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Owning McIntosh over the other big dogs, what's it like?

Owning McIntosh over the other big dogs, what's it like?

When I play 1950s and 60s jazz on my setup, it makes me feel like I'm Hugh Hefner :naughty:
 
I have owned or heard at friends houses Pioneer, Sansui, and Marantz over the years, and never felt they sounded as good as McIntosh. I had a friend years ago that had the McIntosh gear, and when I started spending more time listening to his gear over mine, I knew I needed to eventually get Mc gear.
 
capt.chaos said:
What's it like? Well it doesn't suck! McIntosh is hard to beat. I also own Accuphase, Marantz, and Pioneer gear. All good stuff but it's not Mcintosh. I have never owned Sansui. I am sure Sansui is great stuff but I have a feeling I would still prefer McIntosh. The only vintage gear I have heard that I liked as much as Mcintosh was the Marantz 8b and model 7. As far as my own gear second place would go to Accupahse. I really like my Accuphase gear but my favorite is my McIntosh.
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Vintage Sansui tuners are VERY good!
 
c_dk said:
I have no real reason to visit your Sansui thread but since you are here.....

Back in my first weeks of being a part time sales guy at our local Playback in the fall of '77 I swear we had a burgundy chassis metered Sansui amp on the floor for a week or so. I can remember no preamp, it never got put into the "amp" display with the Phase Linears etc and soon was sent back to corporate. It was an anomaly but it did leave an impression since months later in Seattle it was either 2 of these amps or 2 Crowns that were driving stacked Dahlquist DQ10s while I was hanging out with the manager of the local hifi store awaiting my train back east.

Was there a Sansui amp like this back in the day?
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Could have been a BA5000 300watts per channel, uses impedance matching transformers on the outputs.
Ive never heard one personally, and its not the topology I am into, but nevertheless they are highly regarded.....
There were smaller ones too BA3000 BA2000..........

PS, Im a Sansui tech, although I do have a keen interest in McIntosh, and would certainly like to see what all the fuss is about......
 
I have owned McIntosh since 1960/61 starting with an MC-60, then MA230-MR-67. I still have my early MC2505. My latest piece is a 207, but am planning on a 891 for xmas. In between i have owned some Pioneer , Crown, UREI, DBX, SAE,etc. But the Mac sounds good where and when the others fail or become obsolete. Mcintosh is not perfect, but sets the standard to which others are compared. Mac also provides the best performance over the long haul and there fore is the most economical to own. Its also controls price points to my way of thinking. If Accuphase Bryston Krell, threshold and others bring out a new piece of equipment, I immediately compare it to an equivalent Mac. Look at the price of Carey and Carver tube amps and compare them to 275's etc. Are they really worth it? I sold Mac for 25 years to the professional user, Crown, QSC, BGW give more power, but their life span is very short. I had to have my Dc300a's and 150a's rebuilt 3 times while my Macs just kept plugging along. I have a lot of friends that owned Sansui, Pioneer, Technics, Kenwood over the past 40 years. My Mac from that time is still running. Their other units are all gone. While I can enjoy great sound with minimum fuss, the others always have issues. Its great sound, great investment, great fun and very rewarding in every way. But do your home work and don't buy a lemon or a unit unfit for the job at hand.
 
kevzep said:
Could have been a BA5000 300watts per channel, uses impedance matching transformers on the outputs.
Ive never heard one personally, and its not the topology I am into, but nevertheless they are highly regarded.....
There were smaller ones too BA3000 BA2000..........

PS, Im a Sansui tech, although I do have a keen interest in McIntosh, and would certainly like to see what all the fuss is about......
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My tired memory sayes BA3000......2 driving stacked DQ10s was quite a setup.
 
My first mac was an MA 230 which was already 30+ years old. It replaced a Carver receiver. I was stunned at the sound. I've since got a MX110Z which I've restored and an MR67. I often use the 230 as a stand alone amp with my 110. One day I'll get a vintage Mac SS amp to pair with my MX110. I also have other various components, mostly tube and some SS. All have very nice sound and build quality but nothing else is quite like my Macs. My Mac and tube buying frenzy began within a couple months after getting my MA230.
 
You should get one and find out what all the fuss is about. Chances are you'll be wanting another piece of mac gear and then another........
That being said when I was on an amp hunt a year or so ago I had intitially thought of picking up a sansui ba5000 that was local. After giving it some thought I decided not to go with sansui's copy of the mc2300 and get the real thing instead.
 
