An Audio Amateur's question about McIntosh Audio

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. 

I've owned my MA352 and MCD85 for about eight years. I bought them from a small McIntosh dealer that's been in business since 1957. They're only open on Saturdays, but they can get anything McIntosh sells delivered quickly. I've seen amplifiers from the early 1960s on their repair bench. Their attitude is simple: if McIntosh built it, they can get the parts and bring it back to life.

As for the sound, I don't have a long list of gear to compare it against. I just know that whenever I audition other systems, I come home appreciating mine even more. Nothing I've heard has made me want to trade it in.

And those green tube lights and blue meters never get old. They’re a welcome reminder that I’m home, settled into my chair, and about to spend an evening listening to music exactly the way I like it.