McIntosh - is it that great?

In view of the fact that opinions of audio equipment are circumstantial and (as with virtually all categories of audio-stuff) usually very subjective, you'll find that consensus opinion (especially by high-end gurus) seems to rule. Yet even these "experts" have highly variable opinions. McIntosh equipment is criticized by some and praised by others. However, much of this opinion seems to be based upon the momentum of someone elses previous, often distantly removed, impressions. E.g., recent write-ups of Mac SS amps (in Stereophile for example) have demonstrated surprised praise (class A rating). The most telling remark for me can be paraphrased as such; I guess I haven't listened to any McIntosh for a while. I own an early SS amp and one powerhouse built in the '90s. The early '70s amp sounds decent (and still functions flawlessly). The newer amp is obviously superior and, in my opinion, is equal or superior to anything I've heard(some very expensive hardware).It is delicate, dynamic, dead quiet. and to my very experienced ears, natural. Of course ,there are many other amps which meet these qualifications. The Mac pre-amps do demonstratively compromise the sound somewhat. But they are very useful when system flexibility is important. I don't use a pre-amp normally. I run source material (save vinyl) directly into the power amp. So bottom line from this corner is that Mac equipment is just about bulletproof and, if one simply LISTENS, can be as satisfying as anything (tube lovers live in a different world). At the outset I said that opinions are circumstantial and subjective. This applies to opinions of ANY equipment. We should remember that objective evaluations are more consistent and represent truth within their parameters, and that as unique and emotional beings, we can hardly avoid being subjective in our opinions. De gustibus non est disputandum