Is Mcintosh worth the investment?

Thank you! Right now, Wharfedale Mach 3s, can't imagine doing bigger without having a bigger room. I think even these would be considered fairly inefficient by modern standards but they don't seem very power hungry, even on weaker/more modest amplifiers.

 

Keep in mind McIntosh specs are conservatively rated; MC2505 is realistically closer to 70 wpc with distortion still well under 1%. I've also noticed MC2505 values seem to be creeping upward on "our favorite" auction site, and rightly so.

Herewith the MC2505 - a McIntosh classic.

 

Beautiful

 

I've never regretted buying my McIntosh C46 and MC252. If I had it to do over I would not have purchased the MVP871 universal player I bought at the same time, it was always finicky about playing some discs. The Oppo 105 I replaced it with is superior in every way for about 20% of the cost.

 

I'm inclined to agree I'll post some photos as soon as I get the cabinet for it, will probably be a couple of weeks as I'm having one custom built

 

Not nearly as voiced as most 'audiophile' gear -- so what you get is a nice mid-range focused and balanced sound. And the money goes into the build quality, so you get the quietest amps and blackest backgrounds you'll ever hear. Hearing sound 'au natural' is a bit of a bitter pill for many of us.

 

One day I will own some of this lovely gear.

 

Yes it's worth the money. It's just expensive and hard for many to afford.

 

Yep, always, especially the tube gear.

 

The Outlaw will work fine. I had one hooked to Vandersteen 1c's. It, however, isn't high end. As far as tuners go, I live in Houston and the radio environment here renders tuners as useless as tits on a boar.

 

Meanwhile people spend the same $$$ on Naim calling it a 'bargain' and it sounds like hell.

 

Mac is still a better investment than my last room-mate.

and there's a mute button.

 

I've been a McIntosh owner for almost 40 years and while there was a time I owned some 'high end' systems there was always a McIntosh piece in the rack. I've got some McIntosh gear that's 20+ years old and has held its value.

 

The only Mac equipment that gives me trouble is my McIntosh MVP891 player. Twice in4 months it quit playing cd's & Dvd's But it will play SACD's & Blueray's. My old Mac equipment is problem free.

 

I don't trust any McIntosh gear with moving parts.

 

Apparently they don't either. Here's their trade-in program, which is actually quite good. However, I see it excludes equipment with "moving parts" as you say. But it does say a lot to me that they will take all these other items and give you 75% of the MSRP towards a new item.

 

I have some used McIntosh equipment and am pleased. The company can repair your vintage equipment. I feel that the power amplifiers, pre amplifiers, and tuners by McIntosh are well made. As for speakers, I prefer Canton or ADS speakers. Like my Sony and Technics turntables.

The new McIntosh equipment is very expensive. Keep in mind that any authorized McIntosh Stockist charges full retail. There is no price matching when you get into this kind of gear. You are paying them for the equipment and to stand behind what you buy. The dealer is obligated to sell at the price that McIntosh sets. The dealer is obligated to make sure that you are 100% pleased after money changes hands. The high price of admission to new McIntosh components entitles you to pick the brains of the dealer to get the most music out of the system. If you take good care of your new system, it will appreciate in value through the years. But you will most likely hand it down to your next of kin.

 

Actually most McIntosh equipment has moving parts. The blue meters move. The volume knobs and tone controls move (with the help of a remote control or your fingers).

 

That is not quite true...I've gotten some discounts on brand new McIntosh equipment, even from the likes of Magnolia. They've told me that McIntosh authorized it because I'm a repeat customer, but I don't know if that's true.

But one thing is for certain: in my experience they do make sure you are 100% satisfied. Case-in-point, I bought a demo model C2500 preamp that developed a bad relay after about 6-7 months. The dealer let me exchange it back to them for the full purchase price towards a brand new C2600, at a discount.

 

True! But my point was that the particular trade-in special didn't apply to disc players, turntables and the like. Only amps and preamps.

