Criticizing a friend's system

Some people need to give up this hobby and find a new one because they obviously hate audio and feel all is for naught. if you spend more time trashing audiophiles and gear than you talk about the positive aspects of this hobby, it's time to move on.
 
mep said:
Some people need to give up this hobby and find a new one because they obviously hate audio and feel all is for naught. if you spend more time trashing audiophiles and gear than you talk about the positive aspects of this hobby, it's time to move on.
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Hate? Where did you pick up on that sour note? I've had and continue to have a very fortunate position to be enjoying music while having played with much gear over the decades and continue to do so. At some point, all that experience and wisdom along the way, has taught me what is and what is NOT important. But to each their own.

Actually this thread started out accusing some McIntosh amps of souring a system. In no time, there were other parties involved parroting the same notion...

I politely pointed out that some of our GOLDEN ears/Reviewers who we trust to bring us their "findings" from their laboratories, after careful scrutiny of audio gear, came to the conclusion the MC1.25KW is a very warm, rich and smooth amplifier.

Another words, exactly what I would have expected!

There is only one thing to AGREE on with this hobby is that we all DISAGREE....

But HATE has nothing to do with it. I enjoy the hobby very much because it lets me enjoy MUSIC that much more.
 
Hi Serge,

Regarding the 1.25kw, they are not warm, smooth and rich - especially compared the the mc452 and that era amps. I’ve owned the 1.25’s and I couldn’t get past the harsh and aggressive treble with a slightly gritty texture. They were nothing like their predecessors, unfortunately. That was with my Strads and Studio2 speakers. I couldn’t take it.

I love McIntosh, but not every model.
 
joeinid said:
Hi Serge,

Regarding the 1.25kw, they are not warm, smooth and rich - especially compared the the mc452 and that era amps. I’ve owned the 1.25’s and I couldn’t get past the harsh and aggressive treble with a slightly gritty texture. They were nothing like their predecessors, unfortunately. That was with my Strads and Studio2 speakers. I couldn’t take it.

I love McIntosh, but not every model.
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Hence my point Joe. The review said completely the opposite. Hence we can never agree on anything audio related. Why not? Because there is no standard, no benchmark, way too many variables and it all starts at the foundation of the Speaker to Room interaction and builds from there. No systems, even if they are the same, will ever sound quite the same in two different rooms. Not to mention we do hear differently due to physiology, age and hearing acuity. One man's tweeter is another man's silence...
 
i'm neutral on the Mac amp question as i've just not paid much attention to them for 4 decades.......since i owned a MC2105 and MR78 in 1976 with Bose 901's. i know there are very good ones, and others not so good.....but don't know them.

my 2 cents on how to react to your friend is that.....it depends. have you previously established a level of mutual trust that would be a basis for honest critique? that is a rare situation......and unlikely. apparently he purchased this gear without your feedback.

for now, i would be supportive but just give him space and allow him to get past the honeymoon period and see if tires of it on his own. he may get to a point where he has second thoughts and comes back to you for a second run at feedback. then you can let him know about your reservations, talk about room and system set-up, and maybe offer to lend your ears to help with room adjustments.....and allow things to take their own course.

basically this person has to 'learn' and the first step is to want to learn. right now he is in gear lust and needs to get past that. if he never does then that's on him and his path to system maturity might be blocked.

personally i went through the cycles of room lust and gear lust many times. where i was not open to feedback. but.....over time i would get past my ego part and get curious and lose interest in what i was hearing, which would open my mind to feedback. it's normal especially until you really get your own reference for what you want to hear.
 
Most of us realize that the happy owner probably has the same thoughts in his head after listening to your systems.
 
TheOctopus said:
Hence my point Joe. The review said completely the opposite. Hence we can never agree on anything audio related. Why not? Because there is no standard, no benchmark, way too many variables and it all starts at the foundation of the Speaker to Room interaction and builds from there. No systems, even if they are the same, will ever sound quite the same in two different rooms. Not to mention we do hear differently due to physiology, age and hearing acuity. One man's tweeter is another man's silence...
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Agree..!


We all agree you could be partially deaf serge , all those years of riding with 2 Brothers open pipes ...

:)
 
I wonder what your friend would say if you asked how he liked the new additions? Sometimes a person may just be looking for comfirmation, good or bad. Your elationship would dictate how much honesty he could handle. I have a friend who I know wants to know the truth and others I know to be more diplomatic with.

Sad to hear Mac went off course on the 1.2. Love them or notat least you used to know what you were getting with a Mac.

