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McIntosh Turntable Poll

Trying to read "into" what Ron C had commented about the McIntosh TT. Indeed, it has turn into something of an "acquired taste" kinda situation. This could just be a "prototype" and refinements/enhancement could be in the works .....

Who knows, the "ugly duckling" today could turn out to be a beautiful swan when officially launched! I am keeping my fingers crossed ....... Meanwhile, I will simply let my two systems serenade me whichever my mood shoots for .... Vinyl - the all Mc Vintage and Red Book CD's? Of course my dream system ..... (hmmmm, and just, just maybe, another set of MC1201 would help make the dream complete)

Cheers!
 
You know what really bums me out the most about that horrid lookin mess is that i was really looking forward to buying the new Mac turntable,i still may end up with one in a year or two but it would be bought used at a serious discount or not at all.

One good thing about it loooking so terrible is that not many will sell & in 20 years it'll be a serious collectors item.:yes:
 
Mc TT

In my humble opinion, this is not an aesthetically good looking piece of audio gear. I hate to say this, but it looks like a prototype with parts from the engineers work bench. I have no idea what the specs are, I'm sure they are fantastic, but, this has to sit on top of a rack of other McIntosh gear, and it just looks weird. I love the big blue meters as much as any one else, but maybe in this case forget the blue meter, and make the front glass half the size.
 
Considering it looks like a belt drive, I'd like to know what in the heck is inside the giant base?

Maybe it's a small refrigerator to hold a beer and a ham sandwich.

It's the AMC Matador of turntables!
 

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This is the funniest thing I've seen since the 1970 AMC car commercials: "It's a MATADOR!"
 

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I notice that there has been little question or comment in the two running threads about how it sounds.

When 99.99% of the population see any turntable, from any company, they look at the owner of said turntable like they are an idiot.

McIntosh made a table to match their gear, it probably works pretty well... cool.
 
I find that the McIntosh player says more about the McIntosh faithful than McIntosh. If the turntable was going to be a breakthrough product it would have been logical for Mr. Randall to declare that McIntosh has re-thought all aspects of turntable design and will come out with a product which addresses the current limitations of turntable design as we know it --- he could have done that years ago. If the sound was important some of you would have had the turntable months ago as part of field testing.

McIntosh does not have to rush a turntable to the market and they can say anything they want about the development of same since stalling the market only hurts their competitors who make turntables.

If you think about it there is a lot an electronics manufacturer can do to improve a turntable --- the McIntosh faithful just havent demanded it --- in reading the criticism it would appear McIntosh only stumbled on the looks.

In the final analysis its missed opportunities. A $10,000+ turntable that sounds and looks better than any Linn VPI lowend Goldmund etc would have helped McIntosh gain credibility and serve as a hi-end trojan horse that would eventually increase the sales of amps preamps and speakers.

Big stumbles steal R&D dollars from other projects and for a small company like Mcintosh, scale eventually translates into price.

For those of you who are debating belt vs. direct --- have you heard the Shindo??? or a remanufactered Garrard idler??

Please excuse my rant but great companies should exceed your expectations and offer answers to problems you never thought you had.
 
ron-c said:
Not to put too fine a point on this but those that have seen the table in person, really like it. The reception is beyond our highest expectations. This is why it is the only item from the show that is featured on two different web sites.

Thanks again,
Ron-C
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Is there a dust cover?
 
We should try to redesign the appearance of the table. Here are my thoughts - if I could draw worth a crap, I'd post a mock-up. But I can't.

Front panel - keep the black glass, and green backlighting However, make the panel the same size as the body of the turntable, and slope the front panel back at a 45 degree angle.

Brushed metal trim - make a thinner trim strip that surrounds the entire front panel, rather than just the sides.

Platter - if there was a way to achieve the same results, sonically, and reduce the thickness about 3/4", that would make the unit appear more 'balanced'. Also, make it black - that would look 'sexy'.

I think if these things were done, we'd have a turntable with the traditional Mac look, that wouldn't be so ostentatious and ungainly looking.

"Meter" - I would delete this, or make it about 40% smaller and have a pitch control for the table.

Controls - those are ok - but I would put a red LED indicator for each function selected - 33 rpm, 45 rpm, etc. in lieu of a 'meter' to display the speed.
 
LIONKING said:
Iin reading the criticism it would appear McIntosh only stumbled on the looks
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You make some good points. However I would point out that we really don't have any info on the engineering involved so looks are all we have to comment on for now. It might turn out to be a great sounding machine but somehow I am not sure that Mc can in one fell swoop overtake a part of the industry with pretty special products already (not to mention the fact that Mc has released a tt, tonearm and cartridge simultaneously). Time will tell, meanwhile I am no longer holding my breath :no:. Even if it sounds like the Continuum, I would have a very hard time tolerating the looks.
 
I've always liked howiebrou but beauty is in the eyes of the beholder
10034232212_0_SM.jpg

the McIntosh table proves that...
 
howiebrou said:
Is that you Mr. Wonder??:D
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Like I said, I think we are all conditioned to what a TT is supposed to look like. My parents, who are decidedly non-audiophile thing that my Oracle is "weird" looking, but most of the people I have met on this site and others find it beautiful. I bet if they saw that Mc, they'd like it better than my oracle. With all of the crazy looking high end tables, is it just that this one is too conservative looking?
 
Is this a prototype or production model? I was wondering if it is like the concept cars at auto shows that usually get scaled down before final production.
 
forzaroma said:
Ouch!

We complained that McIntosh did not make a turntable ... perhaps we should have kept our mouth shut.

I just heard my Thorens emit a sigh of relief - it's not in danger of losing its position atop my all Mc rack to this table.

Perhaps it looks better in person.

ForzaRoma
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We complained that McIntosh did not make a turntable ... perhaps we should have kept our mouth shut
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I'm sorry but that is .......tacky
Mac needs to go back to the drawing board.:yes:
 
0luke1 said:
I'd like to know what in the heck is inside the giant base?QUOTE]

likely a very rigid plinth to support the bearing and a robust power supply to regulate the speed control. Most high end turntables have large separate power supplies

Thus far I haven’t found this thread useful. I’m keen to learn more about the engineering details – tone arm, bearing, support, power supply, clamping mechanism etc.

Perhaps Ron-C will jump in once he recovers from CEDIA

Chris
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