McIntosh Pricing Policy

[Cadillac Kid]

I am looking for information on McIntosh Prices. I filled out the 'request for proposal' on the Mc site yesterday, but would like to hear other's experience with buying new McIntosh. Will the dealors compete for my business or is the price set at list and that is it? The McIntosh site says that all their new gear must be purchased 'over the counter'. Do I have any on-line options for new gear? I am looking to purchase a new MC2102 and C2300.

Thanks for any tips.

 

[dj_AmTraX]

Contact Mike@Audio Classics for the best service and purchasing info. He will take care of you as he took care of me. He is my McIntosh go to guy.

I beleive that all "new" gears can not be sold on the internet by dealers.

 

[ruffoc]

If you are looking at 10-15K investment new, it is worth building a relationship with a dealer. Not worth haggling to save a few hundred bucks or even a thousand dollars. The relationship with your dealer is more important. If go used, work with someone you can trust – Audio Classics is an excellent bet.

 

[CarlV]

If you are looking at 10-15K investment new, it is worth building a relationship with a dealer. Not worth haggling to save a few hundred bucks or even a thousand dollars. The relationship with your dealer is more important. If go used, work with someone you can trust – Audio Classics is an excellent bet.

What he said. :yes:


Carl

 

[panhead]

Well im going against the grain on this one,building a dealer relationship is of little or no value with new Mac gear,the gear is built to last & if it needs service you can use the dealer locater or ship it directly back to Mcintosh yourself,which btw is exactly what alot of dealers do,not all dealers but many.

Im at a loss for what a dealer can/will do for a buyer that a buyer cant so for himself,ive bought both new & used & had problems with both,Mcintosh is a stand up manufacturer & treated me no different with my used gear than they did with new gear & dealer back up.

If you want to save serious cash buy an "open box only to inspect item" or a "changed direction of my system" item,there's a whole lot more cash at stake here than a few hundred bucks or even a thousand dollars,pay attention to the listings for new in box items & you can save 40% or more on brand new gear.

Shooting an email to an open box only to inspect seller,asking for specific models never hurts either,the new gear is there all you have to do is to look:yes:

If your more comfortable walking in a dealership & buying in person thats understandable,all im pointing out is that counting on some kind of magic between a buyer & dealer is not going to happen.

 

[dj_AmTraX]

My experience with used gear from AC. My MC2000 had a bad tube which fried the circut board. If I purchased it used from a private seller, I will have to pay for the main board and it will not be cheap. Maybe a few hundred dollars from McIntosh. Keep in mind that the amp cost $15K new. Mike@AC is sending me a new board and tubes as soon as I told him what had happened. NO CHARGE! I think buying used is a great $$$ saver, but keep in mind that there is no warranty or service after the sale.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=140174

 

[eljr]

Well im going against the grain on this one,building a dealer relationship is of little or no value with new Mac gear,the gear is built to last & if it needs service you can use the dealer locater or ship it directly back to Mcintosh yourself,which btw is exactly what alot of dealers do,not all dealers but many.

Im at a loss for what a dealer can/will do for a buyer that a buyer cant so for himself,ive bought both new & used & had problems with both,Mcintosh is a stand up manufacturer & treated me no different with my used gear than they did with new gear & dealer back up.

If you want to save serious cash buy an "open box only to inspect item" or a "changed direction of my system" item,there's a whole lot more cash at stake here than a few hundred bucks or even a thousand dollars,pay attention to the listings for new in box items & you can save 40% or more on brand new gear.

Shooting an email to an open box only to inspect seller,asking for specific models never hurts either,the new gear is there all you have to do is to look:yes:

If your more comfortable walking in a dealership & buying in person thats understandable,all im pointing out is that counting on some kind of magic between a buyer & dealer is not going to happen.

I would not change my dealer even if it were "more than" a few hundred dollars extra.

 

[speakerfritz]

My experience with used gear from AC. My MC2000 had a bad tube which fried the circut board. If I purchased it used from a private seller, I will have to pay for the main board and it will not be cheap. Maybe a few hundred dollars from McIntosh. Keep in mind that the amp cost $15K new. Mike@AC is sending me a new board and tubes as soon as I told him what had happened. NO CHARGE! I think buying used is a great $$$ saver, but keep in mind that there is no warranty or service after the sale.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=140174

It's stories like this that make me glad I replace all my tubes when I buy used tube gear. Something like the MC-2000 is going on 7 years old. The thing runs hotter than an MC-2102 but uses the same output tubes (8 KT88's). MC-2000 puts out 130 WPC and MC-2102 puts out 100 WPC. What are the odds that the tubes do not have 2000 hrs on them in 7 years. 2000 hrs on an MC-2000 takes on a different meaning than 2000 hrs on an MC-2102. Does 30% more output mean 30% less tube life? I don't know....I guess it depends how the thing is bias'ed.

