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McIntosh Audio A Tradition of Excellence

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Old 10-23-2020, 08:56 PM
Msegal Msegal is offline
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Default Too Many Flavors?

I kind of hinted at this issue with my last post but I was too cryptic.
McIntosh continues to add amplifier upon amplifier, each with a (slightly) different character. Mono, stereo, solid state, tube, multichannel, class D, direct coupled, transformer coupled, with meters, without meters, with compound meters, etc.

I like the added choices but is it wise to spread the product line so thin?
I imagine Charlie Randall knows what he is doing but I would hate to see the “classic “ McIntosh products suffer from neglect.
These new products extend McIntosh to a lower price point where previously only second hand McIntosh were available.

Of course there are opportunities to increase revenue with novel products but there is risk.
I suspect unloading Audio Research helped in financing these new product runs.

Hopefully, McIntosh will realize the same benefit Porsche experienced with the Cayenne but in its infancy there were concerns about betrayal of identity and reduced prestige. If these new products prove to be unreliable, of inferior workmanship or poorly performing it may a difficult blow from which to recover.

This is armchair quarterbacking but I am curious what AA members think.

I personally wish for McIntosh to succeed but am a little concerned at the same time.

Mike S.
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Old 10-23-2020, 09:27 PM
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Logan Nolag Logan Nolag is offline
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Honestly I think it's fine. In fact I wish they would release some more even lower cost amps. I don't see how having cheaper products could possibly hurt them as long as the quality stays the same. If anything having cheaper stuff would allow for younger people to buy new McIntosh and todays young poor people are tomorrows older rich ones.

As we all know once you get McIntosh you tend to stick with it forever so if they can bring in young people they will have customers forever.

I think there is plenty of room for more entry level stuff. For example DACs and Headphone amplifiers are extremely popular with younger audiophiles these days and companies like Schiit, JDS labs, Topping, SMSL, Monoprice, Drop etc are pretty much taking this entire market. None of the more mainstream companies are really even trying to compete.

I think it would be awesome if McIntosh release a full line of entry level gear maybe something like this:

Basic Solid State Preamp/DAC/Headphone Amp: One balanced in, one unbalanced in, one balanced out, one unbalanced out, MC/MM Phono, DAC1/DAC2(optional), High powered headphone amp. ~$1000 - ~$2000. If they made something like this with specs comparable to a Benchmark DAC3, Massdrop THX AAA, or RME Adi-2 Pro I bet it would sell really well.

Then for people who want to add on speakers they can also have a basic Solid State Autoformer Amp: 50w per channel, balanced/unbalanced in also ~$1000 - $2000 They could make it with the same styling as the MC250 and call it the MC250 MK2.
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Old 10-24-2020, 02:26 AM
Levitator Levitator is offline
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While it’s great to have options, it does seem like there is a push to get lots of products into the market, mostly at lower price points, on a regular basis. For a dealer I think it would be a nightmare to keep on top of what they are rolling out and continually move stock - I know of one dealer that has decided to drop the line due to the fact that there is now too many frequent changes...
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Old 10-24-2020, 09:07 AM
djcxxx djcxxx is offline
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What you are asking is whether or not too many products to fill every market niche dilutes the brand in quality and exclusivity. Follow BMW, Mercedes Benz, and now Porsche over the last 15-20 years and your answer about McIntosh will be based upon whether you believe those automobile manufacturers offer more brand quality and exclusivity today than they did in the past.
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Old 10-24-2020, 10:42 AM
PHC1 PHC1 is offline
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The Macan and the Cayenne may be the number 1 and 2 top selling Porsche vehicles but it was the Boxster that saved the brand from financial ruin in the 90’s. The Boxster was not a betrayal of the brand philosophy and focus. It was very much a Porsche with similar performance to the 911 but with a price tag that many more could afford to bring a Porsche home.

Sure, the brand “exclusivity” may seem a bit trivial now that there are many models and platforms to chose from, including SUV and sedans as well as the Porsche “roots” hard core sports car platform but Porsche is doing very well and has a future. Thanks to the long established heritage and brand recognition worldwide, the demand for their products will continue.

None of it would matter one bit if Porsche products did not live up to the expectations or the performance did not match the legendary heritage today. That is the most important factor. They keep raising the bar and never getting complacent.

McIntosh would be wise to offer a wide range of products but should the products fail to meet the expectations of the brand heritage and recognition, the business model will fail and heritage will not be enough to save it.

All products across the brand need to stand up to the expectations. That is the secret of ALL luxury brands.
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Old 10-24-2020, 12:30 PM
damacman damacman is offline
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I wonder how many such conversations have been had over the years ... likely many during Mc's 70+ years in business.
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Old 10-29-2020, 10:10 AM
SAM992 SAM992 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PHC1 View Post
The Macan and the Cayenne may be the number 1 and 2 top selling Porsche vehicles but it was the Boxster that saved the brand from financial ruin in the 90’s. The Boxster was not a betrayal of the brand philosophy and focus. It was very much a Porsche with similar performance to the 911 but with a price tag that many more could afford to bring a Porsche home.
That's a great example... I am a Porsche fanatic, and for me the only true Porsche is the 911, but I understand that the other cars are what keep the company financially afloat, and their sharing a large parts bin with VW/Audi is forgiven to that extent... so long as they don't molest the 911.

I'd say as a relatively new arrival to McIntosh, but having lusted after the brand for years and been keeping up with their products, that it does feel a bit like the brand is being watered down these days.. even the car audio choice seems like a step down in terms of prestige ... I mean my car (yes it's a 911) comes with a very pricy Burmester stereo system that sounds pretty darn good for a car stereo but it does no justice to the true Burmester home audio equipment and thus drops the overall perceived quality of the brand to my eye..

I would prefer McIntosh to remain focused on their high end, and no compromise in that area, but also provide a mid range, and lower end, so long as that lower end is still high end relative to what you can get from the big box store.
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Old 10-29-2020, 10:16 AM
SAM992 SAM992 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djcxxx View Post
What you are asking is whether or not too many products to fill every market niche dilutes the brand in quality and exclusivity. Follow BMW, Mercedes Benz, and now Porsche over the last 15-20 years and your answer about McIntosh will be based upon whether you believe those automobile manufacturers offer more brand quality and exclusivity today than they did in the past.
I am convinced without a doubt that the relative quality of a Mercedes or BMW form the 1970's and 80's was an order of magnitude better than it's American and Japanese counterpart at the time.... fast forward to today, and the Mercedes and BMW is marginally (if even) better than it's American and Japanese counterpart, until you go to the absolute top of the range, and even then it's not as dramatic.

The 1980 Mercedes 240D, their bottom of the line car was $31,000 in 1980 dollars... a Cadillac El Dorado at that time cost less than 1/2 that much .. today a bottom end Mercedes costs a fraction of a top of the range Cadillac.. Brand watering down isn't anything new... McIntosh can easily fall into this trap, but the benefit to them is that all of these companies who water down their quality also grow and experience financial gains as a result.

Sell to the classes, live with the masses..
Sell to the masses, live with the classes.
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