McIntosh - is it that great?

it IS great reliable gear. It does LOOK amazing. is it WORTH the money they charge.....NO.

if i had the money, i might think about buying a piece or two. but there is so much out there which sounds better.

 I think my Mccormack amps sound livelier, and just have more oomph to them in the bottom end. JUST my opinion. yes i have heard many mac amps, they are good, but are they the best, nope.

would i buy them, hell yes i would !

As a professional musician, I can tell you without a doubt that there is nothing like owning a Mac. I bought an MA 6100 in 1976. I still have it to this day. It still outperforms anything produced from over seas in its class. I'm constantly offered more than double what I paid. It handles high resolution music with ease. And here's the kicker. IT'S NEVER BEEN SERVICED. So yes, they are worth every penny you pay for a mac. It's an investment. A very worthwhile one. 

In my humble opinion.....mac components do not sound good at all.  With that said....I admit I have never owned any of their stuff.  I have auditioned them in listening rooms for years and it always goes back to the same thing and that is that I really want to like the sound but there is never anything there.  They do look great though!!  Maybe it is that the person controlling the equipment is not giving it time to warm up which might be the case.  There are 3 companies that many people love and I will never own 1. Bose 2. B&W speakers and 3. Mac.  I understand why people like them but in the long run they seem like they don't compete with other high end (of course bose is not considered high end).  I do quite honestly believe that some people are hearing the music differently than others.  As stated in this forum a musician likes Mac so there has to be something that some people are possibly not hearing.  I consider myself an audiophile that has worked in the business for a few years.  It has been said that audiophiles (not all) don't really like mac gear.  It could also be that the mac sound is too full sounding for audiophiles and it sounds good to some but not to others??