Is there a characteristic McIntosh sound?

If anything there are McIntosh owners, like Corvette owners (to use a car analogy) that think the sun rises and sets over their chosen brand...only to be outdone by Klipsch owners. And please, I have nothing against Mc owners--or Klipsch owners for that matter as I am one--its just an observation from being in this hobby 40+ yrs :)
 
jdandy said:
Does McIntosh have a house sound. Certainly, just like every other audio component manufacturer.
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Great post, but I only quoted part of it to point out that you didn't say what that house sound is.

In my opinion the McIntosh sound is about 3D sound-staging with a presence and grandeur of scale.

It's a "Big Sound", room filling.

It does not throw it's self at you, it envelops you as it commands the room.

It is not splashy or quick sounding like some electronics and that adds to the so called relaxed sound.

If you want to get a taste of what I mean by "scale" go to a very Hi-End shop on a slow day and listen to some CD or computer based musical passages. Then listen to them on a +$20,000 turntable. Then listen to their Reel to Reel tape player.

In each instance the scale of the presentation becomes larger and larger and more room enveloping and room expnading as if your are in the original performance concert hall.

McIntosh's fault is that it tends to expand the sound-stage a bit and get 3D with a super solid phantom center stage image.

That is a house sound I can live with.

If you get a chance go to a Linn dealer and listen to an all Linn system, your foot will be unable to stop tapping - it's weird and wonderful.

Audio Research is tubes trying to like sound solid state - usually. Not my thing but once with the right speakers (crazy expensive Italian) there was some magic. However, Conrad Johnson with B&W's will get you there for much less.

McIntosh speakers suck in my opinion, at least for the money they are asking. They sound like tarted up Polk's, no offense to Polk lovers intended.
 
I always felt McIntosh amps sounded rounded off, and dull. Before buying my 28b3’s I tried a set of Mc monos.. the 600 watt ones. I felt that they were not as sharp and clean as the Bryston sound. Some may call my choice in apps ‘sterile’, but I like to hear every single sound reproduced good-or-bad. McIntosh left me feeling that I was missing someone.


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Phisphan I think what you wrote is fairly accurate.

However, do me favor and in your mind or in real life compare McIntosh to "Live MUSIC" and not another electronic device.

Live music is not as splashy and pinpoint in location as recorded music unless you are the one knocking drumsticks against skins and cymbals.

Compression of certain frequencies in microphones and in recording medium alters perceptions to an accepted Hi-Fi sound verses live music sound.

That said McIntosh has had a few dud products in my opinion. One of them was an all format compact disc player that also did DVD's I think about 18-20 years ago. So lackluster was it that I asked the salesperson to see if something in the system was wired out of phase with leads reversed.

It was not, it just sucked.
 
Maybe I’m not understanding this correctly, but why would one want studio-recorded music to sound like “live music”? And how is it possible? Unless you’re listening to a live-recorded music, I don’t know why anyone would want that.
 
IMO, every amp has a house sound. And different generations of amps have a nuanced house sound as well - such as the Pass Labs .5s vs. .8s.

My dad had Mc Tube Amps. They had a wonderful house sound - at least to this then teenager they did - esp. when I listened to them while he was at work :)

But that was decades ago. And remembering that experience, I've listened to Mcs in the past six months or so but didn't enjoy them as much. But that could be attributed to many things - such as my dad's Vinyl and Tape vs. my Digital, the type speakers, cables, my aging ears, etc.

So, do Mcs have a house sound? IMO, yes they do. Do different Mc models have a slightly nuanced house sound? IMO, yes they can.

Whether one enjoys one over another is up to the end listener. Your system, your room, your "house sound."
 
Calvin said:
Whether one enjoys one over another is up to the end listener. Your system, your room, your "house sound."
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From a subjective point of view (the pleasure that everyone gets from the audio), I am obliged to agree. However, this opens the door to a path of subjectivity that legitimizes all options, which for me is not valid. Regardless of the subjectivity of personal taste, there is an objective of linearity, transparency, let´s say respect for the content of the recording (*) that the manufacturers should pursue.

(*) I agree that it is not about respecting the live sound - from the live sound only the individual timbre of each instrument is important)
 
Spock said:
From a subjective point of view (the pleasure that everyone gets from the audio), I am obliged to agree. However, this opens the door to a path of subjectivity that legitimizes all options, which for me is not valid. Regardless of the subjectivity of personal taste, there is an objective of linearity, transparency, let´s say respect for the content of the recording (*) that the manufacturers should pursue.

(*) I agree that it is not about respecting the live sound - from the live sound only the individual timbre of each instrument is important)
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Yes, I see your point and agree for the most part. Manufactures should pursue the APS (Absolute Perfect System). And so should listeners that have the means to do so.

