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Why so little love for McIntosh?


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Guest thethrowback
6 hours ago, blybo said:

I found imaging is more about the room and speaker set up than amps

 

I think I can rule that out as I own several different good quality amps (and the same number of loudspeakers) all running in a dedicated listening room. In comparison, the McIntosh MA7000 has poor imaging. However, it is still a fun piece of equipment and it will continue to reside with me until the day I kick the bucket.

 

6 hours ago, blybo said:

Gen 4 Subaru Liberty from around 2007-2011 with a factory Macintosh premium audio

 

Yummy on both counts!

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12 hours ago, blybo said:

Slightly off topic, I owned a Gen 4 Subaru Liberty from around 2007-2011 with a factory Macintosh premium audio. It is still one of the best OEM car stereo I've heard, only bettered by the current Volvo B&W systems. 

Same here I had the same car and that was my intro into McIntosh.  The system did sound good but eventually the CD changer died so I replaced everything with an aftermarket system.  When I remove the head unit there was sticker on the back "Made by Clarion".  The aftermarket system sounded better though but it cost quite a bit al new speakers, head unit, DSP processor, amps and sub.

 

Fast forward to today and I got myself a C2700 and MC462.  Source I am using is a Holo May KTE and to me it sounds great.  Crystal clear, huge soundstage and imaging.  Compared to the C2700 internal DAC while it is good the Holo May is way better.  To me I like the look of my gear and they sound great too.

 

 

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IMO Mac gears are overpriced and there are many cheaper alternatives that would sound better. You are pretty much paying for the looks and name as the brand has been around for the longest time. But their amps and preamps are very reliable and retain their resale values very well and probably have the highest resale value in hifi audio industry. 
 

Mac amps are pretty good and very safe sounding but not that great considering how much they charge. Build quality are top notch though. Their preamps aren’t that good imo. 
Given the choice between Mac and Accuphase I would go with the Accuphase any time but Mac gears look so much better than Accuphase gears, which IMO look ugly. Accuphase is also expensive and in general I think is more expensive  than the Mac here in the US. 
Or given the choice between Mac and similarly priced gears or even much less expensive gears than the Mac I would go with all the other ones for sound quality. 
Mac gears tend to sound dull and too syrupy warm lacking musical drive, PRAT, resolution, details, transparency and image & soundstage focus and separations in comparison with other similarly priced products.  Mac amps are safe sounding and are very pleasant to listen to for long periods. 
 

Especially Mac digital front end source components (CD/SACD players/transports/DAC/streamer) are garbage IMO. 
 

I’m a big fan of Naim and they are very expensive but sound very musical. They are warm but are very rthymic excels in PRAT and has musical drive that are missing with Mac gears. 
Even Naim Uniti Nova, which is a all-in-one integrated (streamer/DAC/integrated amp) is a highly musical sounding unit. 

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Guest Eggcup the Dafter
51 minutes ago, Dilatante said:

IMO Mac gears are overpriced and there are many cheaper alternatives that would sound better. You are pretty much paying for the looks and name as the brand has been around for the longest time. But their amps and preamps are very reliable and retain their resale values very well and probably have the highest resale value in hifi audio industry. 
 

Mac amps are pretty good and very safe sounding but not that great considering how much they charge. Build quality are top notch though. Their preamps aren’t that good imo. 
Given the choice between Mac and Accuphase I would go with the Accuphase any time but Mac gears look so much better than Accuphase gears, which IMO look ugly. Accuphase is also expensive and in general I think is more expensive  than the Mac here in the US. 
Or given the choice between Mac and similarly priced gears or even much less expensive gears than the Mac I would go with all the other ones for sound quality. 
Mac gears tend to sound dull and too syrupy warm lacking musical drive, PRAT, resolution, details, transparency and image & soundstage focus and separations in comparison with other similarly priced products.  Mac amps are safe sounding and are very pleasant to listen to for long periods. 
 

Especially Mac digital front end source components (CD/SACD players/transports/DAC/streamer) are garbage IMO. 
 

I’m a big fan of Naim and they are very expensive but sound very musical. They are warm but are very rthymic excels in PRAT and has musical drive that are missing with Mac gears. 
Even Naim Uniti Nova, which is a all-in-one integrated (streamer/DAC/integrated amp) is a highly musical sounding unit. 

