Mcintosh - Love Em' or Hate Em' ......Why?


I have owned new and old Mcintosh and loved my experiences with the product. Right now I have a MC-162 in my system and it sounds great! Very transparent and not too anylitical or fatiguing. It seems that everyone has such strong opinions about different Mcintosh products good and bad. I have had all positive experiences. I would like for people to share their opinions and experiences good and bad.
Ag insider logo xs@2xsquiddy
I just purchased my first Mac. It is the C31V preamp. Wow what a difference, I had an adcom and the Mac is sweet. I am a Mac man now. What a treat to own.
They are not as liquid as Krell - or panasonic sa-xr70 (only $370 on the web) Even Krell integrated 300 model sounds better ($1200 used)

But if liquidity is not your thing, then a Mac
A few comments,
I think I may be the newest Mc convert at this time. Just bought an MC2000 six days ago. To Mint604 "I have owned a dozen mint Mac C22 and Mc75. I could not stand to hear over 60 seconds of these. Pure noise, no music. The worst of the worst." Funny you should have owned a dozen sets as much as you seem to dislike them. ;)
My experience is more like the following quotes from above.
"Beautiful, sweet, warm music." "The MC2000 is outstanding in all respects."
"Their car amps are very good." Funny thing about this. About a month ago I bought a new Subaru with Mc car audio. I loved the sound so much I could no longer stand my home receiver (dime-store quality). I went to the nearest Mc dealer to audition the MA6900. I liked the sound but couldn't see spending the money. I bought a used NAD 761 (450$) and on my way out the door asked if the MC2000 on display was for sale or for show (it's for sale). The dealer said he had a used unit for sale. I loved the display unit and did some research... bought the 2000 two days later. After setting it up, my B&W 704's sounded great, but not up to par with the 2000. I ended up buying a demo set of LS360's and can't imagine being more pleased!!!
if its made by mcintosh chances are that ive owned it at some point & my current rig is all mac.

ive tried a ton of gear & in all cases i prefered the "mcintosh sound" over other gear ive ran with the exception of some krell class a amps i tried but in the end the horrible looks of the krell's brought me back to mac.

you asked why? here's my reasons.

1 it sounds fantastic.

2 extremly dependable.

3 built to last 10 life times.

4 unbeatable factory service.

5 best lookin gear on the planet.

6 mac's resale value holds like no other gear.

7 lotsa saftey features built into the gear to prevent accidental burn out.

8 not a snowballs chance in hell of the company going under like so many others & leaving me holding a bunch of unservicable gear.

im not a "purist" when it comes to hifi & alot of the reasons some people snub their noses at mac gear are the exact same reasons that keep me buying mac like autoformers & powergaurd.

i couldnt imagine spending this much cash on gear that offered no protection from somthing as simple as a crossed wire or overheating all for the sake of keeping the signal path pure & short.

i trade alot of gear so i will always try new & different gear but mcintosh gear will always be in my home.

mike.
FYI,
I have stuck with McIntosh over the years because of their
integrity. They do their homework, they treat their customers
well, they stand behind their product, even really old items.
Moreover, if autotransformers did not improve or enable their
amplifiers to sound good, McIntosh would drop them instantly.
They are not in the "iron and steel" business, as some sales
reps like to say disparagingly. I have found that Mac amps
can drive a wider range of speakers than most amplifiers and
can hold up when interfaced with difficult loads. There are
other good amps on the market, but overall, Mac is a
unique and reliable and excellent sounding product.,,,C. Miller