we have enough disagreement and vitriol in this country. We have to now bring that into audio? Give me a break. Go listen to some music on your gear, McIntosh or otherwise. You’ll feel better.

And I guess you never had a good dealer, so you don't know how a good one behaves vuch.

Getting tired of the people questioning hilde45's motives. The bigger picture, by maybe 1000 to 1, is Mike Powell's arrogance. And that is coming from someone who normally doesn't believe in the accuracy of reading someone else's mind. (Arrogance.) But Mike has truly crossed a line in this thread. He needs spiritual help and I truly hope he gets it.

DO UNTO OTHERS 

“ You’re holding on to negative feelings and continuing to lash out about him makes it seem like you believe deep down you or your gear is inadequate “

You might be onto something there @vuch 

Birds of a feather. 

Contributing as usually I see. 

No ones feelings got hurt, but there is a point where empathy can.

Mr/Mrs @vuch comes out of no where and you think insulting Mac owners by joining in is a wise move?

As a guy that owns Sansui, Marantz, WE, Mcintosh, VTL, ARC, AR, Cary, Rogue, Pass, Threshold, Sony, Classy, BAT, Dodd, HH Scott, Heath, Fisher, Pioneer, Ampzilla, Krell, ML, First Watt, HK, Victrola, RCA, Philco, Accuphase, Manley Boulder, DIY and a few more I'm pretty sure "inadequate" anything is NOT the issue. 

Mr. Mike made statements that a lot of other folks haven't experienced with Mcintosh. Mac is a lot of things but BAD or MidFi just isn't one of the things they are.

I wish Mr Mike well and all of his customers. I guess insulting folks is one way to pick up certain kinds of customers.

I saw a guy kicking at a dog that was trying to get in the police car with him. The police gave me the dog. I kept him for 12 more years. Hoop the dog. He'll be the third one to lick my face when I get to heaven.

@oldhvymec "Mac is a lot of things but BAD or MidFi just isn't one of the things they are."  To suggest Mac is not even mid class is a bit unfair. It certainly is at level and not below.

@middlemass Thanks.

Let's move on to the poster below who said,

The point is he gave an honest opinion about McIntosh.

Sorry, but that’s not the point of what I have said or what his video was about. You have rendered an oversimplification, a deflection, and obviously so. If what he said was only about a brand, who cares. This is about audiophiles in general, not just about "McIntosh", pro or con. Because he bashes Wilson and Magico, too. Did you hear that part?

Here’s a post where I really try to help those not getting it:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/mcintosh-good-for-show-not-for-sound-says-dealer/post?postid=2341061#2341061

Don’t believe me or my quotes from the transcript? Ok, go -- rewatch the video. You’ll see that McIntosh is just his main whipping boy. Sure, he thinks McIntosh is a very bad value and doesn’t sound good.

But his POINT is that the kind of people who like McIntosh are fooled by the looks, that they’re part of a whole world of audiophiles who think that bling = good audio. He has anointed himself to show people that there are two doors in audio, the "looks good" or the "sounds good" door. He has set himself up as the guru if you want to avoid the false audiophile "looks" door. (Oh, and of course he would never sell that stuff!)

Again, it’s not just about McIntosh. Because that other type of person -- the fool very often taken in by McIntosh, but sometimes by Wilson, Magico, and lots of other brands -- are not true audiophiles.

Lots of cognitive dissonance here for those who had a good experience with him. Mazel tov, bros. You got him on a good day. Not everyone has, as reported here.

Others who review this forum’s thread can make up their mind about whether they want to shovel thousands of $$’s his way. It’s clear he knows a lot about audio but he’s also a seller. He’s made other videos claiming to "just be delivering the truth" and that so many others in audio are just shilling, writing commercially motivated reviews, on the take. He has, in other videos, put himself *above* that. I reacted once on a thread to the conflict of interest he has in claiming that everyone else is just selling but he’s just speaking truth. He derided me, tried to say I was just another audio seller out to ding him. I’m not in the industry. I’m a freakin’ hobbyist. I have a day job completely unrelated to audio. But when people don’t have a real defense for what they said, they turn to attack. If you look at his responses, they’re frequently doing that. That means he has no real defense. Caveat emptor, folks.

