As noble a cause as this is, you just have no idea of the internal hurdles to be overcome by the bean counters who always think the same - we'd prefer to sell this customer a new amplifier.
I actually
do understand, I've owned/run a business restoring Prevost and BlueBird motorcoach/motorhomes and have had many parts manufactured, in some cases the original manufacturer became one of my customers. I've also been in the automotive OEM business including new and service parts and chrome badges was one of our product lines, ... BTDT. When a used motorhome can sell for over $1mm buyers expect the right parts, even if they're cosmetic, not unlike many vintage McIntosh buyers. I do realize that dropping your purchased quantity from production levels to service-part levels will sometimes mean losing your supplier where you will need to stockpile (minimum order quantity) at usually an increased price. However, they produce their own faceplates. If the costs go up due to setup time for short runs, raise the price don't cheapen the product (my opinion).
The business of selling new amplifiers is not the same as servicing them, nor as supplying new replacement parts, and can be justified either as support of new sales or as their own profit centers. I see vintage or legacy parts sales as its own profit center. AC has bought out many of McIntosh's older service parts to re-sell, they're already warehousing and selling service parts.
As I've said many times before, the numbers are simply not there to manufacture model-specific parts profitably, especially after the drain on limited resources is factored in. Mc should be commended for supporting older products for as long as it did but in the final analysis, business profitability (by extension, survival) is all that ultimately matters.
That's the point, they don't have to. As support for the resale and reputation of the brand they can continue to offer parts but like automotive, have a cutoff a certain time period after a model ends production where part sales moves into their legacy support division or is handled by a certified part distributor. I know that there
was a businesss making service parts including badging, but they stopped, rumor is that McIntosh forced them to stop. McIntosh can just as easily say that the production of parts in-house is not profitable or not enough so to justify the resources necessary and license someone capable (who will have to meet McIntosh standards) to handle sourcing and selling these parts.
Common stuff, automotive keeps the service parts separate and it works well for them.
Sellers cannot leave negative feedback for buyers however.
