I live in Ft. Worth, and visit Marvin's Electronics on a monthly basis (many of my friends work there). I cannot remember the Mac equipment numbers, but it was a home theater setup of Mac vs. Proceed, with B&W 801's for the front and 805's for rears (nautilus center). On the Mac side, the 801's were driven with a 600 wpc stereo amp, and the rears and center with a 5 channel amp (the rears were bi-amped). The Proceed side was the AVP, with HPA2 and HPA3 powering the speakers. Both ran with a Proceed DVD transport. By FAR, the proceed trumped the Macs in almost every category. More visceral, more lifelike, more palpable. I like Mac gear (been ogling over Marvin's Mac MC2000 for years), but it doesn't really shine vs. the proceed. After listening to The Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" DVD (DTS of course!) on the Proceed equipment, I would quickly become disinterested in the Mac stuff. Now Mr. Shuster (any one of them...the store is co-owned by three generations of Shusters) would DEFINTELY try to put you into the Mac stuff in that store (cuz he's got it), but I think that they really cozy up to the Mac distributor at that store (same with Gray's power Company...which I hate). But don't listen to me, this is all IMHO. Listen to both and judge. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Mcintosh Vs Proceed
I am currently looking into purchasing a new amplifier in the 300 watt range. I am looking into the Mcintosh MC352 or the Proceed HPA2. I will be using it mostly for music, but also movies. I am currently using Canton Ergo 122's and a Sony Digital processor. I listen to all types of music mostly classical and soundtracks.