McIntosh to Luxman?

@decathlon1991 At my Magnolia the Blades were set up in their own room and 5 feet away from the back wall so setup wasn’t an issue and they still sounded like crap with the Mac gear.  But I agree in the main listening room the speaker setup is a total joke.  In fact, whenever I did an audition for someone I always pulled the speakers out and set them up so the customer could get a real idea of what they could do.  I will say though that their home install service is exceptional and would recommend it highly even if you don’t buy your equipment there.  They are very professional and experienced, and the price you’re quoted is the price you pay regardless if they run into unseen issues and need to eat the added cost of equipment and labor.  They just do it right, which isn’t always the case with independent installers. 

I have friends who manage what use to be Magnolia and sorry, I wouldn’t let them set up my system. When it comes to Plano design with Best Buy, at every store, the setup is the same.  They don’t deviate from one store to another. In the room where they set it up with the McIntosh MC1.25 Monoblock amplifiers, the room isn’t established properly.  Making a room look decent isn’t the same as setting it up properly to get it to sound good.  The sound bounces around all over the place and it seems hollow.  For that room size, the blade 2’s would be better for that size room but still would need to be dialed in.  Also, one Mcintosh amplifier doesn’t have the same signature sound as another model.  Each model has a different signature sound. I have friends and family members that own a McIntosh/ KEF Blade 1 & 2 combination and their setup sounds amazing.  It takes a while to truly dial in the Blades. I have McIntosh as a theater setup but my listing room is Boulder.  Just my 2 cents worth due to all of the gear I’ve owned in the past 40 years.😀

When it comes to Plano design with Best Buy, at every store, the setup is the same. They don’t deviate from one store to another.

@decathlon1991 While that may be true with your basic Best Buy that’s just simply not true when it comes to Magnolia. In NJ I have four Magnolia stores within a half hour from me, and none of them are set up identically and differ in their number and setup of individual listening rooms. In point of fact, my Magnolia had one separate room set up for only the Blades driven by very high-end Mac electronics including massive monoblock amps, and the other Magnolias did not have this. So that’s that.  Also, I wrote professional reviews of high-end audio equipment for 17 years and have heard Blades in several different systems and all sounded markedly better than the setup at my Magnolia — not even close.  So yeah, I kinda know what I’m talking about here. 

A few years ago when I was shopping for an integrated I narrowed my choices down to a Mac MA2275 and one of the Luxman SS.  After reading a number of posts comparing McIntosh and Luxman, I went for the 507ux.  I am very happy with mine.  The phono section is really good.  I think I would have to pay over $2000 to significantly better it.

That being said, McIntosh generally hold their value much better than Luxman but since you are buying used, that shouldn't be an issue.

The one thing that bothered me about my unit is that it developed a slight buzz after I had it for about 6 months.  The sound comes from the unit itself-it is nothing you hear through the speakers during playback.  It is not very audible but it did bother me.  It seems to be a fairly common issue-something to do with the way the transformers are mounted is what I have read.  Luxman has no interest in addressing it so far as I know.

If you have read my post,  I was only speaking about the Magnolia Best Buy stores only. I’m in Southern California and trust me, growing up on the east coast, sSouthern California have some of the best stores. Most Magnolia doesn’t get the McIntosh MC2KW or McIntosh 1.2KW & 1.25KW.  I’ve traveled all of the world and been to some of the incredible stores during my venture.  As far as you writing for 17 years for a audio magazine, wouldn’t be my decision making on how a system sounds.  As you claim, being a writer and testing systems, you should know systems are room dependent and system synergy.  You may not like the brand or the sound but to say it sounds like crap for an hour or 2 of listening is pretty funny. What you like as appose to what someone else like is called a choice so your point of view wouldn’t matter to them especially if you haven’t heard their system in their environment.  This is why the Audiophile magazines are going to be extinct.  Folks are wising up and thinking for themselves.  Buy with your ears and eyes, not with what someone is telling you to purchase with an article.