Found On The McIntosh Facebook Page

krellmk

krellmk

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McIntosh is the gold standard for high end equipment. It sells better than all the other high end brands. There are other brands that competed for a period of time, Mark Levinson and Krell for example, but when these brands were sold, they never regained what they had."
 
J!m

J!m

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“When they were sold” is the key to that.

Mark set a standard for the appearance of the equipment. Dan followed sit and evolved Mark’s work (he also got many of the original engineers when Mark moved on from ML).

Both company’s products, from the early days of each, still command silly sums of money (and will need refurbishment).

Personally, I knew about McIntosh before the other brands of hi-end, but I never liked their appearance. I always thought they looked “old” and still, I am not attracted to their appearance at all. My best friend’s dad had a wall of McIntosh equipment- it was loud, clear and complicated to operate. It just never did it for me.

But, conversely, I respect them as a company for staying more true to their roots than any other hi-end company. That is something to be proud of for sure.
 
J!m

J!m

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I had a DH 200 (or what’re it was) before my first Counterpoint amp. Rather large leap now looking back on it… but that purchase threw me into the deep end. I subscribed to Stereophile (back when it was an undersized, but thick, magazine) started visiting all the hi-end dealers around. From Northampton Mass to the dark corners of Connecticut. Most of them are gone (remember “Tweeter Etc.”?) but some remain.

Very few are catering to hard-core 2-channel guys. Krell still does but they are not the company they were. Dan’s new company does, but each component is CPO German car price. That leaves a decent sized hole for me to fill with dedicated 2-channel stuff…
 
krellmk

krellmk

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Dan D’Agostino new preamp looks like some kinna decorative trinket box you put on your dresser... big bucks here
 

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Skratch

Skratch

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krellmk said:
Have a few MAC tube stuff they just plain ugly i still think the Dynaco MK3 sound better than any of the Mac tube stuff ...David Hafler the designer was one of the best .
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I had a pair of MC75 mono blocks and a pair of modified Dynamo Mark3's. To me they sounded pretty much the same. I sold the Macs for a lot of money and kept the Dynacos
 
Bob Boyer

Bob Boyer

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J!m said:
...Personally, I knew about McIntosh before the other brands of hi-end, but I never liked their appearance. I always thought they looked “old” and still, I am not attracted to their appearance at all. My best friend’s dad had a wall of McIntosh equipment- it was loud, clear and complicated to operate. It just never did it for me.

But, conversely, I respect them as a company for staying more true to their roots than any other hi-end company. That is something to be proud of for sure.
Click to expand...
Mac's newer stuff has a cleaner look to it and I've begun to appreciate that but I'm in agreement with you on the older stuff. Stodgy is the word I'd use and frankly, I thought the sound a lttle the same way. Using an automotive analogy, I like my stereo components to be kind of like Andy Granetelli's and Colin Chapman's Indy turbine cars or the Chaparral sports racers of the 60s - always pushing the boundaries. So I find myself preferring Phase Linear to Crown, Counterpoint and Threshold to Macintosh, etc from a design and sound standpoint. I think Nelson Pass may be onto some stuff with his First Watt designs, that kind of thing.

Still, Mac has a devoted following for being exactly who they have been for so many years. They're still here when Fisher, H.H. Scott, and a lot of other great manufacturers aren't. And as you say, there's much to be respected about that.
 
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