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Why do no audio enthusiasts use McIntosh?

With the exception of some of there tube gear, not many really use this stuff(or admit to it anyway), I am mainly referring to there amps. They look pleasant, they look good on paper and have the price of high end gear, but I seldom hear anyone claiming to like or one day dreaming of owning McIntosh. I have never really listened to there stuff, no good word of mouth sort of scares me away from it, the only people who like it are those who sell it, an uncanny coincidence? I don’t know. Sorry it this has been covered many times in the past, I ran a search and could not find anything.
tireguy
matrix
305 posts
 
In general it does seem many systems using mcintosh are all or nothing as in all mcintosh made components. I have heard them and they sound good.

Hey I just saw that show "Elementary" and Sherlock Holmes even has an all Mcintosh system even the turntable!
ampus
26 posts
 
Audioquest4life, how does your Octave Jubilee preamp and McIntosh 2301 combo sound compared to the Jubilee preamp and Jubilee mono's combo that you heard in Germany?

Thanks!
tonykay
856 posts
 
The simple answer to this post, if there is one, is that McIntosh equipment is a good hedge against inflation. Check out the Audiogon listings and count how many McIntosh pieces are selling at, near, or even more than new. The bonus is that for the many decades that you use it, it sounds really good. I am referring to their amps and preamps, as I feel that their digital players leave something to be desired in the area of reliability. Also, the blue meters really are a nice touch! Sorry, Mac haters, but that's just my opinion.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
4,966 posts
 
Macs were great back in the old days of the 275 and such. But then they started puting output transformers on transistor amps, crazy, and lost many (and me) who thought they knew what they were doing.
Maybe the number cruchers moved in when this happened and thought they could get the best of both worlds tube sound and SS sales, little did they know. They lost the hard core and hung onto those who don't know better and just love the looks of the stuff.

Must admit it does look pretty.

http://freshairphoto.com/portfolio/wp-content/uploads/soundroom.jpg

Cheers George
godunovs
3 posts
 
I bought a McIntosh MC275 MK6 and it was awesome. I thought there won't be too much of a good thing and bought a McIntosh MC2500 tube preamplifier and it sucked. The phono stage is horrible. The line stage is OK. Midrange is weak. The built-in headphones amplifier is great! But it's a very expensive headphone amp, so I got rid of it. Waiting for an Audio Research reference tube pre. We'll see. Everyone's happy with their Audio Research tube gear. But I'm keeping the MC275 with a plan to upgrade to Genalex tubes though. If that doesn't help, the MC275 is a goner.
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