McIntosh -- good for show, not for sound, says dealer

@ryder 

This one seems more appropriate.

I answered another poster who asked what the Mac sound is, and I wanted to add something to that. Oldhvymec, who owns 100 times more Mac pieces than I ever have or ever will made a good comment to the effect that over the years many pieces of Mac sound differently. I agree. I have heard vintage Mac gear that sounded very different from my SS am and direct coupled Mac that sounded different again. My point is that I suppose that it's not entirely valid to say that there is a Mac sound, other than the one a particular owner has experienced. 

It appears that many want to be the arbitrators of the scope of conversions involving the “audiophile community” in general, and A’gon forums in particular.  In my view, this is a bit of an overreach in that the “experience” of enjoying music production/reproduction can be multi-faceted.  The actions of defining the “audiophile experience” as one element, and only one element, is heavy-handed and narrow in scope in that it truncates the emotional, intellectual, and esthetic stimulus that we human beings enjoy.  Yet, we told by some that their reality should be our reality, and any deviation is <fill in expletive here>.

 

Opening the floodgates and welcoming a “hit piece” on one of the most respected, successful, and iconic hifi brands in the world was probably not the intent of the OP.  But we can’t deny that some comments have been less than complimentary, if not harsh, about the famous brand with big blue meters.

 

Back in my early used Pioneer receiver, Garrard record changers days, I stumbled across a pair of Scott speakers in a department store.  Someone had punched their fist thru the 15” woofer leaving a gapping hole.  I picked them up for next to nothing and borrowed some clear fingernail polish from my sister to patch the hole.  I wasn’t sure if they’d play 5 seconds, or 5 years.  They were still working when I put them in a place of safe keeping until I returned from college.  This was my first system.  I loved it as much as our dog, Farfel. 

 

A few years later, I visited the premier audio store in the region and had the privilege of sitting in front of a pair of ESS AMT1s power by … McIntosh.  I didn’t have the audio vocabulary to describe what I was hearing, but it was so much “cleaner sounding” than my system.  I aspired to own a McIntosh setup someday.  I was also “hooked” on good sound … but didn’t realize at the time that providing an “above average” musical experience to others would be my life’s work.

 

A little musical “gig” called Woodstock happened in 1969.  I didn’t know until later that it was powered by McIntosh power amps.  I doubt if there were many audiophiles among the 600,000 peace, love and music lovers at Bethel Woods.  But I am pretty sure that they enjoyed the musical experience that those Mac amps provided.  Those who chose to chemically enhance their experience even more so.

 

The “musical experience” was far reaching.  I recall a time when everyone I knew could play the drum solo from Ina Gadda Da Vida in its entirety on a car trunk lid, cooler, or whatever else was close by.  All that was needed was a supple wrist, fingers, and something that would make a percussive sound when energy was applied to it.  By definition, it was a “musical experience.”

 

A few years later, my musical tastes become bit more refined, upgraded to mid-priced separates and built my own speakers.  I also shopped, and found, the perfect listening chair.  Low back, swivel, comfortable, easy to move and vacuum around.  Probably the most rewarding times in my musical life were when my butt was in that chair, listening, evaluating and replacing one inductor after another in the passive crossover, trying to determine if I just made things sound better, or worse.  “The chair” was a major component in my total hifi experience.  I’ve discarded a lot of stuff over the years.  But not the chair.  It’s in my loft along with a few items of “interest”.  I place my butt in that chair from time to time.  It still feels “just right” and reminds me of its critical role in my total hifi experience.

 

About 6 years ago, I traded my full-time gig for a part time one.  As the new owners were inventorying items for transfer to their stock, I made a request for them to exclude a Mac amp and preamp.  My life-long aspiration to own a “Mac stack” finally came to fruition.  My high performance/high value “tweaked” separates were boxed up and the Mac gear took their place in my home.  The “listening experience” for me is now complete.   I have no regrets.