Most amps I've owned (Marantz, Yamaha, Harmon-Kardon, Pioneer) had a "sweet spot" volume (usually at about 1/3) where the sound "opened-up". Mac amps sound great at ANY volume. (It took me a while to realize this since they sound so great loud.)
 
Any Luxman love???, anybody have and or listened to both? I have Sansui (AU-717) not sure what that would challenge on the McIntosh side. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that by this time next week I'll be the proud owner of a Luxman M-2000. So seeing as I have the Sansui & Luxman part of the equation I would love to one day just to say I did find and or listen to some McIntosh amps, preferably tubes.
 
One thing that hasn't been mentioned so far....
Every piece of Mac gear I own has appreciated in value since I bought it.
That makes the cost of ownership less than zero!
 
Tell me about it W9TR. I just bought a mint MC2105 and C29 and it was not cheap. But after owning all sorts of makes and models of equipment over the last 40 years I now know that the McIntosh amp and preamp that I have now is the best sounding solid state gear I have ever owned.
 
.....I'm a little disappointed no one has mentioned the natural ambiance McIntosh gives/brings, especially from Mac Pre-amps....I believe that's what originally hooked us and keeps us hooked, the way the highs roll-off into the McIntosh "black background" which brings the most realistic sound I've ever experienced, no matter the volume level....possibly a worthy comparison would be flatscreen plasma TV's against LCD's....evidently, much higher black levels are possible from plasma, thus the better picture that approaches CRT quality....but forget TV's, I'm not trying to deviate from this being a McIntosh thread....I'll just say what I did in the other thread....before purchasing a used C26 and a used MC2105 in 1986, I owned a string of rather expensive receivers and some Denon and Marantz seperates....after purchasing the used Mac equipment, I was done even considering any other brands, period....I discovered what "live" sounding equipment truly is.....


am·bi·ance   [am-bee-uhns; Fr. ahn-byahns] Show IPA
noun, plural am·bi·anc·es  [-bee-uhn-siz; Fr. -byahns] Show IPA.

1. the mood, character, quality, tone, atmosphere, etc.
 
Dswankey said:
Any Luxman love???, anybody have and or listened to both? I have Sansui (AU-717) not sure what that would challenge on the McIntosh side. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that by this time next week I'll be the proud owner of a Luxman M-2000. So seeing as I have the Sansui & Luxman part of the equation I would love to one day just to say I did find and or listen to some McIntosh amps, preferably tubes.
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Hallo, I used to own a Luxman L-410. I loved the tone control setup on that amp - very flexible.

Prior to getting my Accuphase gear I went to Dubai to listen to a very nice McIntosh setup (there is no McIntosh distributor here in South Africa). Both Accuphase and McIntosh have their own 'sound', Both are excellent - at the top of their game. Both brands achieve top ratings in the international audio press. It's a matter of preference.

Congrats on scoring an M2000. :D And yes, If you ever get a chance, listen to the McIntosh MC275 with one of their tubed pre-amps.
 
mulester7 said:
.....I'm a little disappointed no one has mentioned the natural ambiance McIntosh gives/brings, especially from Mac Pre-amps....I believe that's what originally hooked us and keeps us hooked, the way the highs roll-off into the McIntosh "black background" which brings the most realistic sound I've ever experienced, no matter the volume level....after purchasing the used Mac equipment, I was done even considering any other brands, period....I discovered what "live" sounding equipment truly is...
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Right on. I can only say that I am disappointed in myself for not saying this first:D.
 
chef free said:
Most amps I've owned (Marantz, Yamaha, Harmon-Kardon, Pioneer) had a "sweet spot" volume (usually at about 1/3) where the sound "opened-up". Mac amps sound great at ANY volume. (It took me a while to realize this since they sound so great loud.)
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The 2 H/K amps that buck this trend are the PA2400, and Signature 1.5.
Their low level detail (on up) is uncanny, and really stands out.
Comparing them to, say a H/K 870, the lack of detail is quite obvious, along with dynamics at higher levels.
The H/K 870 is a great amp-but these 2 H/K amps are in a league of their own IMHO-definitely 'high end' sound reproduction.
How they would sound against a good McIntosh amp is any body's guess-but IMHO I think they would hold their own quite favorably.
 
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I love the big, robust, smooth Mc sound that sounds fantastic even at low listening levels. That said, I auditioned the C2300 (with stock tubes) and my new CJ pre and, well, I chose the CJ.
 
Warm fuzzies and empty checkbook and lusting after my daughter's remaining college fund... :D

MikeSp
 
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