McIntosh Bashing

[Capitalcityguy]

if you read other forums, over the course of time, there is a lot of audiophiles that say McIntosh is an over rated brand and not really high end or good sounding product. All I know is I have been through a lot of brands and it has all stopped since I put McIntosh into my system (Dac, Pre, Amp). I admit, I love the looks and blue meters, but if it didn't sound good to me, the brand wouldn't have stayed in my system . Must be something wrong with my ears since I like the way Macs sound. Of course as is all things in audio, personal preference and system synergy plays a major role.

[mtroo]

At any given time on this forum, there are usually in excess of 450 people in the McIntosh sub-forum. Probably not coincidence. I suspect some of the bashing stems from emotions rather than well founded concerns regarding quality or sound. But I am admittedly biased.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Capitalcityguy

if you read other forums, over the course of time, there is a lot of audiophiles that say McIntosh is an over rated brand and not really high end or good sounding product. All I know is I have been through a lot of brands and it has all stopped since I put McIntosh into my system (Dac, Pre, Amp). I admit, I love the looks and blue meters, but if it didn't sound good to me, the brand wouldn't have stayed in my system . Must be something wrong with my ears since I like the way Macs sound. Of course as is all things in audio, personal preference and system synergy plays a major role.

Kieran.......Lots of jealous folks out there. Lots of folks who have budget systems that want to believe their systems measure up to the premium gear so they bash the premium gear as a way to prove their choices are of equal value and performance.

McIntosh is a well known brand with a remarkable and long standing reputation, a history that precedes the majority of audio companies, and a large group of satisfied customers worldwide. Is McIntosh perfect? No, but they certainly bring serious engineering prowess to the table. Their amplifiers and preamplifiers are world renowned and envied by many audiophiles. McIntosh equipment maintains high resale values that other companies only wish they could maintain, not to mention being able to still get parts from the factory for vintage McIntosh components of 30 to 50 years old. Try that with your choice of audio manufacturers.

You are right, in my opinion, about how great McIntosh sounds. Many audiophiles, including a number of people I personally know, have waded through a lot of gear from many different brand names in their quest for satisfaction. Some started with McIntosh, left them, bought and sold many amps, preamps, and source components over a number of years, then ultimately returned to McIntosh and are happy they did. Others simply found their way to McIntosh after years on the audio component merry-go-round, then settled into McIntosh like a comfortable pair of fur lined house slippers.

Is McIntosh for everyone? No, of course not. There are many other well respected audio manufacturers building fabulous audio components. Each and every one has its personality, its house sound, its appeal to particular enthusiasts. It's a great big world out there and plenty of wonderful audio components to choose from. McIntosh Labs catalog of past and present audio gear is huge. I cannot think of another audio company that has offered so many choices over such a long period of time. Their latest offerings are exceptional and substantial in their design and build quality.

Returning to your original point about the bashing, McIntosh is an easy target, but they are not the only target. Audio Research, Accuphase, Constellation, Meitner, Esoteric, and many others get criticized right along with McIntosh. The guy with the AudioQuest DragonFly DAC and a laptop thinks his rig can take on all comers. Trying to belittle McIntosh makes the messenger feel he is somehow elevating his choice. He wants to believe his low cost mail order amplifier outperforms McIntosh on all perimeters, and his choice makes him smarter than the foolish people who spend big bucks to bring home McIntosh. It is important to people like this that they impress their friends with their audio knowledge and ability to build a superior sound system on a shoestring budget. They wish to be viewed as smarter than any misguided audiophile who builds a McIntosh system. This doesn't mean a great sounding system has to cost a fortune. Lots of folks have assembled very good sounding systems without a big budget or a single McIntosh component. All I can say about that is it takes all kinds to make the world go round. None of it bothers me in the least. From my house all I can hear are my sound systems.


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[1KW]

When I started into this hobby I read that Mcintosh lasts for generations. Despite several new models being introduced I have stayed with my C2300 and MC501's because they sound great to me. While I tend to upgrade my cars, computers, cell phone, camera's etc these seem to be keepers. I have not any problems with them as well knock on wood

[Cohibaman]

Boy, I was going to reply, but Dan hit every single point I was going to make and then some. +1 Dan!

[Audiophilehi]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Kieran.......Lots of jealous folks out there. Lots of folks who have budget systems that want to believe their systems measure up to the premium gear so they bash the premium gear as a way to prove their choices are of equal value and performance.

McIntosh is a well known brand with a remarkable and long standing reputation, a history that precedes the majority of audio companies, and a large group of satisfied customers worldwide. Is McIntosh perfect? No, but they certainly bring serious engineering prowess to the table. Their amplifiers and preamplifiers are world renowned and envied by many audiophiles. McIntosh equipment maintains high resale values that other companies only wish they could maintain, not to mention being able to still get parts from the factory for vintage McIntosh components of 30 to 50 years old. Try that with your choice of audio manufacturers.

You are right, in my opinion, about how great McIntosh sounds. Many audiophiles, including a number of people I personally know, have waded through a lot of gear from many different brand names in their quest for satisfaction. Some started with McIntosh, left them, bought and sold many amps, preamps, and source components over a number of years, then ultimately returned to McIntosh and are happy they did. Others simply found their way to McIntosh after years on the audio component merry-go-round, then settled into McIntosh like a comfortable pair of fur lined house slippers.

