Why so much love for Mcintosh?
Recently joined the camp. acquired an MC240 and also a Thorens td125 with SME arm and connected to my Klipsch Heresy II I hear magic. Streaming even sounds good but the vinyl is amazing. Back in those late 60s and early 70 there was some cracker stuff made. Wish I had an MC preamp but the one I bought (that i could afford) was smashed by shipper :-( |
Have a C2700 feeding a pair of MC611s. I no longer have any urge or intention to upgrade. The bass/midbass competes with anything out there. The midrange is beautiful. The highs are a little lacking, but I fixed that by adding a pair of Nordost Valhalla 2 XLRs from my DAC to the preamp. Now, this system is complete from top to bottom. |
In the times I have really listened to Mcintosh gear it sounded very natural and big sounding, of course these were usually expensive systems with big tall floorstanding column speakers so maybe the big impressive sound was more because of those. I think the older stuff can be soft sounding, like alot of older tube gear, Marantz Fisher stuff like that in the old days. But the company has been around forever and always had a strong customer base, so it is doing something right, and their high end stuff gets into nose bleed territory. |
bump, I went with A C49 and pair of Mc611's about a month ago to drive a pair of Kef Blades I bought 2-3 years ago. The previous amp had 525 watts into 4 ohms and over 2k into 1 ohm, so stable and powerful enough I thought. What impresses me so much about the Mac gear is how dynamic everything sounds at low volumes. Contrast, soundstage, and pinpoint imaging all improved beyond any expectation because I never imagined how much audible difference a single watt could make. My previous listening sessions would be in the mid 90's with +100db peaks and I still can, but I don't need to when I can get the music's full measure at idle. IDK if Mac pairs this well with all speaker brands, but I have no reason to shop further. |
Finally a thread about what's good about McIntosh, not the usual bashing as contained in the other thread circulating around here! I've owned lots of their pieces, but currently am using the MC7200 amp, which has no autoformers ( the last amp under Gordon Gow's legacy ) and the C15 preamp. I like it because of it's simplicity. ALL the Mac units I've ever used never broke down or had to be serviced, including my current stuff which is now quite old. At least this company has a longevity track record, which can't be said for most of the audio gear available today! And it sounds great to me, which is all that counts anyway. |
McIntosh has rekindled my love of music - I bought a McIntosh preamp to get an improved DAC and phono stage. Frankly the impact had me upgrade everything. And I'm in process of upgrading again and I'll be able to get significant amount of my money back through selling my equipment on eBay because McIntosh equipment is built to last as well as sounds good. |
My McIntosh gear allows me to focus on the music rather than on my system components. It’s along the same idea of when the speakers disappear and you get a room full of music. I don’t worry about my McIntosh components and whether or not they will perform perfectly every time I turn them on. They work perfectly at low volume levels and at high volume levels. The quality is always outstanding. No background noises, no hums, no static from my speakers when the gear is on. They play everything from Miles to Mozart to Metallica perfectly to my ears. I cannot imagine using anything else at this point. |
https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/lifestyle great stuff! Owned by McIntosh Group (which sounds better than Fine Sounds Group). |
I have owned a lot of different manufacturers equipment over the years: Audio Research, Mark Levinson, Jeff Rowland, Bedini, Krell, Conrad Johnson, Janis, Naim to name a few. All have given me great listening experiences. I currently use a McIntosh C1100 pre and a pair of MC611 monos. They are as good as anything I have ever had and they give me all the necessary clues to make music sound real and more importantly enjoyable in my home. Also the company has been around for a long time and though ownership has changed continues to thrive and provide service and parts unlike other high end companies that come and go. Are there better more esoteric offerings? Probably, but at what cost and inconvenience? |
One is $45,000 one is $9000…. One measures real bad and one real good… One gets universal praise on audiogon and one gets bashed…. Really makes you wonder. https://www.stereophile.com/content/dan-dagostino-master-audio-systems-progression-m550-monoblock-po... https://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-laboratory-mc462-power-amplifier-measurements This video is interesting. I have heard both McIntosh and D’Agostino on wilson Alexia’s and thought the D’Agostinos were a little hard and cold. Similar to the benchmark sound for $3,000. However I find the benchmark to have a small soundstage in general. Buy what makes you happy. https://youtu.be/td54mT0bGo4 Another perspective. https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/922-mcintosh-laboratory-mc125kw-mono-amplif... I own a McIntosh MC462 amp (and a number of others too). The McIntosh does not stand out at doing anything the best but it is the one currently in my system and I don’t see if going anywhere. It plays crazy loud and never sounds edgy like some other brands. Pushed to insane levels it is just louder with no sign of compassion. It sounds the same very quiet too. Probably a testament to the speakers as well. |
