Mcintosh - Love Em' or Hate Em' ......Why?

Believe it or not? After I invested quite a bit of money in my system, the only amp got to stay is a pair of McIntosh MC-275. I don't think this is by chance. I have the Avalon Ediolon speakers, though it might not be the best and most expensive speakers around, but it is definitely one of the finest speakers. I have owned two turntables with four arms altogether and back up with not less than seven top of the range cartridges. I have also within the same system, six phono stages;namely ASR Exclusive,TomEvan The Groove, Whest 2.0,47Lab Phonocube,AudioResearch Ref Phono coupled with its Ref Pre 2 MkII, and EAR834P. For digital front, i have the Burmester 969/970 combo. All these, depend on the configuration from time to time for my listening pleasure,will link to my Ultimate CAT pre. I run MC-275 in mono for my Ediolon. Irregardless of whichever configuration I have, MC-275 has always made my system sing. I enjoy the way it renders decay in instrumental notes and voice. It has deep bass with good extension and it is the 3 demensionality in its presentation that makes it so special compared to other amps I owned before. Those amps that come and go include Jadis 500A, AudioResearch VT-100mkII,VTL ichiban,VTL300,VTL Tinytriode,Jadis 300B,Hurricane ASL etc...

Not sure if this will be lost, like a radio signal in space, when there is no one left behind to hear. But 10 years after my last post I am happy to say i am still loving my MAC suff. Have kept the mc 2000, added the C1000(c) a mda 1000 and an mcd 1000 ( few years ago). put in a mmf9.1 turntable with a low output goldring eroica lx mc cartridge. put it all on a dedicated circuit to reduce any noise and added a ac-dc-ac converter. Got rid of my martin logans ( do miss em) and replaced with Eggelston Andra II's. still have the old gear c100 / mc275 / mcd 751 and mda 700 music hall mmf 3 with grado phono stage running some sonus faber conchiertos. How may of you guys have found a stable sonic preference by now? i know we all had to compromise on certain issues and equip over the years, But can u sit down at night and put on an album and say...damn i still love this stuff.

pleased to hear.

I love mc and it came down to personal taste; mc402/c45. goal is 2x mc 275 and B&w802d

I fell in love with Mac gear back in 1978, with a C32 Pre, MR78 Tuner, and MC2205 amp. I've owned many Mac's over the years, with my current setup being the C48 Pre and MC7200 Amp. I couldn't be happier with this setup! Nothing is as gorgeous as the Mac gear turned on in a dark room. Reliability is another benefit. My only complaint is their cd players, which always seem to be behind the curve of other manufacturers' players. The two I've owned, the MCD7000 and the MVP-861, a universal player, have proved to be very un-reliable, to the point that I probably won't buy any more of their players. But all-in-all, Mac is a great company, and I hope they continue on for many more years.

What a great sound from the golden era. My father had the MC275 from 1961 to 2001. Never had a single problem with it. I love the MC240 even more, from 1959. They go for $3k if you can find one used. Tubey magic. Beach Boys mixed down on those.

I think vintage McIntosh is the best value around, expecially the old tuners (67 and 71) and integrated amps (1500 and 1700). Can't speak for the new ones.

Only a vintage Dynaco amp 416 or the Luxman 3045 rivals it, and I never seen these come up often.

The only new amps I have seen the rival the new MC275 are the Leben 300 from Japan.