@hilde45 - It was sarcasm. "Unvarnished" added to "truth" was hyperbole meant to convey irony. I have no "purposes." Sorry it wasn’t clearer. I'd hope that your reading of my other posts make the case (to you, to others) that the video is ridiculous, irresponsible nonsense. No way for a dealer to behave.

Thank you for that, I for one did take that statement literally. Savvy wordsmiths like yourself can be easily misread when applying sarcasm. And I do, from my perspective think that you have clearly defined your position on the dealer in question and the video. And I do apologize to being testy with you previously.

I still have the question in my mind though. Where does @hilde45 stand not on the dealer in question, his video or statements here; but McIntosh products themselves as well as their sound. I checked out the pics of your room and system, very nice by the way, and saw no Mac. With so many new and low post members like myself showing up here, I can't be the only one wondering where does the Op stand on the products in question? I would appreciate your elevated(being sincere, not sarcastic) position either way on Mac products and their sound.

i know @hilde45 personally, know him outside of this forum

i’m pretty sure he doesn’t have an opinion on mac gear from personal ownership or use, his op was to question the broader point which he just restated - as a high level educator professionally and a burgeoning hifi nerd personally, he is learning about this hobby, the people, the perspectives and attitudes they hold

i also don’t have a personal opinion on mac gear based on recent personal ownership, i haven’t owned a piece for quite some time, the brand, like all good brands, develop new products and move on, advance the gear, functionally, cosmetically and sonically to sustain success - but i know enough from 40 years dedicated to this pursuit where the brand and its products stand in the industry, with customers, and so on

as for mr ocd guy, i would hope that with (or in spite of) his disposition, business practices, commercial decisions on what he carries, and how he markets himself, that he has SOME following... the guy is trying to make a living, dunno how well he is doing at it -- as for the foundational premise @hilde45 is addressing with this thread, that ocd guy is presenting himself as the champion of those who just want pure sonic performance and not looks, frills, eye candy, i’d remind everyone that his main line of amplification is mark levinson... now THAT is truly dripping in irony (if not something much worse)...

as a useful contrast, another industry dealer is audio excellence in canada... for those who don’t know of adrian, vilip et al, i suggest you watch the following videos and others they post on youtube... to me, they are a model of class, likeability, earnestness, as well as deep knowledge (and successful salesmanship)... yes they meander a bit in their discussion, as most enthusiasts do, but i feel their content is always worth watching... to me they are a better, an alternative, and a much more successful way of handling well, just about everything...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nB4N_dfqAo

@jjss49 

+1 recommending the Audio Excellence Canada videos. Those guys are fantastic.  

Are you still here you little SPLAT!!

laoman you and your opinion are like "SWAT SPLAT" mosquitoes. WORTHLESS!
You’d buy from America if you were allowed to. Personally I wouldn’t sell to you, but I would SWAT SPLAT, take a shower and wash you down the DRAIN.

Mad itty bitty man.. Swat spat! SWAT SPLAT! PEST

You may leave now.. Your ignorance is not appreciated nor are you. You're Excused!

Rolex's are worth every penny and almost always go up in value over time, so way better than Mac

I’ve owned a bunch of McIntosh SS gear, and really love the look and feel of them. Just something special about them. Feels damn nice to come home to your Mac, after a long day at the office. But, soundwise … hell… I just don’t know… Honestly, Mac don’t sound very good compared to much other gear I’ve owned. They’re not really best at anything, but ok at most things. I found myself liking pre autoformer Mac’s the best. Latest (and last, I think) i bought was the MA6600. Even my cheapo Zell ZD-200 mk2 soundwise beat the hell out of that one, in every way… But still, every time I see an add for a Mac, I still feel the urge to buy:)