 

[Stereopal]

Well im going against the grain on this one,building a dealer relationship is of little or no value with new Mac gear,the gear is built to last & if it needs service you can use the dealer locater or ship it directly back to Mcintosh yourself,which btw is exactly what alot of dealers do,not all dealers but many.

Im at a loss for what a dealer can/will do for a buyer that a buyer cant so for himself,ive bought both new & used & had problems with both,Mcintosh is a stand up manufacturer & treated me no different with my used gear than they did with new gear & dealer back up.

If you want to save serious cash buy an "open box only to inspect item" or a "changed direction of my system" item,there's a whole lot more cash at stake here than a few hundred bucks or even a thousand dollars,pay attention to the listings for new in box items & you can save 40% or more on brand new gear.

Shooting an email to an open box only to inspect seller,asking for specific models never hurts either,the new gear is there all you have to do is to look:yes:

If your more comfortable walking in a dealership & buying in person thats understandable,all im pointing out is that counting on some kind of magic between a buyer & dealer is not going to happen.

OOoooo hoooooo :scratch2:

Building a relationship with a dealer is very important, and MAGIC between the dealer and factory does happen. Dealers are a lot more valuable than you think.

You may think you can do everything by yourself. It just so happens my dealer prove themselves valuable when I had problems with my MC2KWs recently.

The equipment was 1200 lbs, and they had a problem right out of the box. If I had to deal with McIntosh directly it would mean shipping them back to the factory myself. Luckily I had the dealer acting as the middleman. They took care of me from start to finish, including hauling 1200 lbs of equipment back and forth. Moving them isn't exactly cheap, a couple of trips and you can buy a pair of 501s already. These alternatives would not have been possible without the dealer acting in between, such as talking to the chief engineer directly, transportation arrangement, customs paper work, special packaging request, not to mention their ability to calm me down when fury heats up in my stomach when I get pissed.

Getting the lowest price is NEVER my no. 1 priority, but customer service is on top of the list. Trust me on this one, you WANT customer service.

I agree with DJ_Amtrax, get Mike at Audioclassics, they're a good dealer. And yes, McIntosh was very good too, everything was quickly resolved and they acted professionally.

 

[Daytripper]

Must say that I agree with Stereopal

"Getting the lowest price is NEVER my no. 1 priority, but customer service is on top of the list. Trust me on this one, you WANT customer service."

Glad I have a good dealer came in handy on my mcd-201:yes:

Robert

 

[panhead]

OOoooo hoooooo :scratch2:

Building a relationship with a dealer is very important, and MAGIC between the dealer and factory does happen. Dealers are a lot more valuable than you think.

You may think you can do everything by yourself. It just so happens my dealer prove themselves valuable when I had problems with my MC2KWs recently.

The equipment was 1200 lbs, and they had a problem right out of the box. If I had to deal with McIntosh directly it would mean shipping them back to the factory myself. Luckily I had the dealer acting as the middleman. They took care of me from start to finish, including hauling 1200 lbs of equipment back and forth. Moving them isn't exactly cheap, a couple of trips and you can buy a pair of 501s already.

It's not about what " i think" a buyer can do himself it's about knowing the repair process with Mcintosh,one phone call to Mac is all it takes.

Just for the record i do buy new Mac gear & i like my dealer but let's not over state the repair process with Mac gear,packing up a heavy amp & calling DHL or another shipper for an in home pick up isnt all that bad,keep in mind the amps your talking about are the extreme case,all other Mac gear will ship drastically cheaper.

As far as working with a dealer or Mcintosh in the event of a problem i prefer talking to Mac directly,no middle men,no delayed responses,only 1st hand information when you work with Mcintosh directly,ive had brand new gear from the dealer have problems straight out of the box & had used gear need service,in either case ive noticed no difference in turn around time or the treatment i receive from Mcintosh,i have never got the run around when having non warrenty gear serviced,they are a 1st class operation all the way.

In my buying experience with Mcintosh products all their products are built well & of a quality that dosen't rely on warrenty or dealer back up,i also believe that is why Mcintosh chooses to give such a short warrenty period for new gear.

While the examples you guy's give in this thread are a good example of "worst case scenario" buying, i feel its not a fair example of buying Mcintosh gear,there are far more people on this site who have bought used successfully vs buyers who bought new at the dealer & needed that dealers support.

 

[panhead]

Must say that I agree with Stereopal

"Getting the lowest price is NEVER my no. 1 priority, but customer service is on top of the list. Trust me on this one, you WANT customer service."

