Soix
“My experience with Mac is that it’s very tonally rich but is rolled off in the upper treble range that veils upper-octave detail and the openness of the overall soundstage. My experience comes from working for Magnolia at Best Buy and hearing the KEF Blades driven by Mac gear and it sounded like a blanket was thrown over the KEFs relative to how I’ve heard them sound at audio shows. It was a disgrace and total sonic mismatch IMHO. My guess is Luxman will do a better job in this area without ever sounding etched or hyper detailed. Given what you’re looking for I think Luxman could be a considerable upgrade. Just my $0.02 FWIW”.
It’s because the Magnolia at Best Buy has to follow the ridiculous floor plan which the setup is a disaster for sound quality. If you have ever been to a place or speak with the KEF Group, you would understand that the KEF Blades. Reds a lot of room. You don’t put that kind of speaker next to a wall. It even sounded horrible with the Mark Levinson Gear. Not a place to go and listen to a system that’s it setup properly. The amplifier and speakers are not the problem. The room and the setup is along with the folks trying to sell you the gear.
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CORRECTION!!!
It’s because the Magnolia at Best Buy has to follow the ridiculous floor plan which the setup is a disaster for sound quality. If you have ever been to a place or speak with the KEF Group, you would understand that the KEF Blades need a lot of room. You don’t put that kind of speaker next to a wall. It even sounded horrible with the Mark Levinson Gear. Not a place to go and listen to a system that’s isn’t setup properly. The amplifier and speakers are not the problem. The room and the setup is along with the folks trying to sell you the gear.
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I have friends who manage what use to be Magnolia and sorry, I wouldn’t let them set up my system. When it comes to Plano design with Best Buy, at every store, the setup is the same. They don’t deviate from one store to another. In the room where they set it up with the McIntosh MC1.25 Monoblock amplifiers, the room isn’t established properly. Making a room look decent isn’t the same as setting it up properly to get it to sound good. The sound bounces around all over the place and it seems hollow. For that room size, the blade 2’s would be better for that size room but still would need to be dialed in. Also, one Mcintosh amplifier doesn’t have the same signature sound as another model. Each model has a different signature sound. I have friends and family members that own a McIntosh/ KEF Blade 1 & 2 combination and their setup sounds amazing. It takes a while to truly dial in the Blades. I have McIntosh as a theater setup but my listing room is Boulder. Just my 2 cents worth due to all of the gear I’ve owned in the past 40 years.😀
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If you have read my post, I was only speaking about the Magnolia Best Buy stores only. I’m in Southern California and trust me, growing up on the east coast, sSouthern California have some of the best stores. Most Magnolia doesn’t get the McIntosh MC2KW or McIntosh 1.2KW & 1.25KW. I’ve traveled all of the world and been to some of the incredible stores during my venture. As far as you writing for 17 years for a audio magazine, wouldn’t be my decision making on how a system sounds. As you claim, being a writer and testing systems, you should know systems are room dependent and system synergy. You may not like the brand or the sound but to say it sounds like crap for an hour or 2 of listening is pretty funny. What you like as appose to what someone else like is called a choice so your point of view wouldn’t matter to them especially if you haven’t heard their system in their environment. This is why the Audiophile magazines are going to be extinct. Folks are wising up and thinking for themselves. Buy with your ears and eyes, not with what someone is telling you to purchase with an article.
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Nor do I where it comes to where you live and where you’ve heard them. Apparently I struck a nerve, lol. Taking one’s comments and twisting them to your liking for a debate doesn’t make you sound smarter, it makes you look desperate. Since you didn’t read the post from the beginning last time, let me spell it out for you so that you can comprehend. Best Buy Magnolia stores across the country uses a Plano for all of their displays. In fact all name brand stores do so. No one is asking you to believe it or not but if you want to feel smart, look it up or ask your setup guys at Best Buy Magnolia. I have a friend who is a Manager at the Magnolia store. I don’t guess like some other people, I ask. That’s how I know weather i like the sound from their display or not. Apparently you’re have an issue with McIntosh and the company model. Last I checked they set the market for the audio world. I wouldn’t be silly or blind to think otherwise. As for a million dollar system, I’ve embarked on that journey. I have multiple systems in my homes. Not trying to brag but you went there, lol. A true Audiophile person knows it’s not how much you spend, it’s what you achieve in buying the best gear for your environment to get what you PERCEIVE as the best sounding system for your home. At the end of the day, it’s their money and who are you to dream otherwise. You don’t matter to them in their eyes. One last thing, I use McIntosh for my theater, that’s my theater and could care less about what you think. It’s not my many two channel rigs. My two channel rigs is far more advanced because that was my choice. I’ve volunteered many times in college at radio stations, so trust me! I know what great music should sound like. At the end of the day, I would be honest with folks but I definitely wouldn’t bash their gear like you seem to do. To me, that’s what people do when they can’t afford it themselves or lack self motivation to explore like some folks like to do, again it’s their own money, not yours. That’s what I call ignorance thinking that you know what’s best for others!!
