In my area exposure to some of the smaller names is hard to come by. I currently have and favor the McIntosh/Klipsch combination, mine being a ma6200 and klipsch forte's in one room, ma6100 with B&W 602 s3 in another, and a third room with another ma6100 and JBL SVA1800 with various sources such as Denon Rotel and Marantz cd players, Rega Dual and Thorens turntables, . Compared to other vintage equipment, Mac really cornered the market in my opinion. Newer stuff maybe less so. I've listened to some new Mac equipment compared to some other stuff such as Krell, Mark Levinson, Conrad Johnson, Jolida, Audio Research and I think there is better equipment out there than some of the current Mac units, but for the price you can get quality classic Mac equipment for, you would be stuck with lesser equipment if using that same amount of money on new stuff. I like McIntosh for a couple reasons, with limited funds, quality used equipment can be had, the look of Mac installed into an oak wall in a stereo closet is really impressive, and it has a large following which means service will be easier to come by.