The McIntosh and Accuphase ranges don't really match for comparison -  in particular, Accuphase's range of sources increase in quality (and price) while McIntosh tend to be variations on a theme.

That's the first time I've seen Naim described as "warm" as well. I thought it was compulsory to refer to the "classic, pacy Naim sound" even though they are a lot more neutral than they used to be. From what I've heard and read Naim still don't major on soundstage either.

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Having owned examples of 100w x 2 Accuphase and McIntosh, I found that the Accuphase was charming but less solid than the McIntosh. The Krell KSA-80 was more incisive than either, but in my room this didn't do as winning a job as the others. The Bel Canto digital Evo2 had good detail and airiness. but not enough clout.

One Bryston I tried was forceful enough but unrefined. It was an older model. Luxman C02/M02 nice but again lacked the forceful control of the speaker that the macs did (still do) to perfection.

So, various complexions, some refined, some not. The Mac does both refinement and powerful control.

I believe the editor at TAS (Paul Saydor) agrees with me - although he was reviewing later and much more expensive examples than those I have owned.

 

 

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23 hours ago, Eggcup the Dafter said:

The McIntosh and Accuphase ranges don't really match for comparison -  in particular, Accuphase's range of sources increase in quality (and price) while McIntosh tend to be variations on a theme.

That's the first time I've seen Naim described as "warm" as well. I thought it was compulsory to refer to the "classic, pacy Naim sound" even though they are a lot more neutral than they used to be. From what I've heard and read Naim still don't major on soundstage either.


Generally I would describe Naim as warm smooth punchy yet rthymic and pacy as you said. they excel in PRAT. The lower end Naim gears don’t throw large soundstage but also depends on your speakers and room. But the higher end Naim lines such as their 500 series separates with the 500 series external PSUs and the Naim Statement pre & Statement monoblock amps are different story. They throw huge soundstages with solid precise imaging and are highly musical sounding gears but are uber expensive. 
 

My cousin owns the Naim Statement NAC S1 analog linestage pre & Naim Statement NAP S1 monoblock amps paired with the Magico M6 speakers. These are all cost-no-object or price-no-object design gears and speakers and are the best sounding setup I’ve ever heard in my life. Wish I had that kind of money. And not a single Mac gears or Accuphase or Levinson or Pass and any other high end or ultra high end gears can come close to these Naim Statements pre/monoblock amps combo performance wise. But to be fair these Naim Statement pre/power amp combo retail for close to USD $300k for both pre and the monoblock amps here in the US. Pretty much close to USD $100k for the preamp and close to USD $200k for the monoblock amps. These Naim Statement gears are comparable sonically to the flagship D’Agostino Relentless monoblock amps, which are also cost-no-object design amps. 

For digital front end source components my cousin has the MSB Select ll DAC stacks with dual mono powerhouses (two separate power supply units) and its flagship Femto 33 clock as well as the Taeko Audio SGM Extreme music server feeding the MSB Select ll DAC. 
For analog front end he has the Clearaudio Statement v2 turntable w/ Statement TT2 tonearm & Statement Goldfinger mc cartridge and D’Agostino Momentum phono pre. 
 

I can only dream of owning these kinds of ultra high end cost-no-object design equipments.

Edited by Dilatante
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14 hours ago, Spinnergeoff said:

Having owned examples of 100w x 2 Accuphase and McIntosh, I found that the Accuphase was charming but less solid than the McIntosh. The Krell KSA-80 was more incisive than either, but in my room this didn't do as winning a job as the others. The Bel Canto digital Evo2 had good detail and airiness. but not enough clout.

One Bryston I tried was forceful enough but unrefined. It was an older model. Luxman C02/M02 nice but again lacked the forceful control of the speaker that the macs did (still do) to perfection.

So, various complexions, some refined, some not. The Mac does both refinement and powerful control.

I believe the editor at TAS (Paul Saydor) agrees with me - although he was reviewing later and much more expensive examples than those I have owned.

 

 


IMO most Mac gears lack image focus, separations, details, resolution and transparency and somewhat colored. The soundstages are also somewhat constricted imo unless if you go with their huge monoblock amps such as the MCK 1.25 or the MC611. 