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I always say don’t use what you have in your main two channel rig for movies. You won’t wanna watch more than one movie. Heck, you may just turn it off because it is screaming at you. It will sound lifeless and unpleasant because it’s way to detailed. It’s different from just listening to recorded or live recording music. You want your movie you are watching to feel more realistic and not too bright. That’s why you separate the two in my opinion. My McIntosh theater is only for theater, nothing more.. I don’t use it for two channel. I don’t expect everyone to have that option. But some folks love the sound of it I. A lot of folks use it if two channel. Now in defense of McIntosh, I always here that people nag it and say, they only purchase it because of the beautiful blue meters. Playing devils advocate, what’s the excuse of the ones without it? As an audiophile, I can appreciate all types of audio equipment. I don’t close my mind to any brand. As far as I am concerned, every company makes good and bad gear. I don’t label one company as bad because they are the most successful and keeping smaller companies afloat by peaking one’s interest in the audio world. If they go down, sorry to say others will follow suit.
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@ Soix
Haha, haha! Wait, you work for an audio magazine and Best Buy Magnolia! You are truly a joke! What other stories are you going to cook up this time! Wait, I got it. I have to tell my friend who truly works as a manager for the Magnolia that she won the bet. She said that the next thing you would do is say you worked at Magnolia just to control the narrative of this simple debate. I said, “Nahhhhh”. Wow,I was wrong, lol! You truly are simple! I showed her team the posts and they outright laughed at your comment especially about company Plano setups. She had a question for you. Don’t take too long to answer since you should know. Where was the last major Best Buy Magnolia meeting held and what was it about?? Did you go?, lol. Let us all see your ridiculous response!
On a positive note, let us all including the brand haters enjoy our musical content on our beloved system. May we find peace within the music we love and take a brake from nonsense.
As for Soix. Go ahead and have the last word. You need the boost of confidence. Too bad Toys R Us is out of business! I would get you something, lol.
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@ Soix
Haha, haha! There you go again twisting the narrative to fill the void in your miserable life KAREN, lol. I never new that someone who claims to be a writer for a Canadian magazine company can have such a negative attitude towards a brand. I never knew that writing about a piece of equipment of one’s narrow minded taste qualifies him as all knowing about audio gear, lol! You crack me up with you ignorant opinionated comments. Thank goodness we didn’t believe the BS of those articles when it came to purchasing our own gear, because you don’t sit in our rooms or our environment, so how would you know? Apparently you couldn’t keep a Best Buy job, lol. Must be the Debby downer attitude. As well noted on this forum, you couldn’t answer the question, you had to deflect because that was your best course of action! In reality, the joke is on you, lol. By the way, no one asked you to volunteer information about your past history or f employment! No one cares!!!
PS.
I’d rather read Absolute Sound or Stereophile magazine. They are more on my level and now I truly understand why I never bought Soundstage! Hey Soundstage! If you’re reading, you now know why you weren’t the number one Audio magazine company!
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@Bjeslen
I agree with your assessment about the Class A Luxman amplifier. They sound pretty good to me as well. I also like the Accuphase Monoblock amplifiers particularly the M-2000! To me the best McIntosh Monoblock amplifier I have ever used in my system was the MC2301. Especially if you upgrade the tubes. Gosh, I’ve owned so many types of equipment. In one year, in the past I probably gone through 9-10 different Monoblock amplifiers. My favorite recently have been the legendary old school fully restored Krell Pure Fixed Class A KRS200 Monoblock Amplifiers as well as Boulder 3050 Monoblock. Jeff Rowland Model 7, Model 12, Model 925, and even Gryphon Mephisto Solo Monoblock. The journey never ends.
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@Bjesien
I definitely agree with your assessment! I feel that they are evenly matched when it was in my system.
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*** Please share your thoughts!
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@Jrod68,
I can see your point! For me I feel that almost all pieces of music has a certain dynamic range,. What I mean by that is that there is a difference between the loudest and softest passages. Believe it or not even some audio gear has a distinctive dynamic range, though in this case the term. This defines rye distinct boundaries of what your equipment is capable of producing. From what I have experienced in the music industry is that Dynamics, Harmony, Melody, along with Rhythm are essential to making music pleasurable and compelling to listen to at times. That was the toughest decision equipment wise, I had to make in giving up the Maggie’s as they do so many things well. I do miss having the brand within my system at times.
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@JRod
I’m glad you’re enjoying you Luxman/Maggie 1.7 combo. Would love to hear more about it. I’m a big fan of the Magnepan speakers especially if you do the upgrades to them. I’ve owned several models in the past. The only issue I’ve experienced with the speakers over the years was the Lack of Dynamic Range. In your assessment with your system in your home. Have you experienced that at all? What lease share your thoughts!
Thanks
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Correction!!
***Believe it or not even some audio gear has a distinctive dynamic range. This defines the distinct boundaries of what your equipment is capable of producing.
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