Hey everyone, I finally have the funds to purchase some McIntosh equipment and I’m curious , are their products really worth the cost ? I would really appreciate some input. Thanks so much !!!!
The correct answer is probably "it depends," but the consensus seems to be that McIntosh gear is definitely good but you can find better gear for the money. I can say that for the right price, I probably wouldn't turn down any McIntosh gear.
Only if you can afford it. As with Luxman, nobody calls you an idiot for owning McIntosh gear. Just sayin'...
I kind of look at McIntosh like Rolex. Yes it's great gear but you're also paying for the name. But yeah, it's good stuff.
I have 30 years of McIntosh blood & ownership experience and I loved it -- hey, they have been in New York since 1949 and made in the USA -- not farmed out overseas (except their TT's -- which are made by ClearAudio in Germany -- shipped to Binghamton and glass/stenciling applied/boxed). To carry the Made in USA stenciling costs $$'s; and I applaud them for staying in the state in which it was founded 75 years ago. Never owned a Soldi State amp/preamp but have owned MC30's, MC75's, single and dual MC275, and their MC2301's matched with appropriate tube tuner/preamps (MX-110's (3 of 'em), C2300, single and dual box C500, C1100), CD player and the MT10 which I loved (just change the cartridge to a ClearAudio Stradivari). Never owned their HT processors nor speakers. Made to last for generations. Best to you & your journey. Bob
if you like its sound signature, its not any "better" than quality entry level gear. its when you discover what your sound preference is that decides if its worth it.
That didn't take long -- post 8. Just admit it; it's an expense you rather not endure and therefore you categorize it as entry level performance. Best to you Sir, Bob
Can you elaborate on their signature sound? I won't answer the post directly, since I have modest experience with McIntosh. I attended a HiFi-show in Copenhagen, Denmark recently and McIntosh was represented. I was actually quite excited to listen to it since I have heard so much about it and also know that they are well respected within the community. I was not impressed and it's difficult to say why. There just wasn't something that kept me in the room or intrigued me. I also dislike their designs with the neon green lights and gothic lettering, but that's just me. I recommend you to go listen to it. I'm fairly new in this game as well and it has been rewarding to go to different dealers and listen to their equipment. Bring some of your own CD's or vinyls so you can compare the systems, if the shops let you. I know what I like about sound and music, but it's a difficult world when you are all new to this, so the only way for me is to listen to all kinds of equipment. I particularly enjoy Audio Note, Jadis and AirTight, but that's just me. I can't comment on the cost, because I don't have any qualified arguments for that. But what I know is that they have great reputation and perhaps they are capable of turning the prices a bit up on that matter - not sure! Don't take my reflection for granted. I wish you the best of luck and please, let us know what you end up with! HiFi both an amazing world but it's also a jungle!
yes its entry level performance, Performance is the numbers, there is nothing special about their numbers. and by entry level I still mean Higher end gear. That by the Numbers still competes with Mcintosh. , its their sound, some like some don't ...I prefer 2 specific sounds, the somewhat flat detailed upper midrange Japanese sound and a punchy dynamic pro sound... Macintosh is warm and syrupy...not to my liking at all. Lots of people don't like mcintosh, its also ugly as sin. I can buy mcintosh if I wanted to. its not that expensive. I don't think its worth the price. I would sooner buy TEAC reference 700 series I prefer the sound.
Absolutely! But actually no, they are a total rip-off. OK actually it really just depends. Now tube amps, those interact tremendously with the impedance curve of the speaker, I'd expect those to sound the same. Solid-state stuff, who knows. It depends on the sensitivity of your ears, and the speakers and room, and the rest of the equipment. You might hear a difference versus your Pioneer...or maybe you might not. - A big differentiator could be getting more sophisticated room correction. I can say firsthand that Audyssey XT32 + App and also ARC Genesis can tame some ugly room modes. McIntosh does not have anything like that...well correction (ha ha!) there is a device that's just an equalizer, and the expensive MEN220 which might be pretty sophisticated. - McIntosh is somewhat like a Ferrari, well made stuff with a long history of performance. And a visual brand aesthetic decades old. A reassuring kind of visual magic, and I'd hazard better eventual resale value than a lot of audio brands. Another brand I've long venerated is Bryston – Music for a Generation However in the way of amplification I am more interested in high power with efficiency and great measurements = advanced Class D these days. - Your profile doesn't list what speaker models you are using, just brands. The bunch of money McIntosh would cost might yield much more improvement if spent on speakers/subwoofers. Whatever differences amplifiers make are orders of magnitude smaller than the vast imperfections of loudspeakers. Which gets back to the perennial question: how much are you going to spend?