Man, I am sick of Octopus polluting every thread on the site. Did I say that out loud? :) Or, maybe if we just didn't address him threads wouldn't evolve into such a mess.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I wonder what your friend would say if you asked how he liked the new additions? Sometimes a person may just be looking for comfirmation, good or bad. Your elationship would dictate how much honesty he could handle. I have a friend who I know wants to know the truth and others I know to be more diplomatic with.

Sad to hear Mac went off course on the 1.2. Love them or notat least you used to know what you were getting with a Mac.

Man, I am sick of Octopus polluting every thread on the site. Did I say that out loud? :) Or, maybe if we just didn't address him threads wouldn't evolve into such a mess.
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Polluting? Adding reason to the grossly obvious, unreasonable and blind worship which often makes zero sense to anyone with even an ounce of reason left in their heads, outside the happy audio circle. That’s polluting?

You go on swinging from the nutsack tree and nod in unison like a good little audio parrot. Read more reviews, get more group confirmation bias and keep on with your delusions and spread them to your friends that want your very unbiased and educated opinion. It’s all time well spent and that’s not polluting. :rolleyes:
 
28 replies and not an ounce of useful information... A thread that starts out with an audiophile being proud of his system after spending a good chunk of money on it. Another concerned audiophile, a friend, happens to strongly dislike the new and improved sound. After a round of at least 3 opinions against an amplifier which at the same time is reviewed very positively by the "audiophile press" and those that consider themselves connoisseurs of good sound and audio knowledge to spread it to others while trusting their ears to bring accurate information forward... It seems determined they are crap...

At a glance one can deduce a few facts for sure but the main point is missed all together. That the guy with a grin on his face listening to his MC1.25KW may actually be happy and enjoying music, not being aware of the slamming of his amplifiers going on. Don't know if he would care or not armed with the knowledge that half a dozen of other audiophiles voiced their dissatisfaction of that amplifier but I would say that ignorance may truly be bliss.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I wonder what your friend would say if you asked how he liked the new additions? Sometimes a person may just be looking for comfirmation, good or bad. Your elationship would dictate how much honesty he could handle. I have a friend who I know wants to know the truth and others I know to be more diplomatic with.

Sad to hear Mac went off course on the 1.2. Love them or notat least you used to know what you were getting with a Mac.

Man, I am sick of Octopus polluting every thread on the site. Did I say that out loud? :) Or, maybe if we just didn't address him threads wouldn't evolve into such a mess.
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First Law :

Criticize the wife, the cooking , the house but never the Hifi system ...!


:)

Based on current Mac comments it seems best bet is anything pre 1990 SS , to hear good Mac sound ..
 
TheOctopus said:
28 replies and not an ounce of useful information... A thread that starts out with an audiophile being proud of his system after spending a good chunk of money on it. Another concerned audiophile, a friend, happens to strongly dislike the new and improved sound. After a round of at least 3 opinions against an amplifier which at the same time is reviewed very positively by the "audiophile press" and those that consider themselves connoisseurs of good sound and audio knowledge to spread it to others while trusting their ears to bring accurate information forward... It seems determined they are crap...

At a glance one can deduce a few facts for sure but the main point is missed all together. That the guy with a grin on his face listening to his MC1.25KW may actually be happy and enjoying music, not being aware of the slamming of his amplifiers going on. Don't know if he would care or not armed with the knowledge that half a dozen of other audiophiles voiced their dissatisfaction of that amplifier but I would say that ignorance may truly be bliss.
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I sense Irony , Rust and decay in this post ...! :)
 
a.wayne said:
...
Based on current Mac comments it seems best bet is anything pre 1990 SS , to hear good Mac sound ..
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Nothing wrong with the current tube offerings, and I suspect the same for some of the current SS lineup
 
I loved my MC601s, sometimes miss such a simple all Mac setup.

What's interesting is I found the 601s so physically large, never even considered the 1.2ks
 
Of course, you should not say "This sounds like crap" - but I think it's ok to say what you do not like so much about the sound in a constructive way.

If a friend can not say his honest opinion to you, he's not a real friend.

My 2 ct.
 
AVphile said:
Earlier this week, I was invited to a friend's home to listen to what he said were "significant upgrades" to his audio system.
Unchanged were his McIntosh C2600 preamplifer
Various terms that come to mind in describing it are bright, shrill, piercing, exaggerated treble, etc.
can anyone suggest where and how it went astray?
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Hi AVP,
I'm not an audiophile, so please forgive/take my "remote" analysis, basic logic, reasoning, etc question(s) as such.
Did you double check to make sure the bass/treble/tone controls were zeroed on C2600 for each input you listened to?

cheers,

AJ
 
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