An Audio Amateur's question about McIntosh Audio

I've had McIntosh gear for 35 years.  I'll always remember getting panned for owning MAC gear at a particular audio store and would get the typical sales pitch that McIntosh was not really audiophile gear (and "let me show you this unit from such and such manufacture that is tons better!").  That was until that same store became a McIntosh dealer, then it was the best stuff in the world. 

And, in my local area many years ago, some of the bars/clubs would use massive McIntosh amps to power the bar sound system.  In a couple clubs, the amps were all beat to death from bartenders / staff putting stuff on them since they sat out in the open.  Meters would work, but bulbs were usually all burned out...those amps looked horrendous cosmetically...but would crank night after night after night.

@carlso63 - Agreed on the exclusivity aspect that you bring up.  McIntosh is pretty readily available and that doesn't sit well with people that want exclusivity.  So, it gets easily passed up as non-audiophile gear.

Horror stories when it breaks.

In my opinion, McIntosh is "just okay", but overhyped by some and defenitely overpriced. There are many other far better choices available, but I won't belabor the list of other fine options.

When certain McIntosh models appeared at mid-fi online retailers like Crutchfield, it torpedoed the exclusivity of the brand name for some people. But it made it readily available for those who know what they want and don’t want to deal with a sale guy at a shop.

Imagine if AR or Accuphase showed up at Crutchfield.

I work part time at a Mac dealership, and have on 2 other stints in my long career in audio, from 1973-5 and from 2013-now.  I have taken the factory indoctrination tour, and sold quite a few.  I have never owned any except vintage tube gear that I recapped and flipped. As a new hire in my first job, I was taught by the store owner that McIntosh was the foundational brand without which the store would not exist...this was during the period that @wbs described...when McIntosh was not being reviewed or discussed in the HiFi mags.  But the target customer was not the typical magazine reader...it was the successful business owner, lawyer, physician, or other professional type who could afford to "own the best".  The other uniquely McIntosh value proposition is their adherence to a uniform design aesthetic across decades of products...so a mixed bag of components always looks like it belongs together.

That’s also why I never wanted any...I like smaller items.