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McIntosh, overrated? I Used to Think So.

Magfinity said:
I actually had the gfa555 it went up in smoke two weeks after purchase unfortunately! As it did sound great when it was working . I have no idea how that would sound vs a mcintosh. In reality adcoms were budget intended amplifiers. I remember, reading that nelson pass himself forgot most of what was going on in them. As he gets still tons of questions about them on the diy forum.
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I have a GFA 555 and I had a GFA 535. Both were excellent. The latter was modded by Jim Williams of Audio Upgrades, which made it even better. However, neither sound as good to me as my MC2255 or MC2105 (which was rebuilt from the bottom up after letting out the magic smoke). There's something about the depth of sound in the Macs that makes the Adcoms sound flat. I sold the GFA 535 to a well respected mixing engineer here in Boulder to use with Amphion speakers and he adores it.
 
To the OP's point, I have a pair of MC30s. When I finally got the second one, I spent some time listening to them, but frankly, didn't get what the fuss was about. So, I decided to sell them and before I did, I got them refurbished by a local tech. Before I listed them, I decided to make sure they worked and I was completely blown away. They sounded amazing and, needless to say, they won't be sold.
 
Raccoon1400 said:
Yeah this is a pretty nice upside.
I bet they make a lot of money off replacing glass faceplates.
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I highly doubt glass sales for McIntosh is a profiteering venture. I’ve had to order maybe a dozen faceplates over the years, and I’ve always thought them reasonably priced. I have only broke one faceplate in 30 years myself, the others were part of restorations, bubbles n chips n such.
 
I'm disappointed in this thread. I thought folks could do a lot better than this name calling and such. If you do or don't like McIntosh equipment that's fine. Variety is the spice of life. However succumbing to the use of personal attacks is not the answer. We have moderators here to take care of problems. Let us do the work. I don't want to see a few ruin the thread for everyone. Thanks and enjoy.
 
Mike...the "problem" should have been resolved in Reply #46 in which it had been made clear the OP was NOT the one being called out. None of this had anything to do with being anti McIntosh. .
 
62caddy said:
Mike...the "problem" should have been resolved in Reply #46 in which it had been made clear the OP was NOT the one being called out. None of this had anything to do with being anti McIntosh. .
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Eric, to me the problem is simple to "fix". If folks would control their ego's and be more tolerant. Disagreeing with someone can be done without starting a fight. Some folks feel that someone who disagrees with them is calling their intelligence or something into question. People disagreeing with me is no problem. I realize I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. The problem arises when it turns into a personal attack. It is depressing after being a moderator for so many years to realize that some people just either don't get it or cannot control their fingers. Keyboard warriors are tiring at best.
 
Mike Gibson said:
Eric, to me the problem is simple to "fix". If folks would control their ego's and be more tolerant. Disagreeing with someone can be done without starting a fight. Some folks feel that someone who disagrees with them is calling their intelligence or something into question. People disagreeing with me is no problem. I realize I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. The problem arises when it turns into a personal attack. It is depressing after being a moderator for so many years to realize that some people just either don't get it or cannot control their fingers. Keyboard warriors are tiring at best.
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The problem here was never a matter of disagreement- but one of simple misunderstanding. Unfortunately this thread has now been so decimated that all the original context has now been lost - especially two of the most critical posts attempting to resolve the misunderstanding.

My guess is the OP has put a block on certain members, preventing him from becoming aware of all the facts and making matters all the worse. That is the only possible explanation.
 
Mike Gibson said:
Eric, to me the problem is simple to "fix". If folks would control their ego's and be more tolerant. Disagreeing with someone can be done without starting a fight. Some folks feel that someone who disagrees with them is calling their intelligence or something into question. People disagreeing with me is no problem. I realize I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. The problem arises when it turns into a personal attack. It is depressing after being a moderator for so many years to realize that some people just either don't get it or cannot control their fingers. Keyboard warriors are tiring at best.
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Please close it , there is nothing to gain by keeping this open. It's clear to me that posting my findings is not a good idea. Everything said is picked apart for no reason even the title strikes some here as offensive. I just stick to the Dutch forums where I am from.

Americans seems very .......thin skinned

Thanks
 
to the person saying restored gear sounds worse than un restored I'm sorry but that is incorrect. I really have to wonder how much restored gear you have heard. Sure you can like a brand or hate a brand, we can't really argue that, I don't know enough of the specifics that made you arrive at that conclusion , but I am very suspect. I have heard gear that needed restoration that sounded great to me too, but then I found out that same gear sounded far better restored and the reason that drew me to my original conclusion, was I had never heard a (properly) restored version of that same gear.

the same old tired looks based argument, said the wrong way and with more intent to be flippant than factual, from people with very limited experience with Mac gear gets old around those who know more of what they are talking about.