The answer is yes it is worth the money. The reason it is worth the money is because the market is willing to pay the price for it. Now whether YOU are willing to pay the price for it or whether YOU feel it is worth the money is a different question and only you can answer it. Think of any product - have you ever rolled your eyes at the price of something and thought "Why the hell would anyone pay that for that thing? I sure do when I see $300 toasters. It's a toaster - it makes toast - lol. Maybe it makes the best toast in the world but it's not important enough to me to care. Same for Rolex - most people could give a crap about a watch - all of which tell worse time than your smartphone. So the value of a good or service depends on your priorities. Cars, hotel rooms, vacation destinations, what city you want to live in. Looking at McIntosh - the only advice I can give is sort of big picture advice - when you look at any audio product (or vehicles) - try to consider the NET cost of the thing. If you buy a $5,000 McIntosh tube amp that people seem to always want and you know that in 10 years you can sell that amp for $3,500 then you paid $1500 to enjoy the amp for 10 years (leaving out inflation for simplicity). Not maybe you could buy a cheaper Chinese amplifier for say $4000 and you may say "Wow I saved $1k) but what if it's A)not quite as good sounding but very close) - B) doesn't give you any pride of ownership and C) in ten years you can only get $1,000 for it. So you paid $3k NET cost for an amp you don't like as much (that gives you less musical happiness) for ten years. Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note (who sells vastly more expensive amplifiers than McIntosh) posted a quote from John Ruskin "value" “There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person’s lawful prey. It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better” John Ruskin, Industrialist & Philosopher Strictly for fans of Audio Note UK (all things Audio Note UK) PART TWO The key part though is to be SURE the thing you are buying is going to give you the happiness you are expecting and that you are not buying it to join a "me too" sort of craze. There are plenty of reputable long-lasting brands with large fanbases. Still, one nice thing about McIntosh is that if you buy one and you don't love it - you probably won't lose much or any money it (if buying it used) and it's a popular unit (tubes over SS for instance). I sort of look at this like the Ford Mustang - I have never owned one but if I were to buy one I would buy the V8 over the 4-cylinder because to me the point of the car is to hear that V8 engine and get the "feeling" of that experience. The 4 Popper gives you the look and the style and maybe better gas mileage etc but going by the Raskin quote - you've paid less and saved money but you bought something that really isn't giving you the "Mustang" experience. The thing about McIntosh is they make a lot of different products and guess what? They don't all sound the same - you may very much like one amp and dislike another. So depending which one you happen to audition - and with which speakers - often makes people either like or dislike the whole brand (as unfair as it is) - back in the day in Canada - McIntosh was sold at the big box chain A&B Sound and this was a glorified Best Buy - not a great place to audition gear with middling speakers and bad rooms. Also, a lot of people dump on McIntosh because of the looks which is also a bit unfair.
When you buy a McIntosh, you're partially paying for its looks. Are there possibly better sounding pieces of equipment at the same price? Yes. But you may not get the iconic look. That look may not be for everyone. Their legendary support for their products is also part of the equation. For me, there other brands who make equipment not made with cheap labor which provide better sound for the money. But if you do buy one of McIntosh's pieces, you're certainly getting a good sounding piece of equipment with great looks and has good resale value.
I’ve owned top of the line Pioneer, and Yamaha, and mid-range Marantz, but my new McIntosh amp and transport take the sound to a whole other level. Even to my almost 70 year old ears. Wish I had switched years ago!
I'm wondering what Mcintosh gear the op is planning on buying? Vintage or new? SS or tube? Is there any particular piece of electronics you've zeroed in on? In my case I've also owned plenty of nice gear from overseas. I have nothing against any of it but it's no longer here as I choose to own Mcintosh which I've also owned a fair amount of over the years. It's tough to go wrong with Mac if one is serious about music and sits down to do the math. I wish you luck in your journey op and another thing to keep in mind it won't stop at one or 2 Mcintosh pieces
Absolutely yes! If you want gear that delivers top shelf sound, impeccable build quality, high resale value, repair ability, and world class customer service from a company that’s been in business over 75 years purchase McIntosh gear. For the level of performance they actually offer a tremendous value. So if you’re able to step up to this level gear, I would do so without hesitation. I personally have with both new and vintage components and love all of the systems I’ve put together. I hope that my personal experience helps you in your decision and wish you the best in whatever you decide to do. “ For the love of Music.”
You are paying for more than just a name with McIntosh. Support , unmatched serviceability, solid construction, I could go on and on. Their “entry level” gear , if you can even call it that is better than most company’ s best. I recently set up my Dad’s MA 8950. I have been a tube guy for many years but that is definitely an amp I’d be proud to own. It sounds great and is built like a tank.
That’s funny! I never thought of my MA-8950 as sounding like a waffle…..but I’ll give it a closer listen.
It is well built, high quality gear. Great service and value retention. imo it has no obvious signature, it is accurate. It has heritage. I had an MA6300 for 12 years. Sounded great and never missed a beat. Sold it iirc for 70% of what I bought it for new not including inflation.
Warm and syrupy, lol Mac IS pro level gear. imo, the exact opposite, lab instrument neutrality. Mac was founded as an engineering lab for industrial gear, not consumer goods. Accuracy is their forte'. imo that is why some don't prefer it, no 'flavor'. McIntosh specs/measurements are SotA. You may not like it, but you can't state non-fact. McIntosh Laboratory MC462 power amplifier Measurements Summing up the McIntosh MC462's measured performance is easy: It is an extraordinarily well-engineered, exceptionally powerful amplifier.—John Atkinson McIntosh MC275 power amplifier Measurements As I said, it is difficult to believe from its measured performance that the McIntosh MC275 was designed almost half a century ago (by a team led by company cofounder Sidney Corderman, footnote 1). Good audio engineering is timeless.—John Atkinson
I've owned a McIntosh MA6600 for over 10 years now. I find McIntosh to be a very musical, listenable amplifier. Muscular and non-fatiguing. I have no regrets with my purchase and if I had the funds and were looking for a new integrated or separates, McIntosh would be what I compared others (Accuphase, Coda, Luxman, Pass, PrimaLuna, etc) in it's price range to. I would not say anyone 'went wrong' with McIntosh.
