How old were you when you got your first McIntosh?

In 1990 when I was 34 years old. Prior to that time I had heard McIntosh equipment, lusted after that sound during my days in college but never had the financial resources to acquire even one piece.

On that day in 1990 I was having lunch with a family member and in his car trunk was a surprise, a distant uncle's old McIntosh stereo system. This gentlemen had suffered most of his life with the debilitating effects of diabetes and in his later years had become totally blind and largely housebound. His link to the outside world was his love of music and his stereo system, a McIntosh MR-71, C-24, MI-3 (no power amp could be located at the time) purchased in November 1967 from the local dealer in Seattle Washington. Over the years that stereo was his pride and joy and the one thing that brought him more pleasure than anything.

In 1985 he passed away at the age of 40 due largely to the complications of the diabetes and his possessions were scattered throughout the family. Fast forward five years to 1990 and his mother, who was now moving into an assisted living facility, was in the process of selling her household contents, including his stereo, which had been sitting in her basement packed in the original boxes for the last five years, at her garage sale for $20.00 per component. An astute family member spotted the components while the sale was in process (no one had bought them or was even expressed any interest), told her what she had and promptly liberated them!

I was given the stereo which was largely in pristine cosmetic condition, for the price of lunch and told to keep it operating, functional as I was only its "guardian / care taker"; and if I ever failed in that task severe retribution would be exacted upon me.

With that I spent the next three years on the hunt to track down the original amplifier, finally locating it in another state, with yet another distant family member who was using it on her farm as part of an outdoor PA system to call the ranch hands together for meals. To make a long story…. longer - I got all the components back together and I have been enjoying the system ever since – all of the components being "DeWicked" at least once or twice over the last twenty-five years.
 
In 1990 when I was 34 years old. Prior to that time I had heard McIntosh equipment, lusted after that sound during my days in college but never had the financial resources to acquire even one piece.

On that day in 1990 I was having lunch with a family member and in his car trunk was a surprise, a distant uncle's old McIntosh stereo system. This gentlemen had suffered most of his life with the debilitating effects of diabetes and in his later years had become totally blind and largely housebound. His link to the outside world was his love of music and his stereo system, a McIntosh MR-71, C-24, MI-3 (no power amp could be located at the time) purchased in November 1967 from the local dealer in Seattle Washington. Over the years that stereo was his pride and joy and the one thing that brought him more pleasure than anything.

In 1985 he passed away at the age of 40 due largely to the complications of the diabetes and his possessions were scattered throughout the family. Fast forward five years to 1990 and his mother, who was now moving into an assisted living facility, was in the process of selling her household contents, including his stereo, which had been sitting in her basement packed in the original boxes for the last five years, at her garage sale for $20.00 per component. An astute family member spotted the components while the sale was in process (no one had bought them or was even expressed any interest), told her what she had and promptly liberated them!

I was given the stereo which was largely in pristine cosmetic condition, for the price of lunch and told to keep it operating, functional as I was only its "guardian / care taker"; and if I ever failed in that task severe retribution would be exacted upon me.

With that I spent the next three years on the hunt to track down the original amplifier, finally locating it in another state, with yet another distant family member who was using it on her farm as part of an outdoor PA system to call the ranch hands together for meals. To make a long story…. longer - I got all the components back together and I have been enjoying the system ever since – all of the components being "DeWicked" at least once or twice over the last twenty-five years.

Now that, is an awesome story.....:thmbsp:
 
Fun thread so I'll revive it. I'm the youngest of three music-mad brothers. My middle brother was a budding audiophile. We shared a bedroom as teenagers and I was the nuisance younger brother who'd be all over his equipment as soon as he left. Originally he had a Marantz receiver and an awesome, but hopelessly under-engineered, auto-reverse 6 head Ampex AX300 (I think that's the model number) tape deck. I loved that but I was 16; what a pile of $#!%. This was the early 1970s. At some point after moving out of the house and safely out of my reach my brother discovered McIntosh. Then I became old enough to earn a little folding money and what was that good for except weed, beer, records and something to play them on? Influenced by my brother my first hi-fi components were McIntosh. I started with a used C-24 and I think a new MC250, though I might be wrong about it being new. I was about 20 when I got those. At some point my brother wanted to upgrade his preamp so I bought his very pretty C26 which I still own today. (It's at the shop right now receiving a richly deserved recapping). I was probably about 26 or 27 when I got that. I brought it home in the overhead compartment on a Southwest Airlines flight. No TSA back then!

