@avanti1960
your opening post smacked of troll bait given its short statement-type question, without context nor background, thus some of the curt and pointed replies, sorry about that -- with your recent reply let me provide a few ’serious’ comments on your query on mac amps
1. mcintosh now makes all tube, tube/ss hybrid, and straight solid state (class ab AND class d) amps, so as you can imagine, the voicing of the various models can differ substantially - very very few other companies do all these variants... kinda bewildering...
2. traditional mac gear (all tube) featured a notably recessed treble, a forward, bigger-than-life midband, and full and fairly solid if somewhat slow bass... that type of ’classic old school good tube amp sound’ is carried over more or less into all their current amps, but in substantially varying degrees, so you might clarify what models/topologies you actually heard in your recent encounters that led to your impressions of the mac house sound - to me, because of the crazy breadth of amp types they make, their house sound is all over the place these days, so specificity really matters in figuring out what is what among their amps
3. when i think of the sweetest, smoothest well established solid state amplification out there, i think of some of the names already mentioned -- pass/first watt, accuphase, ayre, upper hegel (h390-590-h20/30), sugden, some belles (class a units)... other top models from older brands would include yba, plinius, symphonic line, classe, muse, bedini, forte, audio research 100.2, some might add mccormack (i always found them a touch sharp/lean), ... a lower cost but very sweet unit is sony’s recent es-grade integrated called ta1-1es... clever, pseudo class a topology but very very sweet, dimensional, seductive sound for fairly minimal $$ (i know you are seeking a power amp only)
4. please don’t rule out some of the better class d newcomers, esp. with gan tech... very clear clean but also smooth, rich, pure sounding solid state
good luck and have fun
As the "OP" I ask the question sincerely, I heard Mac a few times and paired with (even) bright speakers they sounded very pleasing and smooth to me, compared to every other solid state amplifier I have heard - except- the Luxman Class A and Vinnie Rossie products. I found both to lean too far to the smooth side for my liking.
I may be in the market for a new power amp soon. Thank you.
your opening post smacked of troll bait given its short statement-type question, without context nor background, thus some of the curt and pointed replies, sorry about that -- with your recent reply let me provide a few ’serious’ comments on your query on mac amps
1. mcintosh now makes all tube, tube/ss hybrid, and straight solid state (class ab AND class d) amps, so as you can imagine, the voicing of the various models can differ substantially - very very few other companies do all these variants... kinda bewildering...
2. traditional mac gear (all tube) featured a notably recessed treble, a forward, bigger-than-life midband, and full and fairly solid if somewhat slow bass... that type of ’classic old school good tube amp sound’ is carried over more or less into all their current amps, but in substantially varying degrees, so you might clarify what models/topologies you actually heard in your recent encounters that led to your impressions of the mac house sound - to me, because of the crazy breadth of amp types they make, their house sound is all over the place these days, so specificity really matters in figuring out what is what among their amps
3. when i think of the sweetest, smoothest well established solid state amplification out there, i think of some of the names already mentioned -- pass/first watt, accuphase, ayre, upper hegel (h390-590-h20/30), sugden, some belles (class a units)... other top models from older brands would include yba, plinius, symphonic line, classe, muse, bedini, forte, audio research 100.2, some might add mccormack (i always found them a touch sharp/lean), ... a lower cost but very sweet unit is sony’s recent es-grade integrated called ta1-1es... clever, pseudo class a topology but very very sweet, dimensional, seductive sound for fairly minimal $$ (i know you are seeking a power amp only)
4. please don’t rule out some of the better class d newcomers, esp. with gan tech... very clear clean but also smooth, rich, pure sounding solid state
good luck and have fun