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Mac vs the Japanese

I have always looked at mac as high end American audio, and if I were to compare Mac to a Japanese company, it would be Luxman which has put out a bunch of high end equipment.
 
The 2000 series Macs had a warmth the Japanese electronics didn't have. It blended in with the former tube stuff quite well. But for some folks the clean clear bass of the the Japanese and Marantz ss stuff is what they wanted. That wouldn't wash with the Mac tube owners. So Mac kept their ear to the ground. The 7000 series of Mac moved its warmer sound closer to the other direction, being much quieter and having the ability to control the woofers. . Especially with the 7200 ands 7100 which were direct coupled. They were tighter in the bass yet maintained the sound of the older Mac amps of the 60's. The century series amps clearly improved with being able to get better woofer control from their amps using autoformers. By the time the MC501 came along Mac amps with autoformers easily equaled the direct coupled amps. Todays amps are for the money are the best amps out there. They may seem expensive to most of us but compared to their esoteric competitors, they are a real bargain. Compare a MC 601 to a comparable, Boulder or other foreign amp. Personally my favorite Mac amp I can't afford is the 1.2 K. So I'll stick with my two 207's and 206.
 
I've heard a big Boulder on Focal Utopias which was mebbe the best reproduction I've heard, but not a modern Mac on anything. The 7100 is interesting to me but pricey used and needy.
 
It would be interesting to compare my Accuphase E-202 to the closest Mac equivalent of the same vintage/ Which model would be most similar? I run a MC250 (with a tube pre), but that is a horse of another colour.
 
I am sure Mac gear is great and I love it is made it the USA.

I will not get to compare Mac to my Japanese gear due to it not being affordable and available to me.

I have a Sansui 9090db and 9090, Akai AA-1200, Pioneer SX-1010 and a Yamaha R-9 due to finding them at thrifts and yard sales for less than $35 each over the years.

I will gladly pay double that price for a good Mac but none have appeared to me at any price so far. Still looking.

Charlie
 
godzilla said:
The MAC sounds warmer, has better low end and solid mids and highs. The Sansui has decent punch, but has brighter mids and highs. I have to turn the Bass on the Sui to +6 to match the MAC zeroed out.
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I think your Seven might be sick. It should not be bass shy for sure.
 
One shouldn't forget about Revox.
Willi Studer and his company for decades had produced line after line of high quality superb sounding audio equipment (professional and consumer grade) that was as good as or better than anything being made anywhere in the world.
Revox was much more than the A77.

Art.
 
sempai said:
Willi Studer and his company for decades had produced line after line of high quality superb sounding audio equipment (professional and consumer grade) that was as good as or better than anything being made anywhere in the world.
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I'm slowly & steadfastly trying to get hold of at least one of everything they ever made.
Their loudspeakers are very hard to come by.
 
It seems a little unfair to compare quality American hi-fi to Japanese mid-fi.

Vintage or otherwise.

Japan has had and continues to have many prestigious brands that produce very desirable hi-end equipment.

steerpike2 said:
I'm slowly & steadfastly trying to get hold of at least one of everything they ever made.
Their loudspeakers are very hard to come by.
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I hope you have very deep pockets :).
I have a pair of AX 5-4's that I picked up a few years ago.
They're very nice.
Haven't ever seen or heard any of their better speakers (Agora, Symbol B etc..).

Art
 
RS Steve said:
I have always looked at mac as high end American audio, and if I were to compare Mac to a Japanese company, it would be Luxman which has put out a bunch of high end equipment.
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I'd put very old tube era Lux against McIntosh, but would consider Accuphase the Japanese McIntosh much more.
 
What a great thread! I've learned a lot I didn't know before and now have more respect for Mac, Accuphase, and others. There is no question that the best Japanese gear could meet Mac standards and design. Soundwise, I've never heard any Mac's, let alone any of their vintage ss units, so I can't speak to that. If I were still in the hunt I would definitely be intrigued by Mac and some of the other vintage high end pieces I've learned about here.

I thoroughly respect Mac's commitment to quality and keeping design and production in the US,and yes I would (and do) pay more for that.

I thoroughly respect the forum members who have posted in this thread for keeping such a potentially hot button polarizing subject very civil and informative.

As it is, I'm so happy with my Yamaha B-2's in combination with my JBL XPL-200A's I've simply stopped looking. The B-2's bring a dimension I've never experienced in that I not only hear and feel the music, I can "see" the music as well. I had the same experience when I auditioned my first one which was playing through JBL L65's, which had never sounded to my liking before. I'd love to AB my B-2's against Macs when I finally get them back into a proper listening room (alas, now confined to a large bedroom untill the next house), but honestly, If I lost everything due to fire,meteor, or sharknado attack you would find me in Bartertown begging and pleading for more B-2's.
 
Though I haven't read every post I didn't see anyone mention service. Call up ARC, McIntosh, C-J, or any of the US companies that have survived since inception they will try to help with parts or info. Calling on an overseas company even with stateside reps you not get much help. If it's out of warranty you're pretty much on your own, just my experience. TASCAM may be an exception.

Craig
 
onepixel said:
So... how many are you Mac guys?
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I run a pair of 1973 vintage Mcintosh Mc2300's in strapped mono, with a Mcintosh C-35 preamp.
The older Mac amps were voiced to sound closer to tube amps, and my amps do not disappoint in that regard. (Used to run a pair of Dynaco MkIII's)
The newer Mcintosh amps have a much quieter sound stage vs. my 2300's -124Db for say, an Mc452 -vs. 95 Db for these old birds that I use) I wish that I could test one of the newer amps at my home as I am intrigued by that advantage of quiet. However, I have about 3 grand tied up in my Mac amps, and the price of admission for an Mc452 is $8500.00.
In the meantime, I am very happy with what I have. :-)
 
quartersaw said:
I run a pair of 1973 vintage Mcintosh Mc2300's in strapped mono, with a Mcintosh C-35 preamp.
The older Mac amps were voiced to sound closer to tube amps, and my amps do not disappoint in that regard. (Used to run a pair of Dynaco MkIII's)
The newer Mcintosh amps have a much quieter sound stage vs. my 2300's -124Db for say, an Mc452 -vs. 95 Db for these old birds that I use) I wish that I could test one of the newer amps at my home as I am intrigued by that advantage of quiet. However, I have about 3 grand tied up in my Mac amps, and the price of admission for an Mc452 is $8500.00.
In the meantime, I am very happy with what I have. :)
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If you can hear the difference between -124Db & -95Db, your hearing is better than bats.
 
Many people here justify their "other" brands but the comments remind me of TV car ads from awhile back. I made this up but I hope you get the point. "The Mazda brakes can stop faster than a BMW, a Subaru has faster acceleration than a BMW, a Chevy has more legroom than a BMW, a Ford has better handling than a BMW." Unfortunately, none of these cars had the aura, sophistication, and overall performance of a BMW. They are not direct competitors to BMWs. (I do not own one, I cannot afford them)
 
The older Mac amps were voiced to sound closer to tube amps, and my amps do not disappoint in that regard. (Used to run a pair of Dynaco MkIII's)

That because they both had similar, good specs.

Tuners definitely have performance differences due to complexity of design and attention to detail (shielding, etc). Maybe I'm an old fart but when it comes to well made amps, they all have similar specs; 20-20K flat to less than +/- 1 dB, THD less than 0.005%, very low phase shift, etc. The factory "voicing" their units to sound like a tube amp is something I could never hear. I think it's the tube owner with the emperor's new cloths.
 
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