My middle brother was--and still is--the greatest brother a person could have. He started doing woodworking as a hobby and built a big heavy wooden stereo cabinet for me with a custom opening for the C-26 on panlocs. I still have that in my living room. At some point he decided that he wanted to downsize and sold me his MC2255 for an absurdly low price. I can only estimate when I got that, probably around 1990 or 1991. He took over my MC250. The MC2255 is still providing the power for my main system. I also succeeded to a nice set of ADS 810's from him. I still own and use those as well, which were recapped about a year ago. Greatest brother ever.

Since I've always wanted one, I've picked up a C-28 which I had recapped and now lives in the custom panloc slot in the wooden stereo cabinet. I have also picked up a MC2200 and a MC2100 for a second system, each driving a separate set of speakers. The MC2200 is currently being recapped along with the C26 which will control this second system. I can't imagine ever using anything but vintage Mac to feed me my music fix.
 
After all these years it's really hard to remember specific years. I have to use my various moves as guides. I left home for grad school in 1978 and had already owned the C24 and MC250 for a minimum of a couple years at that time so figure '75/'76. I turned 20 in late '76. Your question forced me to root through my documentation. For some reason I still have the C24 manual. I see I hand wrote the serial number in the back: 40 D 11. Boy would I love to find that again. I do not have any documentation for the MC250 but that went to my brother so I'm sure I gave it all to him with the amp. He only kept it for a few years so it's gone. My recollection is that the C24 was bought used, probably from "Audio Sales" in Fresno, California. And though I don't think the production of the MC250 runs late enough my memory tells me that is the one single new Mac piece I ever bought in my life.

In the plastic envelope with the C24 manuals, I see the two-sided sheet for the Electro Research model 320 speakers. Those were true classics. I bought them new from a store called "Audio Sales" in my home town of Fresno, California. I loved those speakers like heroin. A nephew stuck his finger in the foam on one of the woofers in about '89 or '90 and I didn't know any repair folks back then so I gave them up. Sigh. My guess is that I bought the Electro Research, C24 and MC250 all at about the same time, which would have been '75/'76. I also had a Garrard Type A back then, just because I thought it was beautiful.

I lived in Westwood (LA, CA) when I got the C26. The window for that is 1979 to early 1985. I'm sure I had it at least a couple years before moving in 1985. My guess is I got the C26 at age 26 or 27.

The wooden cabinet came next, probably when I was about 30. I know I didn't get the MC2255 until I moved into my first house and not until after the death of the Electro Research speakers. My best guess is 1991 or so, but that's the one I'm fuzziest about. I would have been 35 or so.

I ran a system with a Thorens TD 160 (w/Ortofon MC cart), a succession of short-lived CD players starting with an early single-play top-loader Magnavox, a Teac 2000 R2R, a series of now-forgotten cassette machines, and the C26 and MC2255 for many years with the awe-inspiring (and neighbor peace-insuring) Stax SR-40 ear speakers. I had a set of disappointing KEF C95 because I just couldn't talk myself into scraping together the KEF 104.2 that I really wanted. At some unremembered time my brother saved me from the KEF's and brought me the ADS 810s. I always thought they were a little bottom-heavy so I ran them in tandem with the KEF's. I'm guessing this began about the same time I got the MC2255. I started recording and mastering my own music in 2003 and had great confidence in my ability to create a good amateur pop-type mix on that system.

I started doing a dangerous thing--scrolling through the eBay listings for vintage equipment--and decided to buy a Garrard Type A again. Actually I bought 3 including a Mark II, trying to find the best auto trip mechanism bits. Then I concluded that the machine tracks MUCH better with those parts removed and it serving as a pure manual table. I use an Ortofon DJ cart which gives fabulous gut-kicking sound. Rumble and all, the Type A with the Ortofon is my favorite vinyl deck, even with the Thorens in good nick with a very nice Audio Technica AT440MLa installed. I buy modern expensive limited edition LPs by current favorite obscure artists and just take my chances with the Garrard and its 3 gram tracking force.

Btw, I consider myself lucky that I never sprung for one of the old "prosumer" early-60s 2-track tube powered Ampex reel to reels that my dad had and which I first cut my teeth on for recording my own music. Those don't even have tape lifters. I almost talked myself into getting one with the argument "gee, my masters would sound great with a little backdrop of tape hiss." Too many moving parts; I would go crazy.

Back to the Macs: the MC2255 lost a channel (and a meter had already stopped working) in 2013 and I took it in for its first-ever servicing. Good as new now. The C26 went in at the same time (2013), and got new lights and minor cleaning but no new caps at that time.

