Is Mcintosh worth the investment?

It took me a little over 50 years to get to McIntosh. Purchased my first receiver, a Fisher 500b, used off a consignment table in the audio department of a pharmacy in Shorewood, WI, in 1965. After a lot of churning, and a lot of ups and down over the years, ended up with a McIntosh MA5200 integrated amp last year. Am now in the process of adding an MR88 FM/AM/HD/XM tuner with full spousal support (yay!). Is it worth it? My answer is hell, yes. Took me over a half century to get there -- but I'm so pleased I made it. No going back. Made both purchases from Audio Classics. The shop is a great resource. Both pieces are very lightly used, but spent time on the bench and were certified by Audio Classics to perform at factory spec or better. No question it is expensive gear, but AC has the long time experience and expertise to support it when necessary.

 

No digital inputs on the MA6600 if that is important to you. You need to go up to the MA6700 to get that.

 

I've just ordered a used MR88 because of the fine HD programming in my home town.

 

I just sold a MC402 amp for 75% of what I paid for it 12 years ago. McIntosh obviously holds it’s value.

 

Congratulations!

The MR88 is getting quite hard to find since McIntosh stupidly discontinued it last year.

You are going to be in for a treat, especially if you're in an area with good-sounding FM stations. I am lucky to be in South Bend where we are served by 3 classical stations with excellent FM quality... WFMT in Chicago, WAUS in Berrien Springs, and WNDU at Notre Dame. An good outdoor antenna brings in WFMT in IBOC/HD (IBOC is another name for HD which stands not for "High-Definition", but rather "Hybrid Digital") on days when conditions are good. The big advantage of IBOC/HD is not for the sound quality -- FM analogue is probably better, but for the fact that many IBOC/HD stations have multiple channels including very "non-commercial" type formats such as album rock, comedy, rebroadcasts of AM stations etc etc...

I've been a radio fanatic for 40 years ever since I got a Harmon-Kardon Citation IIIx as a teenager which pulled in DX FM stations fantastically. The MR88 beats it in terms of DX capability since it has the ability to separate interfering adjacent stations with an automatic computer controlled variable filter. I've had Marantz 10B's and even a several thousand dollar Sequerra One FM tuner and the MR88 beats 'em all in terms of pulling in difficult stations with perfect "vacuum tube tuner" fidelity.

As a bonus, take a listen to the AM side of the MR88. Very wide-band "Hi-Fi" AM sound with the bonus of being able to pull in AM IBOC/HD if you live in an area that has it. I get two stations from Chicago on AM in IBOC/HD (WBBM NewsRadio and WSCR Sports Radio) and although they sound kind of tinny, it's fun being able to hear them digitally.

Speaking of AM, WLS-AM 890 kHz in Chicago still broadcasts in the old AM Stereo format called Motorola CQUAM. The MR88 has an undocumented feature of being able to receive CQUAM and I pull in WLS-AM in stereo on my MR88...

Again -- my most sincere congratulations.....

 

Picking up my new d1100 today gents!

So, in a handful of years I went from a yamaha AVR to now 2x MC601 mono blocks, flagship c1100 tube pre, and d1100 flagship DAC...LOL

Yes, worth it to me...again, if you love it, and can afford to buy in cash with disposable income, I say go for it!

 

I've got a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 220s in my office -- powered by a Mac MA5200 integrated amp. The Wharfedales came to my attention after the third all-out rave review in about a year appeared in Stereophile magazine, usually noted for their coverage of bleeding edge high-end multo-pricey gear. https://www.amazon.com/Wharfedale-D...8851377&sr=8-2&keywords=wharfdale+diamond+220

 

Thank you for that. I am just up the road in Madison, WI. Several stations, including WHA-FM (now WERN - but still "the oldest station in the nation") from its 9XM days at the birth of radio-telegraph broadcasting), have HD multi program signals. When I asked Mcintosh why they had discontinued the TM2 module in the Mac6700 receiver, I was told they could no longer get the chipset --- the manufacturer had decided to focus on car audio. I was looking at the Mac6700 with a TM2 module, an older unit from the run, but just could not swallow the price. The MR88, together with my MA5200 solves the problem, for me, at less than half the cost. https://www.amazon.com/9XM-Talking-...UTF8&qid=1518852244&sr=1-1&keywords=WHA+radio

