Why do some audiophiles beat up McIntosh?

Obviously there are many more out there who covet McIntosh than put it down.   Success speaks for itself.

McIntosh is probably the most iconic and sought after brand in high end audio.

Success breeds contempt.

Mcintosh brand is a national treasure IMHO. Stop beating it up, even if its not your cup of tea! SAme true of OHM Acoustics. :^)

I think I heard a new Mc integrated amp recently that was perhaps CLass D/switching of some sort and seemed to have good speed and control accordingly. Audition was brief running of some newer larger and fairly pricey Totems that I had heard of other Mc amps prior.

Also saw the Mc turntable in question. YEs, that is quite different looking and unique, a good thing to help distinguish it from the pack. Did not get to hear it so I would withhold judgement accordingly. Speed meters does not seem like a bad idea to me if done well. Used to be that most all Japanese and European turntables had strobe devices of some sort on them to help identify any speed issue. Those were useful! Often, speed variations observed but perhaps hard to hear could be corrected easily by cleaning the belt and pulley mechanism. That was often needed for good results, even with new tables. You would think more modern and way more expensive tables would have some way built in to validate proper speed! What might they be hiding?

Some say it is a curse to be beautiful.

"what sound improvement benefit is there to be had by putting and output transformer on a solid state amp"

To make it sound more tubey maybe?