McIntosh - is it that great?

I bought an MC-7270 in 1990 for $1900. Over the years , the soothing blue meters faded from direct sunlight, the tiny ridges in the knobs flattened out. I sold it for 1895 on ebay last week

Chad, no.
And I'll not name them.
Where I live is SEVERLY audio challenged.
It's not necessarily the fault of the stores but rather due to the economic ability of the surrounding area.
The surrounding area is hitorically blue collared in nature and has the attitudes associated with a blue collar work force.
Try charging more than two bucks for a Bud and people think you're trying to rob them.

You are right in not naming names, I should have kept that private aswell

I am looking at buying an older Mac receiver it is a mac4280 can anyone give me some thoughts on this receiver.
good or bad.

mac is an iconoclistic brand like harley-davidson. i like their sound (some don't). one thing for sure, historically and now, investing in it for a high end system isn't flushing your money down the toilet. mac will be mac and harley will be harley long aftyer most high end gear is landfill. i have lots of other cool gear that i love listening too, but hey, mac is what it is.