 

I was running Focal Chorus 605s in my office for a few years -- but they were replaced maybe a year ago with Wharfedale Diamonds 220s. Both are wonderful; but the Wharfes for now wear the championship belt. Have not sold the Focals, though. Power comes from a MA5200 integrated amp. I also have a pair of Canton Karat 200s, purchased on Craigslist from a guy in the Valley when we lived in Santa Monica, which I also have not sold. I may decide to rotate speakers. (This is fun!)

 

I just picked up a C28 preamp and a 2505 amp they are now driving my klipsch quartet speakers. I must say that they have never sounded so good. Both the C28 and the 2505 have been gone through so they are good to go. The C28 came with the walnut case and I have one on the way for the 2505 amp. Are they worth the investment...... I would say with out a doubt, yes.

 

They should have put the ability to accommodate the TM-2 into ALL McIntosh Multi-Channel controllers such as the MX-121 etc. The TM-2 is the exact same tuner as the MR-88, just like the TM-1 was the same tuner as the (quite lousy) MR-80 tuner. Instead, McIntosh only put the ability to accommodate the TM-2 into ONE 2 channel preamp --- the 6700 I believe. A real missed opportunity. In any event, you will soon have, what is, IMHO, the very best sounding and receiving tuner that has ever been produced....

 

I don't know how true that is. In any case, the MR80 is anything but lousy.

 

I apologize... The TM-1 was NOT the equivalent of the MR80 (which I understand is a fine tuner) but rather the MR-85.....

The TM-1 was awful. I had one installed in my MX-119....

 

That makes much better sense. I once briefly owned an MR85 and I was not very impressed with it either.

 

I've had my C29 preamp and MC2105 amp for several years now and never tire of it. A noted McIntosh tech brought them up to new specs and they're a joy to listen to and look at. I've owned all makes of solid state equipment over the last 46 years and McIntosh is the best that I've ever owned.

 

I have a McIntosh 7900 hooked up to a pair of Klipsch Belles for a few years and absolutely love the sound. That being said I have always wanted to try tubes with Klipsch and a year or so ago purchased a reconditioned Fisher 800B.

I hooked it up with the Belles and went back and forth between the two amp's through a speaker router with all the time recently, past six months, with the Fisher. I love it.

I was concerned the Fisher had derailed a very large investment.

Per chance I switched over to the 7900 last weekend and ran some CD's and I have been running it since. Literally had me standing up mid room smiling. I am enjoying my dilemma.

 

No. Buying stuff is never an investment. If you pay $10k for a widget and sell the widget for $10k a year from now, that’s a terrible investment. You’ve actually lost value due to inflation even if the price tag has stayed the same.

Get yourself a $1k widget and a $9k mutual fund. That’s a much better investment

 

But a ten year old MAC amp will probably be worth at least 80% of the orgunal price even after ten years of enjoyment. Most others ( not all) might be worth 10/20. %

 

I’m not saying people shouldn’t buy McIntosh (or Rolls-Royce, or Patek Philippe, etc.). I’m saying don’t call a luxury purchase an investment. It’s not. It’s just marketing.

 

Still an investment - of sorts.

Even if equipment depreciates (as stocks have been known to do from time to time ), the use/enjoyment it provides has economic value to the owner.

 

All luxury purchases should be on top of/after you have made your investments.
All work and no play....and if you're gonna' play...play safe!

 

McIntosh gear is like a Rolex. Depending on when you bought it, it could be worth far more than you originally paid for it. And no, I'm not factoring in inflation and what you could have made in the stock market had you invested that money back in the 70s. I have a 2105, C28 and MR77 - got them about a year ago - amazing sound, built like a tank, but you will need, or should, have them gone over by a tech to ensure they're up to specs - I did it with the MR77 this month and it made a world of difference. If you have around $2500 to blow, the vintage 70s stuff is in your range.

 

The price of everything, the value of nothing.