Anyone else a McIntosh (Big Blue Meters] Geek?

[AndyOrr]

We moved to a new home this summer. One of my requirements was an area where I could set up my hi-if stuff and have some fun. Hi-fi is a lot like playing guitar. I swap speakers, amps, turntables, cartridges, tonearms, replace crossovers, capacitors, etc., in search of the ultimate tone (sound familiar?). It’s a fun hobby for a musician. But, it requires a good listening area and a very patient significant other.

At my old house, I kept my big McIntosh MA2275 integrated amp in our main room with a giant set of Klipsch Cornwall speakers. The room was less than desirable for playback, so much so that I used to say, “I don’t think I’ve ever really heard what that Mac can do.”

I finally set up the Mac last night in its new space and spun a few albums. Holy cow is an understatement. I was playing 60’s and 70’s soul recordings from The Intruders, Dusty Springfield, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, The Spinners... It was unbelievable. The level of detail, the soundstage, the drums, the horns, that bass!

I have other highly regarded hi-fi gear from Marantz, Primaluna, Manley, etc., that I always thought was probably in the same league as the McIntosh stuff. I was wrong. This is another level. Those guys in Binghamton, NY really know what they’re doing.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else shares the same appreciation.

 

[bradlake]

I have the 6700 Reciever running the stereo mains in my living room surround system, driving a couple Monitor Audio Silver floorstander..would love big Klipsch (I have little ones running the Atmos front channels.)

 

[iaresee]

My Dad owned a McIntosh setup my entire life. Including this MONSTEROUS speakers. Sounds glorious though. That blue glow reminds me of flipping records on his stereo and making mixed tapes.

 

[Geezerjohn]

Wow! Dusty Springfield. Talk about a blast from the past. I did a show back in the 60’s and she was also on the bill. Also The Happenings (See You in September). Memories.

 

[AndyOrr]

Wow! Dusty Springfield. Talk about a blast from the past. I did a show back in the 60’s and she was also on the bill. Also The Happenings (See You in September). Memories.

I’m hard pressed to name another female singer I like as much. She had something super special.

 

[AndyOrr]

I have the 6700 Reciever running the stereo mains in my living room surround system, driving a couple Monitor Audio Silver floorstander..would love big Klipsch (I have little ones running the Atmos front channels.)

I have a set of McIntosh LS350 floorstanders. They’re huge! Shaped like coffins. But they’re horribly inefficient at 86db. I think they were made (very briefly) to pair with something like the 6700. I’d love to hear them together.

 

[bradlake]

I have a set of McIntosh LS350 floorstanders. They’re huge! Shaped like coffins. But they’re horribly inefficient at 86db. I think they were made (very briefly) to pair with something like the 6700. I’d love to hear them together.

I did hear them together at the audio store..it was epic...but yes, ugly.

 

[iaresee]

ML-1c -- that's the speaker model my old man has. Monsterous. I'm sure it takes half the electricity in the world to move them they're probably so inefficient.

 

[Geezerjohn]

I’m hard pressed to name another female singer I like as much. She had something super special.

She was very professional and pleasant but her manager was really difficult. Peggy March was also on the bill. She was pretty bad live.

 

[200man]

My Dad owned a McIntosh setup my entire life. Including this MONSTEROUS speakers. Sounds glorious though. That blue glow reminds me of flipping records on his stereo and making mixed tapes.

My dad had a giant setup. Huge folded horns coming out of the basement. He had a beautiful McIntosh preamp. His friend had a couple of the McIntosh power amps on a set of Altec 604’s in custom corner cabinets that was insanely good. Sold them years ago...his comment was though that the sound would change from time to time...anyway Les Paul had an Altec duplex and a McIntosh amp as his live rig back in the day. I’ve got a huge horn system now that runs several Odyssey solid state amps. They ALWAYS sound good.

 

[londonireland777]

Mcintosh, tubes in general, color the sound I think. I prefer accuracy over something sounding good and fun. I like PSB Imagine T3 speakers and NAD Master series amps/preamps/dacs.

 

[Muad'zin]

Ultimately chasing the perfect hi-fi tone, like chasing the perfect guitar tone, is pointless. It's something you will never achieve as that end goal will always change, even without you knowing, and there will always be something new, something else to tantalize you with. Plus it detracts from what is really important. Appreciating and making music.

But if it makes you happy, go for it. We all need hobbies. Hobbies are what make life fun.

 

[iaresee]

Mcintosh, tubes in general, color the sound I think. I prefer accuracy over something sounding good and fun. I like PSB Imagine T3 speakers and NAD Master series amps/preamps/dacs.

I’m fairly certain my dad’s Mc power amp was solid state.

 

[londonireland777]

It seems like speakers are always some sort of compromise.... I don't think any speaker in existence does EVERYTHING 100 percent perfect... same thing with buying a TV set, some are strong in certain areas, while weak in others.

 

[t0aj15]

I'm currently saving up for a McIntosh MA9000 integrated amp to drive my four Klipsch La Scala speakers. A more glorious sound you will never hear.

 

[yek]

Life is so much easier and cheaper not being an audiophile.

 

[iaresee]

Life is so much easier and cheaper not being an audiophile.

I opted out of the home theater arms race for that very reason.

 

[Project Mayhem]

I’m always surprised to see people go for high end speakers, only to drive them with an av receiver.

Monoblocks for the win.

 

[AndyOrr]

My dad had a giant setup. Huge folded horns coming out of the basement. He had a beautiful McIntosh preamp. His friend had a couple of the McIntosh power amps on a set of Altec 604’s in custom corner cabinets that was insanely good. Sold them years ago...his comment was though that the sound would change from time to time...anyway Les Paul had an Altec duplex and a McIntosh amp as his live rig back in the day. I’ve got a huge horn system now that runs several Odyssey solid state amps. They ALWAYS sound good.

I’m curious - what kind of music did your Dad play and his buddy play through those systems?

 

[Solarfire]

Mcintosh, tubes in general, color the sound I think. I prefer accuracy over something sounding good and fun. I like PSB Imagine T3 speakers and NAD Master series amps/preamps/dacs.

I’m 60 years old now and have been involved in the engineering of high-end amps and speakers and I have come to learn that there is no such thing as an “accurate” listening-system or listening-space. Accuracy in this context would imply that what you are hearing is exactly that what the mastering engineer was hearing or intended to be heard when he was mastering the source that you are currently listening to. Beyond that, there is no such thing as uncolored sound; it will always and mainly be colored with the non-linearity of the room and the weakest component in the chain the “speaker-system” and marginally by the DAC (or analog source), power-/preamp and not to leave unmentioned the wiring of the listening-system.
Since the subjective taste of the mastering engineer may not hit my subjective nerve of “good-sound” I’ll take the option of recoloring the sound to taste and have it “sound good” to me, in my environment, instead of sounding “accurately” shitty because my ears are not the engineers and the room is not the one the source was mastered in and the monitoring-system is not that of the studio.
Ohh shit.. I almost forgot the biggest factor to this subject… the human hearing itself… highly inaccurate and nonlinear. So much to the subject of “accurate” music reproduction/listening in the hi-fi world.
Bottom-line: After having spent horrendous sums of money on so-called high-end “accurate” hi-fi equipment in my lifetime, I liquidated these status symbols and settled for my Carver TFM-45 (which I serviced and recapped) in conjunction with a pair of JBL 4425’s . Proper setup of the speakers and listening space is a must with any system. Yes it’s colored and that to my liking, I let go of the notion that one has to listen to “accurately” reproduced music even if it sounds like shit. Music should “sound good” and good sound is highly individual and subjective. Use your ears!