 

Our part time gig involves my former service technician.  We work one day a week “trying to keep good equipment from going into the dumpster”.   The prerequisite is that the equipment has to have an emotional attachment to the owner(s).  A first, we were seeing the usual suspects – 2-channel receivers, turntables, speakers, amps, etc.  Then, we started getting odd requests.  But as long as the item meant something to the owner, then we’d see if we could help.

 

We checked in a transistor radio from the 50’s and told the owner we had a 10% chance of a successful repair.  All the stars must have lined up and we were able to get it going.  When presenting the item to its owner, I wasn’t prepared to see a 70ish-year-old eye surgeon come to tears when he heard music coming from the transistor radio his father gave to him as a child.

 

Later, a Pioneer cassette deck was checked in middle-aged man.  “It belongs to his father,” we were told.  We obtained some hard-to-find parts and had a successful service event.  Turns out that the father was in a nursing home and was terminally ill.  He played accordion and had been bragging to his friends at the home about his talent.  He had recorded himself on cassette but, with a broken player, was unable to show off his skills.   Before he passed, he was able to play his music to his friends on his Pioneer cassette deck that we repaired.

 

The thought of servicing an Arvin console was completely off our radar.  This one belonged to a family who mother had recently passed away.  It hadn’t been played in years, and they remembered her playing Christmas music on it.  It was presented to our shop shortly before Thanksgiving.  The family’s Thanksgiving was brightened by the fact that “mom’s” stereo might be ready by Christmas.  We had several setbacks (things that haven’t’ been exercised in years can yield unwelcomed events).  And, yes, a few grownups were emotionally overwhelmed (and grateful) that “mom’s” stereo would be playing Christmas music.  They didn’t care if it had a ceramic phono cartridge and was highly compromised sonically. 

 

Then there’s the Panasonic open reel tape recorder on the bench.  The owner purchased the unit (and some prerecorded tapes) during his service in Vietnam and hasn’t listened to his music in 30 years.  He has Stage 4 cancer.  We’re busting our chops to get it to him, while there’s still time.

 

We’re presented with vintage mid-fi receivers and other assorted goodies and we see ear-to-ear grins when these things are brought back to life.  There is one thing that’s certain:  none of these guys/gals would trade me even up for the high performance/high value “tweaked” (highly musical) separates that I have carefully tucked away upstairs. 

 

To all the above, there is more to the musical experience than the quality of the musical presentation.  Perhaps, even a chair?

 

Okay, so now back to McIntosh.

 

The founders of McIntosh established some uncompromising principals sometime back.  To set an objective to have a brand that people aspire to own, it needs to appeal to customers on many levels and have little, or no, compromise on any of those essential elements.  Performance, build quality, esthetics.  Each element needs to hold up to scrutiny and survive on its own merit.  McIntosh, most certainly, gets a pass all counts.  They are not merely be the most successful at pulling this off in the history of audio.  They could represent a highly credible example of the best of best including all industries regards of their discipline.

 

So, yes, there are things out that may sound better to you than McIntosh.  Our perspective of McIntosh should be evaluated on technical execution, rather than our own limited perception of their intent.   I doubt if there is anyone on the payroll at McIntosh who is thinking: “Yeah, our stuff is really pretty, but it doesn’t sound very good.”  I do believe that McIntosh’s intent is to design and build high performance into their products.  Whether this performance fails to meet your expectations is another matter altogether.

 

The question should not be blue lights vs no lights.  Meters vs no meters.  Pleasing esthetics vs boring.  The question becomes: “Does this product offer the overall experience you are aspiring to in your listening room?” 

 

If I were given the power to define the scope of the conversations of this forum, it would encompass ALL THINGS that contribute to our enjoyment of listening to music. 

 

And that’s a pretty big, and welcoming, space.

 

 

 

 

@femoore12 + 1 - That's one audio dealer I can cross off my list of 'might buy something from them some day'. He doesn't care if people don't like him. Good, 'cause after reading his post, I don't like him, and I would never reward somebody I don't like with business.