McIntosh to Luxman?

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.

@decathlon1991 I care not where you’re from or where you are now. Your statement that Magnolia stores are all identical is patently false. What’s also false is your assumption that I only listened to the Blades with Mac gear for only two hours. The fact is I got to listen to that system for many months with my own reference recordings I’ve heard on many systems — several of them costing significantly over a million dollars — so I kinda know what they’re supposed to sound like, and the Blades in this dedicated room with top Mac gear sounded like crap. Soundstage was truncated and upper octave details were significantly rolled off, which is absolutely NOT a characteristic of the otherwise excellent Blade speakers. It was a total mismatch. You may like the Mac house sound or you may not, but in my experience hearing several of their models on many different speakers is that they skew toward the warm — and I’d say bloated — side and are significantly rolled off in the upper treble. A lot of people like that “sound” or the attractive blue meters, but it ain’t neutral in the least, which is likely why no reviewers — not one — use them as reference components in their systems. That’s because they only portray their interpretation of the recording and not what’s actually on it, and I think you’ll find the majority of people here would mimic my impressions. But, u do u.

This is why the Audiophile magazines are going to be extinct.

Uh, Rrrriiiiiight. This is your ignorant and warped view of the world. Nuff said.

Nor do I where it comes to where you live and where you’ve heard them.  Apparently I struck a nerve, lol. Taking one’s comments and twisting them to your liking for a debate doesn’t make you sound smarter, it makes you look desperate.  Since you didn’t read the post from the beginning last time, let me spell it out for you so that you can comprehend.  Best Buy Magnolia stores across the country uses a Plano for all of their displays. In fact all name brand stores do so.  No one is asking you to believe it or not but if you want to feel smart, look it up or ask your setup guys at Best Buy Magnolia.  I have a friend who is a Manager at the Magnolia store.  I don’t guess like some other people, I ask.  That’s how I know weather i like the sound from their display or not. Apparently you’re have an issue with McIntosh and the company model.  Last I checked they set the market for the audio world. I wouldn’t be silly or blind to think otherwise.  As for a million dollar system, I’ve embarked on that journey.  I have multiple systems in my homes. Not trying to brag but you went there, lol.  A true Audiophile person knows it’s not how much you spend, it’s what you achieve in buying the best gear for your environment to get what you PERCEIVE as the best sounding system for your home.  At the end of the day, it’s their money and who are you to dream otherwise. You don’t matter to them in their eyes.  One last thing,  I use McIntosh for my theater, that’s my theater and could care less about what you think.  It’s not my many two channel rigs.  My two channel rigs is far more advanced because that was my choice. I’ve volunteered many times in college at radio stations,  so trust me!  I know what great music should sound like.  At the end of the day, I would be honest with folks but I definitely wouldn’t bash their gear like you seem to do.  To me, that’s what people do when they can’t afford it themselves or lack self motivation to explore like some folks like to do, again it’s their own money, not yours.  That’s what I call ignorance thinking that you know what’s best for others!!

Detail, imaging, impact.  McIntosh is rather dull and generic sounding.  When you first hear it, you think, a nice and safe sound.  But then you compare it to other gear, and right away you hear its limitations.

I always say don’t use what you have in your main two channel rig for movies.  You won’t wanna watch more than one movie. Heck, you may just turn it off because it is screaming at you. It will sound lifeless and unpleasant because it’s way to detailed. It’s different from just listening to recorded or live recording music. You want your movie you are watching to feel more realistic and not too bright.  That’s why you separate the two in my opinion. My McIntosh theater is only for theater, nothing more..  I don’t use it for two channel.  I don’t expect everyone to have that option. But some folks love the sound of it I. A lot of folks use it if two channel.  Now in defense of McIntosh, I always here that people nag it and say, they only purchase it because of the beautiful blue meters.  Playing devils advocate, what’s the excuse of the ones without it?  As an audiophile, I can appreciate all types of audio equipment.  I don’t close my mind to any brand. As far as I am concerned, every company makes good and bad gear.  I don’t label one company as bad because they are the most successful and keeping smaller companies afloat by peaking one’s interest in the audio world. If they go down, sorry to say others will follow suit.