Hypothetical McIntosh MS300 question/poll

[elshout]

Hypothetical: Brand new in the box, McIntosh MS300 available for $1800.

Would this be worth it today considering it has been a number of years since it came out?

Would there be a better alternative today for about the same money?

How many of you would get the MS300 if the above was a reality, even with what is available today?

Just curious.


**I know the MS300 and MS750 had issues such as power supply issues, but keep in mind the above would be brand new, not used.

[still-one]

Yes. There are better alternatives for the money. The only thing going for the MS300 is that it looks similar to other McIntosh gear. I enjoyed mine when I had it but never missed it once it was gone.

[mep]

Yes. There are better alternatives for the money. The only thing going for the MS300 is that it looks similar to other McIntosh gear. I enjoyed mine when I had it but never missed it once it was gone.

You don't even miss some of the gear that you still own.

[W9TR]

You would get more pleasure from feeding 18 $100 bills into a paper shredder.
The end result would be the same.
Tom

[W9TR]

Let me explain,as a former MS 300 owner.

The MS 300 has been off of McIntosh support for a long time.
If there is an issue you will send your unit to Panurgy.
They may or may not be able to fix it.
The power supply will fail based on age alone, not just run time.
There is a place in Texas that rebuilds them. That's a must if you get one.
The HDD is out of production, as is the CD drive.
The OS lives on the hard drive so if there is a HDD failure the unit dies.
Some people have had some luck fitting alternate hard drives, but this is not guaranteed to work.
You can recover the unit with a 'golden disc' that loads the OS. That's if the CD rom drive is still alive.
The grace note cover art service is dead.
The McIntosh internet radio service is dead.

Guess I'm not a fan.

[jdandy]

Hypothetical: Brand new in the box, McIntosh MS300 available for $1800.

elshout.......You would be far better off adding a grand to your $1800 and bring home an Aurender N100H music server.

[Jack]

Or if you are looking for a modern/current device with the same ripping capabilities and a full service streamer with storage look into the Innuos machines. Four models at different price points.

[elshout]

Thanks for the replies fellows. The Innuos systems look very interesting. Just wish they had a coax or toslink output.

Please feel free to continue to post comments or other options.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

[Jack]

If you need those other output options and the ripping ability then even the current Bluesound Vault 2 is a better option and with an MSRP of $600 less.

http://www.bluesound.com/en-us/products/vault-2/?cl

If you don't need the ability to rip a CD collection then the options open up considerably depending on whether or not you need storage, built in DAC, outputs, price range. When it comes to "digital solutions" McIntosh would personally be one of the last places I looked as their history in that arena is not that good.