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Its very important to Mcintosh to preserve that iconic look with glass panels and traditional pots on each end [and that ostentatious green logo] . And also to cover a whole system for matching componentry ; unfortunately this is difficult for a smaller ce so for a lot of its oem work apart from 2ch presumably? - like multichannel pre pros etc - it leans on outsourcing from its parent company D&M Holdings ..

So its pre pros are based on Marantz and it licenses Lyngdorf's room perfect for its dearer models . Maybe its better to separate the wings of the company ; I wouldnt consider a MX multichannel pre pro compared to the config flexibility of say a storm audio or trinnov which both have better expansion capability:$

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Guest Eggcup the Dafter
1 hour ago, cwt said:

Its very important to Mcintosh to preserve that iconic look with glass panels and traditional pots on each end [and that ostentatious green logo] . And also to cover a whole system for matching componentry ; unfortunately this is difficult for a smaller ce so for a lot of its oem work apart from 2ch presumably? - like multichannel pre pros etc - it leans on outsourcing from its parent company D&M Holdings ..

So its pre pros are based on Marantz and it licenses Lyngdorf's room perfect for its dearer models . Maybe its better to separate the wings of the company ; I wouldnt consider a MX multichannel pre pro compared to the config flexibility of say a storm audio or trinnov which both have better expansion capability:$

McIntosh haven't been part of D&M for nearly a decade now. They were sold to Fine Sounds, an Italian company, now named McIntosh Group after their management bought the parent company. That actually led to McIntosh owning Audio Research for a few years (they sold Audio Research to a private company last year).
 

Both McIntosh and Marantz license Audyssey but it's unlikely they are sharing designs eight years on. Not impossible though, as both groups that own them are very keen on brand identity so aspects of their businesses may be frozen in time... the McIntosh pre-pros state state on the rear that they are  "Handcrafted in USA with US and imported parts" (I think that's right, the photos aren't 100% clear) so Marantz parts may be in there.

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26 minutes ago, Eggcup the Dafter said:

McIntosh haven't been part of D&M for nearly a decade now. They were sold to Fine Sounds, an Italian company, now named McIntosh Group after their management bought the parent company. That actually led to McIntosh owning Audio Research for a few years (they sold Audio Research to a private company last year).
 

Both McIntosh and Marantz license Audyssey but it's unlikely they are sharing designs eight years on. Not impossible though, as both groups that own them are very keen on brand identity so aspects of their businesses may be frozen in time... the McIntosh pre-pros state state on the rear that they are  "Handcrafted in USA with US and imported parts" (I think that's right, the photos aren't 100% clear) so Marantz parts may be in there.

Thanks for that ; there is so much integration between ce's these days its hard to keep track . Too much like Marantz for me ;though its fair they do do more than that lexicon branded oppo player that was exposed by audioholics :) Dilatante had more on the similarities ; if it wasnt based on the marantz design  maybe they could lose those useless analogue video inputs but on the other hand costs must be kept down somehow so understandable . And you wouldnt have a mcintosh pre pro for around 10k no doubt ..

 

 

 

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I bought my ma6700 integrated amp about 5 years ago it sounds perfect enough in my sound system for me. I understand if I can have more funds I must be able to find something else better then what l have now. Although I can see how it may be a little overpriced, the sound makes up for the difference.

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The whole argument of MC not being a value buy is rudimentary because it is not supposed to be. It’s a luxury brand. You don’t say my gym bag can hold more stuff than your LV. 
 

MC is for doctors and lawyers and Hollywood traditionally. The luxury Bose if you will back in the USA. 
 

Looks are subjective so I won’t use that as an argument but in terms of engineering it is over engineered. It is built like a tank. Macs made in the 60s are still running and are supported by the company till today. They hold their value well. For some these are more important  and saying there are better amps for the money is applicable to any gear. 
 

And how they sound is again subjective. They are surely not winning any audiophile competitions but they sound good enough for most people who buy them and those people are not found in forums ? 

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To me i think all mac amps especially their tube amps has their own unique sound signature and it is irreplaceable by any other brands. MC2102 beats Gryphon Mephisto when driving my SF Strads. It is all about component matching and identifying own taste of sound. I would wholeheartedly recommend to all SF speaker owners to try McIntosh power amp or even better their tube amps.   

 

Just my 2 cents.

