Classic McIntosh sound?

The "classic McIntosh sound" is as described in the fellows response ahead of mine, but that sound is always associated with their amps that have the auto-formers. Try a MC7200, and you will have a different opinion! That's a direct-coupled amp, and is a great sounding amp. As far as reliability, there is none better!

I recently bought the McIntosh MCD205 cd player and the McIntosh MA6900 Integrated amplifier. The overall sound quality is great with my Sonus Faber Grand Piano speakers. The extra power plus the tube like quality of the MA6900 make these speakers really stand out. I was very suprised at how good it sounds (and so were my friends). A review of the MA6900 is available at www.mcintoshlabs.com in their review section. Hope this helps. cheers..

Warm, musical. Not analytical at all. There have been several reviews of the MA6900: Stereophile and several British mags. All very positive. I had it for a while, then upgraded to the tubed seperates. Even better.

Yes to all the above, except I have the 6500, no autoformers, and it is still: warm, detailed, musical, etc. I would add: engaging without drawing attention to itself, impartial to the frequency curve, and has that "can't live without it" je ne sais qoi (hope I did that right). BTW, I just sent mine to the factory for some work and am missing it sorely already, and it's been about 5 hours.
More if you want it: high WAF, both visual and sonic (she has better ears than I do). High envy factor among your friends. High resale value.

Sent to the factory for work? I am on my third McIntosh and none of them ever needed anything. I agree that even the direct-coupled versions sound similar to the autoformer ones. A little laid back, warm, emotional, coherent, and very full are the ways I hear McIntosh sound. It turns out to be my favorite type too. Lucky me! Arthur