I wonder why Mac equipment has to endure this type of question year after year. This thread is 13 years old and so for at least 13 years the question has been out there "Why do no audio enthusiasts use Mcintosh". Look at how the OP even asked the question to start the thread. The question itself assumes as a fact or as a truth that no "real audiophiles" would even consider Mac equip. New users and even experienced users who have never heard Mac gear, after reading this type of question (it's hardly been the first time this sort of question has been asked on these boards) year after year, assume that it is a true statement and start to have a bias against the gear and yet they have never even heard it in a properly set up room. I have been in this hobby for almost 40 years now and have seen the latest and greatest of the moment be the equipment you can't even give away some years later.
I own Mac amps (MC501, MC252, MC202) that I use in one of my systems along with a Mac preamp (C2200). It is just simply musical to me. In another system I have a MasterSound Reference 845 amp, which I love, but also which is as different to Mac gear as anything else. Is one better than the other? No, not necessarily. They both sound great to me in their respective setups. Over these years I have owned Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, Mark Levinson, Classe, Sonic Frontiers and a lot of others I don't recall right now. Each has had their own perceived strengths and weaknesses. But none of these other manufacturers has had to continually answer the question, year after year, whether they are "audiophile enough" to be respected.
I own Mac amps (MC501, MC252, MC202) that I use in one of my systems along with a Mac preamp (C2200). It is just simply musical to me. In another system I have a MasterSound Reference 845 amp, which I love, but also which is as different to Mac gear as anything else. Is one better than the other? No, not necessarily. They both sound great to me in their respective setups. Over these years I have owned Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, Mark Levinson, Classe, Sonic Frontiers and a lot of others I don't recall right now. Each has had their own perceived strengths and weaknesses. But none of these other manufacturers has had to continually answer the question, year after year, whether they are "audiophile enough" to be respected.