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McIntosh

Joe P said:
but kudos for including a ginormous blue meter that provides useful information.
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I wonder what info. two ginormous (!) vu-meters can show from a t/t; signal output, err, err,....nope! I could also never understand vu-meters on amplifiers; Again, signal output? Now vu-meters on a pre showing input status and signal input; that's useful info.
 
Mike,

Platter speed in revolutions per minute.

mt10-angle.jpg


Personally, I'd like a big, honkin' blue meter with "fine choice, sir", "you haven't played that in a while, have you?" and "your music is bad and you should feel bad!" as the options, but I admit my tastes are a bit out there.

Joe
 
Out of interest, apart from its looks, has anyone heard one of their turntables? How does it sound? It's a truly bizarre looking thing (being kind) but maybe it's worth putting up with the look (a phrase about 'mantelpieces and fires' springs to mind from somewhere.... ;) )
 
TLS said:
Others think differently.
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I’ve not watched the video, but I’ve no issue with Accuphase. They and Luxman are the logical conclusion of the classic Japanese amps of the ‘70s to my mind. I think they peaked a decade or two ago when they had nice wood side-panels, but still nothing to complain about. The big ones are a bit big, but if one wants a lot of class A that is just life. I’d take a smaller one and efficient speakers myself, but I’m not here to knock Accuphase. I don’t see them as being the same as current-era McIntosh at all.

JTC said:
Out of interest, apart from its looks, has anyone heard one of their turntables? How does it sound? It's a truly bizarre looking thing (being kind) but maybe it's worth putting up with the look (a phrase about 'mantelpieces and fires' springs to mind from somewhere.... ;) )
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IIRC it is a Clearaudio hiding behind all the flashy light-show and shop-front.
 
JTC said:
I briefly had a Mcintosh valve integrated a couple of years back - the MA2275 I think it was called. It was a superb bit of kit, and sonically was as good an integrated as I could ever have wanted. I was very happy with it, but it popped an power valve which in turn blew a component on its board and it took an age to fix; during that time I learned that they can be very expensive to fix and parts difficult to source (in the UK). It did get repaired but I chickened out and traded it against a Luxman class A amp. In hindsight the Mcintosh was every bit as good as the Luxman, perhaps not quite as controlled but with slightly better tonal complexities, and to this day I have never heard an amplifier portray ride cymbals and their decay quite as well as that amp.

Am I a fan of their aesthetic? Not particularly, though it was handsome enough and not the abomination that some of their more recent efforts seem to be (I'm looking at you, Mcintosh turntable). Could it play music well? Absolutely! Would I buy another? Not sure, but only on reliability/servicing practicality grounds....
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I’d say you were either unlucky or used Chinese production KT88 tubes , these seem to draw way too much current through the second grid and cause voltage regulator to fail, apart from standard resistors, capacitors there is nothing else on power boards to fail. MA2275 uses quite common SS devices throughout the whole amplifier , voltage regulator mentioned earlier very common MPSA42 bipolar transistor which cost something like 40p and easily available from Mouser and other suppliers
 
Joe P said:
Mike,

Platter speed in revolutions per minute.

mt10-angle.jpg


Personally, I'd like a big, honkin' blue meter with "fine choice, sir", "you haven't played that in a while, have you?" and "your music is bad and you should feel bad!" as the options, but I admit my tastes are a bit out there.

Joe
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I'd like one with JAZZ one side and NOT JAZZ the other. Would be fun to play Spontaneous Music Ensemble LPs and watch the needle dart about in a state of confusion.
 
I like the look of their amps, not of their speakers or the turntable. A very expensive brand in Europe and not just because of the import fees, I feel they have become a lifestyle brand with luxury items. I don't view McIntosh as a brand you are going to save to buy their products, you either have the money or not. I don't think most of their buyers will miss the money they 'll spend unlike some of us who look for sales, second hand and we save to buy something.

I've heard their products several times in HiFi shows, usually in conference rooms, not in small hotel rooms. I've auditioned their amps with other speakers and with the brand's speakers, those with the thousand tweeters! I always liked the huge warm sound but I don't think I would go for them if I had so much money. I would go for Accuphase because of equally beautiful looks but also because they are on the warm side of neutral unlike McIntosh who are on the neutral side of warm! Or I would go for Nagra (love their looks & history), TAD (great build quality), or the German precision of Accustic Arts & Audionet. Leaving looks aside and going just for quality/sound I think Gryphon would be my first choice but all of that comes from HiFi shows in unknown rooms with unknown systems so I may be wrong. Unless I hear one new component in my system & room I can't offer an opinion, I always wonder how people say they loved the X cartridge or X amp in a system & room not their own.
 
I heard a wall full of Mac driving the newly launched (at the time) Tannoy Kingdom Royal at the Tokyo Audio Show in about 2011. Absolutely amazing sounds.
 
Tony L said:
The record deck may actually be the worst piece of design I’ve ever seen in my life.
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Like an even uglier Naim Solstice -- indeed, both turntables are made by Clearaudio.

As for the new MC275, it and its LED lights feature prominently in the hifi/vinyl horror series "Deadwax"!
 
JTC said:
Out of interest, apart from its looks, has anyone heard one of their turntables? How does it sound? It's a truly bizarre looking thing (being kind) but maybe it's worth putting up with the look (a phrase about 'mantelpieces and fires' springs to mind from somewhere.... ;) )
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As above, I reviewed the MT10 when it came out and was hugely impressed with it. As mentioned, it is mostly Clearaudio underneath so it's not exactly going to be a duffer!
 
pfbaat said:
Are they ?
I thought most US homes with McIntosh had Klipsch, JBL, KLH, Yamaha 1000, Magnepans and so on.
Large rooms with big speakers.
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You can drive to the Best Buy big box store down the road from my house here and listen to massive McIntosh monoblocks driving KEF Blades or big B&W's. It's kind of crazy.

Yank said:
Shahinian is almost unknown in the US.
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I purchased a piece of furniture from someone locally (east coast USA) and somehow the topic of audio came up. He said he used to have a pair of Shahinian speakers. He was shocked that I had heard of them. I assumed that they were a UK speaker manufacturer because of their popularity on PFM, but he corrected me on that.
 
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