I moved into my current place in early 2014 and started planning a second system for the small second house on the lot which will serve as a studio. Thanks to this crazy wonderful site I latched onto the idea of trying out a pair of heavy ancient Wharfedale W70d's for a better midrange to augment the superior high and low of the ADS. They mate beautifully together though you might not want to see their children. From this site I got the idea of powering them with separate amps as the Wharfies don't really want all that much power whereas the ADS will soak up whatever I give them. So . . . I figured it was a great idea to get a C28 to take over from the C26 in the main house' system. I wanted to stay with early SS for the Wharfedales and while everyone raves about the next generation Macs like my MC2255 I personally find the looks of the solid knob generation more appealing and after all, it's the MC2255 that failed first in my system. Anyway, adding in the recapping and the shipping I probably paid far too much for the C28 but it's a nice unit and, well, I just increased the number of good C28s in the world by one.

I moved the C26 out to the back house and matched it up with an MC2200 and an MC2100. I got clipped on the MC2200. The seller "forgot" to tell me that he'd taken it to our local Mac service folks who'd told him that the driver boards were near the end of their life--that second generation of SS Macs again!--and I bought it, lured by its no-nonsense looks and punchy businesslike sound. I tend to be the opposite of a salesman so when I sell something I tell the buyer the whole litany of what's wrong with it and I tend to forget that other people aren't like that. Well, Morris Polonski at George Meyer TV in West LA gave me a lot of stick about buying it but he's working on it now. I will have increased the world's population of solid MC2200's by one. Happy with the Wharfedale/ADS combo in the main house I sourced a local pair of ADS L810s and another set of heavy baroque looking Wharfedale W70d's. The Wharfies are so heavy and old-fashioned that they are very cheap to buy and both pair sound virtually identical to each other after more than 45 years. They probably need recapping in their crossovers but that's for a later day. For one week I luxuriated in the 2nd generation 200 per side for the ADS coupled with the 1st generation 100 per side for the Wharfies. The two speakers meld seamlessly, complementing each other's strengths. But I had to deal with the MC2200's driver boards and the two amps did make it clear that the C26 has gradually gotten noisy so after at least 35 years of service it gets new caps too. The MC2100 will go in when those come back and Morris can then scream at me for buying yet another pig in a poke online. It's an awfully clean and pretty pig in a poke.

While visiting my oldest brother upstate a few months ago he asked me if I wanted an old Thorens TD160 I had given to him when I took over my middle brother's identical unit. He didn't even have a preamp to hook it into. Deep in the thick of putting together my mirror-image second system I said "yes, please!" and now it's back home with a new belt, an AT440Lb and waiting for some mounting spacers to come from Deutschland.

To finish my smaller first generation SS amp for the Wharfies and larger second generation SS amp for the ADS concept for the front house--which is where cosmetics count--I just need to get an MC2105. I'm thinking I'll finally just spring for a good one from Knoxville if Morris can't find me a good local one.

Whew! Sorry, that was really long. I probably broke a rule. All used Macs, except maybe that first MC250.
 
I should have looked a little deeper in my document file. I have my brother's invoice for the MC2255. $2,400 from Century Stereo in San Jose on April 6, 1984. With the provocative note "We have 2105 #AH8949" handwritten on the invoice. I wonder if that was a trade. I don't recall what he used with the C26 and for that matter I don't know what preamp he used with the 2255. It went back to Century Stereo on February 18, 1988 with the complaint "after warm up L. channel drops out."
 
I got an old MAC 1900 when I was 27. 28 now. Not sure if that counts. I'll definitely have to have put kids safely through school before I could afford new Mac gear.
 
Geez, gray hair and wrinkles at 66 yrs. old when I fell into the McIntosh pool by walking into a deal on purchasing from the original owner- 6200 amp and a pair of XR14 speakers.
 
I got my new Ma 230/MR67 when I was 17 or18, I think. But I got my First Stereo, HH Scott, 222 and 350 tuner, in the Spring of 1961. with the money I earned working for my dad.
 
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19 yrs old(1974): after a Mac clinic they had some used stereo gear(trade ins at my HiFi dealer in Miami..

It was my first tube stereo equipment and first Mac gear, though I had been drooling for Mac ownership for
5 years prior, after a elderly neighbor showed off his total Mac setup, less speakers, in his spare bed room(a early example of a "Man Cave" in the mid to late sixties, I guess)...