But even if the APS was discovered, manufactured and distributed, subjectivity would still enter into the final equation as the purchaser still makes the final decision of what is right for their ears - and not all our ears are the same (i.e. different levels of damage thus we hear differently, etc.). And not all audiophiles are trained to hear the same details - some aren't trained at all. Therefore subjectivity enters in here as well. And though the APS wouldn't need tweaking some Audiophiles would inevitably find something to tweak, as its in the Audiophile DNA to do so.

So, IMO audio has both objective and subjective elements that should be respected. But this is just a philosophical opinion on my part that probably needs tweaking.
 
Characteristic sound? maybe, but characteristic owner? fo' sure. in the early '80s when I got serious about sound equipment McIntosh was what your dad (or grandpa) bought. TAS and Stereophile snubbed their collective noses at it, there really was little to no innovation to speak of at McIntosh for many years. The one dealer in my area that carried it also had Klipsch and B&W (what does that say?). The one store in town (San Diego, circa 80s-90s) known for serving one-off buyers was where you'd find it (Breier). The hipsters went to one of the other two shops that carried everything else (i.e. Levinson, ARC, CJ, Magnepan, Linn, SOTA, VPI, Rowland, Wilson, Wadia, Krell, Theil, Vandersteen, Dunlavy, Quad, Apogee, et al). Fast forward to 2020 and still, nothing about McIntosh excites me except their vintage stuff (MC30, MR78, C-20, MA230, MC226, etc.). FWIW, of the hipster stores only Stereo Unlimited remains, Stereo Design is kaput.
 
The short answer is you bet there is!

Even further enhanced when incorporated into ones system with all sorts or variables; speakers, cables, room and lets not forget the listener.

IMO, IME, YMMV and all the other disclaimers, this is no different than any other brand.




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The autoformer giveth and the autoformer taketh away. The autoformer has a unique sound. I really like the previous generation Mc sound (2301, 452, 601). I haven’t spent enough time with the current generation. Joe (joeinid) has though.


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I think the newer McIntosh gear like the 1.25kw, 462, 611 etc are a newer house sound, in my opinion. It’s not my cup of tea.
 
puroagave said:
Characteristic sound? maybe, but characteristic owner? fo' sure..........The one dealer in my area that carried it also had Klipsch and B&W (what does that say?).
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This sounds very much like Almas Hi-Fi in metro Detroit.

I think there is an old school Vs new school generational comparison of equipment because at one time McIntosh was the sole survivor of American tube amp manufacturers and carried the torch while others like HH Scott, Marantz and The Fisher fell to the way side during the Japanese invasion of solid state equipment.
 
kzhtoo said:
Maybe I’m not understanding this correctly, but why would one want studio-recorded music to sound like “live music”? And how is it possible? Unless you’re listening to a live-recorded music, I don’t know why anyone would want that.
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I don't think many people want that, but maybe some do.

And maybe some want live performances in opera houses to sound like recording studios.

To each their own.
 
I believe that some of the new McIntosh amplifiers are closer to the traditional McIntosh sound than many of the newer amps. For example, the new Hybrid Integrated amps very much have the traditional McIntosh smoothness. Only speculating here, but I believe it is because they are not using autoformers, but instead high grade transistors similar to what is used by T+A. I mention these two brands only because they are the ones I am most intimately familiar with at this time.
 
Calvin said:
Yes, I see your point and agree for the most part. Manufactures should pursue the APS (Absolute Perfect System).
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Let me put it in another way to make myself better understood. It is not so much about pursuing perfection but about avoiding gross flaws like distortion and coloration.
When the music comes out free of coloration, we can enjoy a good sound whether it is reproduced by a Sonus Faber or by an Monitor Audio speaker (to name two brands with very different sounds).
 
My 50+ year old McIntosh MC60s do have some mid range warmth, and great low end extension. I’m undecided whether my system, or my ears that are rolled off a bit in the highs.
 
Bones13 said:
My 50+ year old McIntosh MC60s do have some mid range warmth, and great low end extension. I’m undecided whether my system, or my ears that are rolled off a bit in the highs.
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I have an idea that your amp would capture that older Mc sound that I loved in my dad's system so much. It's may even be the same model since my dad bought his in 1959-1960. Nice to see an older one still in use on the forum.
 
Dad made DIY K-Horn speakers, those, and some yellow foam headphones, are what I listened to in my youth. There was more hum with those ultra-sensitive speakers.

His MC60s actually have 2 different terminal strip types. One of them is the frequently seen barrier strips, the other does not have raised plastic barriers between the studs.

Love the sound, really had fun this afternoon listening.
 
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