 

Being a repeat customer does cause the dealer to work out good deals. Should also mention that if the dealer has some new McIntosh components in stock that is about to be discontinued or already discontinued, they can cut the price. If I am not mistaken, they must contact McIntosh to find out by how much they can discount. Tell you what, if I spend full list for an MC2KW system and C1000 pre amplifier, I will ask them to locate a Micro Seiki DDX-1000 turntable to compliment the system as well as a Nakamichi 1000ZXL limited to go with the system as well.

 

Tell you what. If I owned an authorized McIntosh (and WOM) salon and a customer wants to trade in their Micro Seiki DDX-1000 turntable and/or Nakamichi 1000ZXL Limited deck toward McIntosh, I am going to do my best to make them happy and stay within the rules. Talking complimentary Kimber Cables, free set up at their residence.

 

Pay the extra cash and get one reconditioned by a reputable shop, I have bought six used vintage pieces, 2 - 1900's, 1 2505 ,1-c26, 1 c28 and a 2105 and the two 1900's developed issues and over all I am not impressed by them.
Save some cash and buy a reconditioned Fisher 500 C, they are super nice and are well worth the price.

 

So I know this is an old thread and I apologize but I Googled and it's right up my alley. Any insight on the following would be greatly appreciated.

I've been going back and forth recently with doing a kind of "end game" high level upgrade of my components and I've gravitated towards McIntosh but I have some concerns/questions. And it just kind of seems like (understandably) that the higher up you go in gear, the harder it is to find answers because obviously not a ton of people have this stuff. So I'm really just looking for some help/input. To have a starting point/reference, I should name what I currently have and what I'm looking to accomplish:

- Computer for music/playing games
- Creative Labs Soundblaster X7 DAC/Headphone amp/line in for recording vinyl
- Technics SL 1200 mk2 turntable
- Cambridge Audio phono preamp
- Yamaha HS80M speakers/HS10W sub
- Beyerdynamic T1 headphones

Basically I am just, obviously, trying to get the highest quality sound that I feel like my budget can afford but also at the same time I don't just want to buy something for the sake of buying something. If I'm going to spend ~$5,000 or whatever on this stuff, I want it to be tangibly better. And I know that gets into muddy area because everyone's ears/expectations are different, but for the sake of this I'm just saying what I'm sure everyone can understand. It's a lot of money and I don't just want to buy it because it looks cool.

The trouble that I seem to be running in to is that it's not overly easy to find 1 or 2 components that seamlessly do what the X7 does in that it is 1) a USB DAC, 2) a headphone amplifier and 3) has both outputs for my speakers and a line in input for my turntable for recording to the PC/listening to the turntable through the speakers/headphones seamlessly.

I'm fine with getting 2 components to do what this 1 does and it APPEARS to me that a combination of the McIntosh D150 (DAC) and MP100 (Phono Preamp) would serve this purpose. The D150 is my USB DAC, Headphone Amp & Speaker output and I could run my turntable via digital coaxial (is this ok since it's rca going into the preamp?) and whenever I want to record it has a USB output to the PC.

So of course the ~$5,000 question in this instance is......do these 2 purchases give me that solid, tangible upgrade I'm looking for? And I know the initial thing will always be for people to say "of course, look at the price/quality difference" and if that's what people say, that's what people say. I'm just looking for some kind of input on my decisions. And also are there any other alternatives? I notice McIntosh also has an MHA150 Headphone amplifier that appears to me to do many of the same things that the DT150 does, it just doesn't have balanced outputs so I'd have to use RCA to 1/4" cables for my speakers. Beyond the $1,500 price difference am I missing anything there? I assume it's mainly a much better headphone amp.

I'm also considering switching my Yamaha HS80M's to Adam AX7's and trying to figure out if that change would be worth it or not. From everything I read the Adam's are really good but just not sure how much of a difference there will be. And also if I decided on the MHA150 I see that I could hook passive speakers into it, I'm wondering if something like B&W 685 S2's might be a better match with it than the monitors?

Sorry for the really long post and numerous questions.....but I just want to make sure I'm making an informed decision. Thank you.