Glad I have a good dealer came in handy on my mcd-201:yes:

Robert

Im not trying to argue but im having a real hard time getting my head around why a dealer is so important.

In your case what did your dealer do for you with the Mcd-201 that could not of been accomplished by any owner,once again im not trying to push the buying used arguement but there has been no information presented so far that shows the absolute need of dealer intervention in the event of a problem,except to pay shipping & a free repair,in my dealings with Mac service over the years ive got gear repaired for very little cost & in one case at no cost with return shipping paid by Mcintosh & a free poster to boot:thmbsp:.

Its my understanding that quite a few Mcd 201's had problems & that Mcintosh corrected these problems for most people, free of charge in alot of cases, no matter how they bought their gear.

Repair expense & round trip shipping expenses are not the norm with Mac gear,Mac build quality is second to none as well as quality control & testing,in most cases if the gear works when you get it it's going to live a long & healthy life,i think member ownership of used Mac gear on this site proves this point.

Here is My main interest in this, overstating the need for a dealer is detremental to the brand,people who cant afford to buy new Mac from the dealer,in most cases never will,they will not save up year after year for one peice of gear,instead they will either buy used or be scared away from the brand from no dealer support or no warrenty.

I see this example all the time on another forum i visit,where new buyers get scared off from the brand by people reccomending to not buy anything without warrenty,people who are new to the brand do not realize just how well built Mac gear is and how very few components actually go bad.How on earth can any of us ever reccomend Mcintosh to a new buyer in these threads if the lack of dealer support is so dangerous.

 

[speakerfritz]

"Im not trying to argue but im having a real hard time getting my head around why a dealer is so important."

The originator of this thread wants to buy a new c-2300 and a new MC-2102. I don't think you can buy new gear with out going thru a dealer.

Used gear, different story. If you can do a local deal, used gear often pop's up on for sale sites.

 

[jdmeyers]

Interesting thread, friends.

I'm not sure it's an "all or nothing" proposition. Case in point, I have a decade-long friendship/working relationship with my guy at AC. I've purchased lots and lots of gear from him, and he's always been there for me to help me trouble-shoot or just for a chat as I toy with ideas for the next step. I trust him implicitly to give me the straight poop no matter what. Before I bought my last system from him, he let me bring up my speakers and turned over AC's impressive Mac room to me for the entire day just so I could mix and match until I found just the right synergy! Try doing that over the 'Net.

By the same token, he knows and understands that I had to turn to Audiogon to buy my previously owned MC205s, as they didn't have any and get them only rarely on trade. Yet today, if I had a question about operating the 205, he'd be the first person I'd call!

He gives me the best break he can on new or used gear. I can't imagine enjoying this wonderful hobby as much without his friendship, and I'm proud to do my part to support the good folks on Old Vestal Road.

Oh yeah: it doesn't hurt that he's got Mac in his blood! :yes:

 

[PHC1]

Of course having a relationship with a dealer who is willing to discount is the best case scenario. :thmbsp:

 

[howiebrou]

Yesterday my dealer provided the kind of discount where I was forced to buy myself a little X-Mas present. I felt the need to add McIntosh into my smaller two-channel system, and my dealer helped me to walk out with a new C46/MC402. I wanted the 201, but having gone 0 for 2 already i'll keep my Primare CD31 in there for awhile.

Is your Esoteric in this set-up?:scratch2:

howie

 

[basite]

Of course having a relationship with a dealer who is willing to discount is the best case scenario. :thmbsp:

seconded :thmbsp: :yes:

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

 

[Maule]

Of course having a relationship with a dealer who is willing to discount is the best case scenario. :thmbsp:

I have 1 Mac dealer 10 miles from me and another 60 miles. The next closest is over 200 miles. Both of the afore mentioned dealers act like I farted in the place when I asked for a discount. Both of them told me flat out that they were required by Mac to sell at MSRP. Until I started visiting here I believed that.

 

[JohnThomas]

I have 1 Mac dealer 10 miles from me and another 60 miles. The next closest is over 200 miles. Both of the afore mentioned dealers act like I farted in the place when I asked for a discount. Both of them told me flat out that they were required by Mac to sell at MSRP. Until I started visiting here I believed that.

Sounds like you need to pack a lunch and make the 200 mile haul. The two closer thieves should have at least been honest with you and said they don't sell below MSRP.

 

[Maule]

Sounds like you need to pack a lunch and make the 200 mile haul. The two closer thieves should have at least been honest with you and said they don't sell below MSRP.

I will do this 1st of the year. Just out of curiosity, for those of you that do get discounts, might you share what range of discount would be fair?