McIntosh clearly has a storied history and a devoted following. As others have said, it has a soft voicing that some find pleasing while others find veiled and too dark-strictly a matter of taste. I think the brand suffers a bit from being owned by so many different corporate masters over the years-now Bose. But it really comes down to whether the very distinctive voicing coincides with your preference. Which can be said for a lot of brands.
An Audio Amateur's question about McIntosh Audio
I casually follow and read many of the mainstream audio gear magazines and YouTube reviewers. Most of them will publish annual lists of their top or favorite devices of the year, decade etc., and through them I am able to learn about high-end distinguished brands and their products.
On the other hand I have also noted from discussions among other audiophiles that equipment from McIntosh is of very high quality.
What I have noticed, however, is that I don't see any of the magazines or professional/semi-pro reviewers include a McIntosh product in their top recommended lists.
Why does this dichotomy exist? If McIntosh is so good why don't their products make it into top XYZ lsts?
I am a newbie and I might be missing something obvious. But I'd appreciate some education here.
Thanks,
Amit
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@amitb - in high end audio, we are chasing better sound within our budgets. There are many brands/models both past and present. Each Brand and model have different sonic signatures, evidenced by demoing in person. As such, we each have unique sonic preferences within our budgets. Many/most of us are familiar with the Mac sound, but there are many other brand/models we subjectively favor more. To really understand, you must listen for yourself to hear differences, mere words are inadequate. |
@stereo5 wrote "@ghdprentice i could say the same about your beloved ARC." You could, but it wouldn't be true. For my money, if I didn't own BAT, I'd have ARC amps and preamp, |
Just bought a mc 2600 from audio classics new in box as it is several years old still going strong. Mcintosh or macintosh or tomato or tooomato does not matter.they offer several times a year to trade up 75% of msrp on new stuff and that's customer support.they have alot of service centers over the usa although I've never needed it.i have 70% mac the rest audio research,boulder,soulution ect. I enjoy the Mac stuff as well as any other . .005% distortion on the mac 1.25 and 200 amps at 1.25 kw with 4 kw transients is worth it to me. I have the 12000 pre and cd both tube or solid state in one box just change output on xlr. They say it has a house sound or it rolls off slightly in the highs. I have alot of beryllium tweeters so it doesn't matter.even on speakers without be tweets it's fantastic. I bought it open box or used and it's value is same or more that I paid if I sold it today. So they do keep value. Read the reviews on the 12000 pre amp as it stated one of the best measured. They run cool on solid state not hot.thier design is quite good as bascom king reviewed the 2600 back in the day.besides they were used at Woodstock and I was only there in my mind with the mud slides . Just go listen at a dealer .enjoy life and the science and mcintosh.😃 |
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