What is it about McIntosh?

[Percheron]

I’m pretty new to all things audio, and I’m curious about the mystic of McIntosh. I haven’t listened much at all to them but really appreciate the designs. It seems there’s a whole subculture not unlike Harley Davidson, people can’t really explain why they like them, they just do. What is the draw?

-Derek

 

[Blumlein 88]

I think you are close on about it being like Harley Davidson. There was a time they were among the best of the best. Very beautiful, very well made, excellent performance, literally their gear lasts a lifetime. That has long ago passed however. They still make beautiful gear. Pretty well made. Performance is anywhere from okay to great to sometimes not very good. So it is a heavy duty build, and old school style that lets them live on their laurels from the past.

 

[KozmoNaut]

The style is very polarizing. I absolutely can't stand it, but I know some people who absolutely can't get enough of it.

 

[CDMC]

I think you are close on about it being like Harley Davidson. There was a time they were among the best of the best. Very beautiful, very well made, excellent performance, literally their gear lasts a lifetime. That has long ago passed however. They still make beautiful gear. Pretty well made. Performance is anywhere from okay to great to sometimes not very good. So it is a heavy duty build, and old school style that lets them live on their laurels from the past.

I think this hits it well on the head. Also, their pricing has moved ever higher.

 

[anmpr1]

Back in the day McIntosh was a 'buy it and forget it' proposition. For a while they never sent units to magazines for reviews, figuring that they didn't need the exposure. The company developed a solid dealer network, and held 'clinics' where they'd measure your amplifier guaranteeing it met specs. In the days of FM, Mac could sell you a very fine tuner designed by Richard Modafferi, and send you a free FM directory in the mail if you asked. It was probably the only inexpensive thing McIntosh ever offered.

I presume they still maintain a helpful dealer network that will give you a loaner if something breaks. I don't know if they still hold 'clinics'. Unlike the 'old days', they are sending out demo units to reviewers who know about pace, slam, front to back depth and mid-range liquidity. McIntosh appear to be involved in tweako 'engineering': expensive CD transports that run at double speed... tri-wire speaker bindings on their amps (I don't even know what that is, but it sounds expensive). However all that is, their amps still look as beefy and as solid as ever, and I imagine they retain the expected Mac quality.

Their overall aesthetic has been modernized for today's high-end consumer, but still retains most of the classic Mac appeal. Personally, I'm more in to the Accuphase school of design, but inasmuch as I can't afford either of the brands I just look on from a distance. I wish my AHB2 had Binghamtom Blue meters but, like I said, you have to draw the line somewhere.

 

[Ron Texas]

The style is very polarizing. I absolutely can't stand it, but I know some people who absolutely can't get enough of it.

Mac is one of the most widely distributed high end brands as it is carried by Magnolia Designs in most Best Buy stores. An industrial designer told me the look is especially good.

 

[BillG]

Big, glows, tubes, meters, nostalgic, overpriced. I'll pass...

 

[soundwave76]

The looks. The looks. The looks.

 

[anmpr1]

Mac is one of the most widely distributed high end brands as it is carried by Magnolia Designs in most Best Buy stores. An industrial designer told me the look is especially good.

I thought you were making a joke. I checked, and then wished I hadn't. Best Buy. Good Grief. How things have changed.

 

[Ron Texas]

I thought you were making a joke. I checked, and then wished I hadn't. Best Buy. Good Grief. How things have changed.

Yeah, along with Martin Logan, B&W and KEF. They have some AVR's but I don't remember the brands.

 

[GrimSurfer]

I think you are close on about it being like Harley Davidson. There was a time they were among the best of the best. Very beautiful, very well made, excellent performance, literally their gear lasts a lifetime. That has long ago passed however. They still make beautiful gear. Pretty well made. Performance is anywhere from okay to great to sometimes not very good. So it is a heavy duty build, and old school style that lets them live on their laurels from the past.

Agree on the brand aura. The past 20 years has been tough for Mc because the performance of competitors' solid state designs have risen to challenge/eclipse them.

 

[Percheron]

The looks have been growing on me lately, as has the industrial vibe. I work for a large aerospace company and McIntosh would blend in with some of the equipment seen in labs. However the entry price is pretty dang steep, even for used, but I guess you’d be pretty sure to get your money back when you sell.

Do they tend to have a “house sound”? I know their product line is big, but there are no dealers close by for me to investigate. With the recent tests on some the PS Audio equipment and the prices involved, I’m fascinated by the cost/value of audio stuff. Turntables for $15k? Speakers for $25+? A $5K McIntosh that you can sell in ten years for $3k seems kind of a value. Weird.

 

[SIY]

The electronics of theirs I’ve used had no particular sound. Well designed, so as neutral as any other piece of engineered gear.

 

[Frank Dernie]

For most of my lifetime McIntosh gear wasn't sold here, I just saw pictures in magazines.
Now it is strongly marketed and expensive here, though I haven't seen it in a dealer's.

 

[blueone]

The electronics of theirs I’ve used had no particular sound. Well designed, so as neutral as any other piece of engineered gear.

Well designed? The "autoformers" on their solid state amplifiers are one of the silliest features in modern audio equipment. They add size, weight, cost, and lower available current into low impedance loads.

 

[Midwest Blade]

Mac was mythical in my early years when I dove into the audio world. Not very exposed in my area growing up, but I remember my brother and I talking frequently about "if only we could get a Macintosh amp, they are the best". My brother settled on a Sansui BA-2000 which was a sort of Mac clone, black with light green meters, he still has it and it still puts it out. I went a different way and ended up with a Quad 405-2.

More show than go? Back then we really had no way to know, it looked good, it must perfrom good.

 

[GrimSurfer]

I wish my AHB2 had Binghamtom Blue meters but, like I said, you have to draw the line somewhere.

That's what is called "a good problem".

The AHB2 is an exceptionally fine amp. Benchmark could package it in a cardboard box smeared with cat shite and it would still be an example of exceptional amplification (might smell a bit though).

 

[SIY]

Well designed? The "autoformers" on their solid state amplifiers are one of the silliest features in modern audio equipment. They add size, weight, cost, and lower available current into low impedance loads.

In my testing, the autoformers were useful for increasing current into low impedance loads while not increasing output stage dissipation. Likewise, they were useful for increasing voltage swing into high impedance loads. Bandwidth was good, distortion was low. I’d call it a good design for the intended application.

 

[Fledermaus]

Does Mac still use output transformers in SS amps ? As Paul McGowan used to say (about tube amps, but not DACs of course ) those tend to limit your bandwidth and muddy your bass
Edit: sorry I skipped blueone's and SIY's posts before sending

 

[gene_stl]

And they were even less silly considering transistors were not as rugged back then as they are now. Early transistor amps could not tolerate accidental speaker wire short circuits. Many not even briefly. The AutoFormers protected some against shorts. Paul McGowan's statements may be true for some designs but like many generalizations not for all. Transformers can be inside the feedback loop and it also depends on how much money you spend on them. Transformer design was one of McIntosh's strong points. (Bifilar and Trifilar windings)