McIntosh makes very well engineered gear from a functional standpoint, many of the people who trash it simply are unaware of what goes into them. they also strive to give them a good look, I do not see the shortcoming in this, the stuff goes into your well furnished home, whats wrong with something that looks nice? as long as it's in addition to be built well, which iit is.

Over priced? well, just because you can't pick one up for $200 dollars or less does not make it over priced. Because it's beyond the amount of money you either are willing or in most cases afford to spend is no reason to trash gear you have very little experience with.

opinions must be stated as opinions and not confused with facts, regardless of gear brand. it's very easy in these kinds of threads to really learn who knows what and how much time and experience with gear they have. to those I say "step outside of the comfort zone where you have lived for decades, you might be surprised by what you learn. you may have to back petal when you find out some of your long held beliefs were only there that long because you spent most of your life doing the same thing"

no one here will force you to buy anything, one listen to something usually isn't enough, and there are so many variables it is too easy to come across with the wrong idea from a most uneducated standpoint and not realize it.

I cannot raise my point about the price of McIntosh without there being something that might be considered politics here, so I can't make that point. But it costs a lot more to make anything here than it does to have it manufactured elsewhere, so there's that too. just realize, when you say something is overpriced realize how much of an opinion ( not fact) you are stating. you get what you pay for. we shouldnt have to close this thread, just because someone's panties are in a bunch, thats their problem, not the thread.

nothing in this post is designed to be offensive, there are just many people in this thread and they have varying levels of experience and each is speaking from their experience..
 
McIntosh grew from an original if not brilliant revolutionary distortion cancelling feedback topology around the OPT, Marantz grew from a rigorously designed quality preamplifier with a superb phono section. Then, both expanded to encompass the entire system approach as premium grade competition. Both originally aimed to be best regardless of cost. Of course there were other aspirants, Fairchild aimed toward the pro market with parallels to early Marantz for one notable example.
Mac still survives intact, but it was the original proprietary amp topology with the industrial grade quality built that made them unique in the field. Maintaining quality level combined with excellent aftermarket support is what carried them intact, thru and ahead, making them stand out.
 
Well, I'm glad to see that Mike didn't keep this thread closed, if it was.

I just finished reading the thread. Interesting read and I'm glad it is still around.

First, about restoration. I've had a fair amount of gear optimized and restored completely. If it doesn't sound better after being restored, then something was done incorrectly in the restoration. Go back to your tech, or else revisit your work. After restoration, I have had two different results. In one case, I had a Pioneer SA-9500 completely restored and it didn't sound any better after than before. What that means to me is that the components inside the unit were still operating within spec. I didn't keep it because I was hoping to hear an improvement. In most other situations, the unit sounded anywhere from better to outstanding.

About McIntosh gear, I don't think I need to describe the sound to the members of the Mc Forum, but I'll summarize. I have actually heard speakers that didn't sound as good on my McIntosh gear. But it is also a subjective opinion because I have heard those speakers sounding better. My example would be Kef 105s on an MC-2205. They sounded good, but not great. And you will love this. I also have a fully restored Bose 1801 amp, and it plays with Kef better. Shortly, I will be doing an AB comparison of my Klipsch Cornwalls with the MC2205 and my Kef 107s with my Bose 1801. I'm very curious about the results.

I won't restore gear just because it is old though. That can get expensive. So I use it for a while, and I like what I feel and hear, I will restore it. To me, it is a keeper at that point. I would have done that with the SA-9500, but I assumed it would improve. It didn't. I won't always make the right choice, but I'm fine with that. I do know I want my keeper gear fully restored and if possible, optimized. What I mean by optimized is that when the gear was designed, the engineers had to design within certain restraints. Some components are now much better than then. Op-amps have really improved since.

I had my C26 and my 4401 preamps fully restored and optimized, and I heard some major improvements. After LeeStereo had optimized my C26, I did a side by side with a Dolan PM1 preamplifier after the designer had optimized it. I couldn't hear any major difference between the two, and following that, the designer came over and we ABed them again together. We came to the same conclusion. All subjective, of course! I did like my optimized C26 more than the Dolan PM1, but again that is subjective.

I love my Bose gear (1801/4401) and I love my McIntosh gear (MC2205, C26, MR74, and MA-6200) They serve different purposes in my house.
 
If I had anything to gripe about McIntosh at current day, I feel Factory Warranty should be longer for certain Components. Perhaps 5 years for Amps-Preaamps, analog devices.
 
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