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Guest Eggcup the Dafter
On 03/03/2021 at 2:46 PM, Eggcup the Dafter said:

McIntosh haven't been part of D&M for nearly a decade now. They were sold to Fine Sounds, an Italian company, now named McIntosh Group after their management bought the parent company. That actually led to McIntosh owning Audio Research for a few years (they sold Audio Research to a private company last year).
 

Both McIntosh and Marantz license Audyssey but it's unlikely they are sharing designs eight years on. Not impossible though, as both groups that own them are very keen on brand identity so aspects of their businesses may be frozen in time... the McIntosh pre-pros state state on the rear that they are  "Handcrafted in USA with US and imported parts" (I think that's right, the photos aren't 100% clear) so Marantz parts may be in there.

As well as Audyssey - I note that McIntosh, Denon and Marantz share the facility on their SACD players to play music from files written to DVD-R, possibly shared code from D&M days (the Mcintosh version uses the remote in an odd way to play those discs, using the number keys for up/down when they have perfectly good arrows!).

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On 10/03/2021 at 8:03 AM, BrownMagic said:

The whole argument of MC not being a value buy is rudimentary because it is not supposed to be. It’s a luxury brand. You don’t say my gym bag can hold more stuff than your LV. 
 

MC is for doctors and lawyers and Hollywood traditionally. The luxury Bose if you will back in the USA. 
 

Looks are subjective so I won’t use that as an argument but in terms of engineering it is over engineered. It is built like a tank. Macs made in the 60s are still running and are supported by the company till today. They hold their value well. For some these are more important  and saying there are better amps for the money is applicable to any gear. 
 

And how they sound is again subjective. They are surely not winning any audiophile competitions but they sound good enough for most people who buy them and those people are not found in forums ? 


There’s no such a thing as luxury brand in hifi audio imo. High end yes.....Mac is indeed a high end brand alongside Classe, Audio Research, Pass, Levinson, Krell, Naim, Linn, etc, etc.....

There are many other brands that are much more expensive than Mac. Audio Research, Levinson, Pass, Naim, D’Agostino cost way more than Mac and are much better than Mac.

Not bashing Mac, they make good products and build quality is excellent and retain their resale values very well. 
 

Not sure if I agree with your comment re Mac being perceived as luxury Bose in the US. I live here in the US and we don’t see it that way. Bose isn’t even hifi. Mac is. 
 

However you are correct that sound is a subjective thing. It’s all about system matching or overall system synergy. 

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12 hours ago, ppsa said:

To me i think all mac amps especially their tube amps has their own unique sound signature and it is irreplaceable by any other brands. MC2102 beats Gryphon Mephisto when driving my SF Strads. It is all about component matching and identifying own taste of sound. I would wholeheartedly recommend to all SF speaker owners to try McIntosh power amp or even better their tube amps.   

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

 

Yes, Mac amps pair nicely with SF speakers. ARC (Audio Research) will pair really well with SF too even better imo. The trio used to be part of the same family and SF always voiced and tuned their speakers using both Mac & ARC electronics.  

I’ve heard SF Aida ll driven by two pairs of ARC Ref 750 SE vacuum tube monoblock amps (in bi-amp configuration) and ARC Ref 10 vacuum tube linestage pre with some DCS Vivaldi full four stacks as digital front end components. The best sound I’ve ever heard from SF Aida ll but those ARC Ref 750 SE monoblocks retail for USD $90k/pair here so USD $180k for both pairs and the ARC Ref 10 linestage pre is USD $33k here.  

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Lots of love for McIntosh right here. The C22 pre MC1502 combo with some SFs has me amazed and grinning for hours on end. It is big rich detailed clear and easy to enjoy to the detirment of the things I really should be doing! Although my Denon DCD - 2500NE did sound better to me than the McIntosh SACD players. My, how boring the world would be if we all loved the same stuff. 

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I don't talk about it, because I can't afford it, but quite like some of their gear. It is  a bit gaudy, but I kinda like the green glowing platters and lights.

 

Fun fact: I discovered McIntosh before I got into hifi, and even looked it up because I was taken by it's high-end look and had never heard of the company. It was in The Departed film. One of the characters had it in their home and they use it in the film.

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On 26/02/2021 at 7:18 AM, dolphy said:

This is the system from Lifestyle Parratta

2020-06-05 (1).jpg


Holy **** that's impressive!

 

Do you know how long they've had that room? I was touring their rooms around 9-12 months ago and didn't see it, but they were doing renos, which I think included the Mc room.