Is McIntosh for everyone? No, of course not. There are many other well respected audio manufacturers building fabulous audio components. Each and every one has its personality, its house sound, its appeal to particular enthusiasts. It's a great big world out there and plenty of wonderful audio components to choose from. McIntosh Labs catalog of past and present audio gear is huge. I cannot think of another audio company that has offered so many choices over such a long period of time. Their latest offerings are exceptional and substantial in their design and build quality.

Returning to your original point about the bashing, McIntosh is an easy target, but they are not the only target. Audio Research, Accuphase, Constellation, Meitner, Esoteric, and many others get criticized right along with McIntosh. The guy with the AudioQuest DragonFly DAC and a laptop thinks his rig can take on all comers. Trying to belittle McIntosh makes the messenger feel he is somehow elevating his choice. He wants to believe his low cost mail order amplifier outperforms McIntosh on all perimeters, and his choice makes him smarter than the foolish people who spend big bucks to bring home McIntosh. It is important to people like this that they impress their friends with their audio knowledge and ability to build a superior sound system on a shoestring budget. They wish to be viewed as smarter than any misguided audiophile who builds a McIntosh system. This doesn't mean a great sounding system has to cost a fortune. Lots of folks have assembled very good sounding systems without a big budget or a single McIntosh component. All I can say about that is it takes all kinds to make the world go round. None of it bothers me in the least. From my house all I can hear are my sound systems.


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Nicely said Dan!

[vegaracer1]

I have a Dealer of high end here in Connecticut that sells high end, but no McIntosh.He bad mouths the brand to no end.I think it is a sour grapes mentality because he sells the competition.If I had never heard the McIntosh products and parrot what someone else said the fire could have been fed.

[rns]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Kieran.......Lots of jealous folks out there. Lots of folks who have budget systems that want to believe their systems measure up to the premium gear so they bash the premium gear as a way to prove their choices are of equal value and performance.

McIntosh is a well known brand with a remarkable and long standing reputation, a history that precedes the majority of audio companies, and a large group of satisfied customers worldwide. Is McIntosh perfect? No, but they certainly bring serious engineering prowess to the table. Their amplifiers and preamplifiers are world renowned and envied by many audiophiles. McIntosh equipment maintains high resale values that other companies only wish they could maintain, not to mention being able to still get parts from the factory for vintage McIntosh components of 30 to 50 years old. Try that with your choice of audio manufacturers.

You are right, in my opinion, about how great McIntosh sounds. Many audiophiles, including a number of people I personally know, have waded through a lot of gear from many different brand names in their quest for satisfaction. Some started with McIntosh, left them, bought and sold many amps, preamps, and source components over a number of years, then ultimately returned to McIntosh and are happy they did. Others simply found their way to McIntosh after years on the audio component merry-go-round, then settled into McIntosh like a comfortable pair of fur lined house slippers.

Is McIntosh for everyone? No, of course not. There are many other well respected audio manufacturers building fabulous audio components. Each and every one has its personality, its house sound, its appeal to particular enthusiasts. It's a great big world out there and plenty of wonderful audio components to choose from. McIntosh Labs catalog of past and present audio gear is huge. I cannot think of another audio company that has offered so many choices over such a long period of time. Their latest offerings are exceptional and substantial in their design and build quality.

Returning to your original point about the bashing, McIntosh is an easy target, but they are not the only target. Audio Research, Accuphase, Constellation, Meitner, Esoteric, and many others get criticized right along with McIntosh. The guy with the AudioQuest DragonFly DAC and a laptop thinks his rig can take on all comers. Trying to belittle McIntosh makes the messenger feel he is somehow elevating his choice. He wants to believe his low cost mail order amplifier outperforms McIntosh on all perimeters, and his choice makes him smarter than the foolish people who spend big bucks to bring home McIntosh. It is important to people like this that they impress their friends with their audio knowledge and ability to build a superior sound system on a shoestring budget. They wish to be viewed as smarter than any misguided audiophile who builds a McIntosh system. This doesn't mean a great sounding system has to cost a fortune. Lots of folks have assembled very good sounding systems without a big budget or a single McIntosh component. All I can say about that is it takes all kinds to make the world go round. None of it bothers me in the least. From my house all I can hear are my sound systems.


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+1 well said Dan

[Pampero]

I had a bias against Mc gear for the better part of my entire career. In my defense, one thing I always knew was that it was very well made.

I made my choices this round based on statistics and a number of auditions and came to the conclusion that if I wanted a premium product in its category, it would be hard to exceed the voltage and current drives being offered at the price that MC gear provided for my particular application. I needed power aplenty. I went ahead and bought an Mc preamp to assure good system matching.

I've been a convert since then. Great gear for long term satisfaction, and a pleasure to listen to everyday.Curiously, one place where McIntosh has retained its prestige while languishing in the marketplace has been amongst pro users. McIntosh does not offer a solution for pro users because in most cases, the weight, rack space, feature set conspires against their needs. On the other hand, if you look to see what they admire or actually own for their home systems, Mc gear figures prominently. Once you decide that you don't want a switching power supply or Class D amplifier and start looking around for a highend solution with balls and some current delivery, McIntosh might very well end up on your short list as a relatively cost effective solution.

The same chart displays itself when you're solving the puzzle of selecting a preamp that has ample inputs and outputs and a complete "two channel audiophile" focused feature set.

As Dan says, there are no end of fabulous choices out there but McIntosh more than holds its own for a broad swath of audiophile users. In the amp/preamp department at least, many Mcs are a safe and sensible solution to a broad range of issues. I might not think of MC first when it comes to certain categories of equipment, but their core competence in amplification and switching gear is simply rock solid.

[EfeTe]

+1 Lew!