Original owner had traded up from his 2 MC 30`s & C8/C8S`s and I bought the setup a day after clinic ran for $150.00, if I recall.

Still have the amps, but sold the C8/C8S control pre-amps to Brother-in-Law in 1984 after building him a power supply to run them.. He still has and uses them with his MC 30`s.
 
I got my first taste when visiting my friend at the time Dee Osborne house who's dad had McIntosh. It was only trumped by having dinner with the sweetness thats Sir Walter Payton for those not from chicago!! I didn't own my own Mac piece until decades later but im up to 20 pieces now but whos counting???
 
I was in my late 40's when I got my MC252 amp and in my early 50's when I got my C2200 pre. Found a Mac 1700 receiver at the thrifts last year. Mint cond. Works great and only cost me $6.50 or so!
 
I was 19, about to turn 20 when I bought a new 2505 followed by a new C-28. I'm sure they were within 6 months of each other.
My appreciation for Mac started early. A good friends sister & brother in-law, who were 10 years older than me, bought a 1700 when I was about 15 or 16.
I was hooked then. It was just a matter of time.
Reading all of these great recollections reminded me of an addendum to my story.
Jump ahead to the early 80's. The week I graduated college, I landed my job first job in my chosen field (television production engineering).
The day of this life changing event, I happened to stop into my local McIntosh dealer, Pecar Electronics in Detroit, Mi.

There on the used equipment shelf was a pristine C-32 preamp, which was still a current unit. Whatever the dollar amount was, it was at least 25% below whatever the current street price was. When I acquired if this pricing was in fact correct, my favorite salesman explained that it just came in that afternoon. The guy selling it was in the middle of a nasty divorce and wanted it off the books pronto. Now money was extremely tight, and this was a frivolous purchase, but given the low pricing and the fact that I just got the job of my dreams, I figured the hell with it, I deserve this. I grabbed it right then & there. As it were, the difference between what I sold the relatively new C-28 for vs. the low low C-32 purchase price may have been only a couple hundred dollars. I never regretted that purchase, or any of the subsequent Mac upgrades over the years. I can honestly say that the durability as well as the sound quality has always kept me loyal to the brand.
 
I was 45, a year ago. I bought a used MC2100 and traded some other equipment for a C33. Those are my only Mac pieces so far.

Now it's 2017 and I'm 50 years old — wow. In addition to the above equipment, I have an MC2150 and an MX117. All four Mac pieces have been serviced/updated. While the highest-performance combo is the C33 with MC2150, for practical purposes I'm currently employing the Mac systems set up as:

MX117—>MC2150—>Vandersteen 2Ce

C33—>MC2100—>Phase Tech PC65
 
I inherited some McIntosh stuff when my dad died a few years ago. I guess I was 64. Not that I couldn't have bought some long before that. I almost did once, but went with Bryston instead.
 
I think I was 23 at the time. Was working as a clerk at a hole-in-the-wall (in)convenience store when a DJ who lived nearby posted an ad in the store window advertising some gear for sale. Most of it was boring, but there was a McIntosh MC2120 for $500. I'd vaguely heard about Mc gear and how nice it was, but $500 was too expensive for my meager salary. A week or so later, I was talking to the guy who posted the ad, and he said he'd be willing to sell me the MC2120 for $200. Still pricy, but more in line with what I could afford, so I pulled the trigger. The 'NORMAL' indicators were out, but thanks to joining AK and reading some of Terry Dewick's many excellent posts in the Hints & Kinks thread, I was able to get the info needed to repair the lamp card and light 'em up. :thumbsup: Here's a pic:
mc2120_1.jpg
 
This February at 61 years old I got my MC225 which is my first ever piece of McIntosh equipment. Then I bought a used C2500 and MCT450 from Audio Classics.
 
I just had my 70th birthday, my hearing is really going downhill but I am still a sucker and look for McIntosh bargains when I find them. It's getting harder now. My wife thinks I'm nuts and wants me to sell some. Being a retired EE I try to restore them, usually recapping (except aligning tuners) but have on several occasions made blunders that Terry D. had to correct. This obsession started with my first Mac MR73 in 1970 and hasn't stopped since. That tuner cost me $550 new on a gross salary of about $11K during my first job. While in college during the 68-69 time frame, I kept writing to Mac for literature on different units and they sent me owner's manuals and service manuals for about ten different, then current, amp and tuner models which I still have and use. I was born and lived in Chicago most of my early life and spent more time and money at Allied Radio than I can count although the tuner was purchased at Del Padre in MA.
 
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