 

I'm halfway through watching a short video on McIntosh and the CEO says that their special sauce is their output transformer wirings. The engineers design a wiring pattern and little old Sandy implements it. Fascinating stuff.

 

 

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On 03/03/2021 at 2:46 PM, Eggcup the Dafter said:

Both McIntosh and Marantz license Audyssey but it's unlikely they are sharing designs eight years on. Not impossible though, as both groups that own them are very keen on brand identity so aspects of their businesses may be frozen in time... the McIntosh pre-pros state state on the rear that they are  "Handcrafted in USA with US and imported parts" (I think that's right, the photos aren't 100% clear) so Marantz parts may be in there.


In the video I posted a link to, it says they make all the parts in-house, or something like that. They're a vertical manufacturer. 
 

I just watched a "how it's made" segment on the model. 275. Quality craftsmanship.

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Guest Eggcup the Dafter
51 minutes ago, Esoterica said:


In the video I posted a link to, it says they make all the parts in-house, or something like that. They're a vertical manufacturer. 
 

I just watched a "how it's made" segment on the model. 275. Quality craftsmanship.

It depends on the definition of "parts". You can see what they say on the back of their pre-pros by googling for a picture of the rear. - the words "imported parts" are there.

 

I'm pretty certain that Mcintosh don't make their own EMM 9038 DAC chips - which may be defined as a "part" under the law for the notice on the rear of the pre-pro, but the board to which it's soldered may be the "part" to McIntosh engineers.

Last I heard, the McIntosh branded tubes in their new amps were made in Russia.
 

The Audyssey software that was referred to may be derived from a shared codebase and modified for new models with no "parts" involved.

I'm not sure that much of this matters, since McIntosh assemble the final products in house and I understand they have excellent QA., so even if there are half a dozen Chinese made boards in one of the pre-pros it will be produced to the same high standard as everything else in their range. That's what the company are renowned for and what you pay for, at the end of the day.

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3 hours ago, Esoterica said:

One of the characters had it in their home and they use it in the film.

 

I find McIntosh audio gear was used in a few films and each time to emphasize (fairly or not) the yuppie-ness / johnny-come-lately-ness / empty vanity of the character in the story that owns the gear.

 

eg. The Departed (2006) [Matt Damon character] as mentioned by @Esoterica and also in Mr. Robot (2015-19) [in Season 2 at a smart house of a shallow E Corp executive]. There's a few other examples I've seen over the years which however escape me at the moment. Fairly or not it has become somewhat of a shorthand for a yuppie wannabe tryhard - at least in the fillums.

 

 

 

 

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31 minutes ago, zippi said:

 

I find McIntosh audio gear was used in a few films and each time to emphasize (fairly or not) the yuppie-ness / johnny-come-lately-ness / empty vanity of the character in the story that owns the gear.

 

eg. The Departed (2006) [Matt Damon character] as mentioned by @Esoterica and also in Mr. Robot (2015-19) [in Season 2 at a smart house of a shallow E Corp executive]. There's a few other examples I've seen over the years which however escape me at the moment. Fairly or not it has become somewhat of a shorthand for a yuppie wannabe tryhard - at least in the fillums.

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget Bosch! Best TV detective series out of the USA I’ve seen. He is no yuppie, a pretty gritty imperfect man with a love of vinyl and jazz. Great series, great music. Old school McIntosh valves!

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5 hours ago, Esoterica said:

I discovered McIntosh before I got into hifi, and even looked it up because I was taken by it's high-end look and had never heard of the company. It was in The Departed film. One of the characters had it in their home and they use it in the film.

 

This is what I mean as a luxury brand. There are way more expensive gear in the world but there is really no other brand that even non audiophiles recognise and crave for. There is simply no other brand in HiFi that has a bigger brand recall among non audiophiles. 

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On 26/02/2021 at 7:18 AM, dolphy said:

This is the system from Lifestyle Parratta

2020-06-05 (1).jpg

I have listened to this setup and their matching a few times, they have not got them right yet. Something is still missing, I would expect to be blown away but that has not happened every time.

The room is too small and I have no idea the advantages of Power conditioners in this ultra highend system, as well as a bunch low-end Isotek power cables.

 

So those are playing at 40% max their capacity

Edited by ikhuong
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