New from McIntosh at CES 2016

[Mike]

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Brand/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsID=189&Block=1

When the powers that be at McIntosh wake up from their self imposed audiophile coma, they will all wonder where their old, reliable, faithful customer base went. On to other products I suspect.

I'll admit, the new streamer is interesting, but with leaders like Aurender, Lumin and so many others, do we need ANOTHER streamer? Is it smart to be even in that space competing against companies that do nothing but push the envelope on streaming technology day-in-day-out?

For an example of "how" to do it - look at Audio Research or Bryston. They keep things fresh and exciting, pushing the envelope, trying new things that us Audiophiles love, all the while building better and better sounding products.

Meanwhile, McIntosh is focusing on headphones and competition for Bose.

I'm a HUUUUUUGE long time fan of McIntosh. Their direction of late, dating back to the D&M days, is sad to see.

What would the founders say if they were around today?


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[joeinid]

I agree Mike. Thanks for the photos.

 

[Golucid]

I'll admit, the new streamer is interesting, but with leaders like Aurender, Lumin and so many others, do we need ANOTHER streamer? Is it smart to be even in that space competing against companies that do nothing but push the envelope on streaming technology day-in-day-out?

They are late to the party and relying on the stately McIntosh Branded Faceplate. Maybe they should have included a meter or two. LOL

...keep things fresh and exciting, pushing the envelope, trying new things that us Audiophiles love, all the while building better and better sounding products.

Compelling points.

McIntosh is focusing on headphones and competition for Bose.

Perhaps survival of the finest approach?

Their direction of late, dating back to the D&M days, is sad to see.

On a more positive note and something my friend Bill pointed out to me separately, "The MB50 is a simple streamer using DTS Play-fi...It says a lot of things about the technology. Mcintosh doesn't support fads."

I am glad I purchased their reference equipment before they hit the off button. The current McIntosh direction certainly does preclude me from purchasing equipment in the future. With products such as the MB100 and the quality over priced misfire, I certainly do not trust them. Even so, I do like my MB100 but it's value certainly isn't $6500. I'd say, $1500 is a stretch! Be that as it may, hasn't McIntosh been fairly profitable with their MB100 type quality approach to everything now?

 

[jdandy]

The wine, cheese, and SOHO crowd have gone to their head.

 

[Elberoth]

The Rs100 looks like a cheap chineese knock off. When I have first seen the product, I thought it is just a bad Photoshop job !

 

[still-one]

Lucky you guys aren't charged with running the company and generating sales. If they don't offer entry level products in the $1k-$2k range then the younger crowd will continue to believe that Bose is high end gear. Do you really think that they can survive on just offering amps and pre-amps that 99.5% of the population either cannot or do not want purchase? The business model doesn't work when we purchase 2301's , 601's, 1.2k's in 2008 and never purchase another amp for our lifetime and complain that we miss the good old days. They either offer entry level amps, streamers, DAC's that someone with a decent job can afford or the future of high end belongs to Bose and SonoS.

 

[Steve]

I get the MX121 because there is already the MX160.

We also have to accept that they have been licensing OEM white boxes, souping and rebadging since the digital source age.

But why the bottom end of the market?

At least they could pretend better with quality built chassis instead of those cheap tin crates.

 

[jdandy]

Do you really think that they can survive on just offering amps and pre-amps that 99.5% of the population either cannot or do not want purchase?

Jim.......You might want to ask that same question of Dan D'Agostino. There are many high-end manufacturers whose successful business model doesn't embrace entry level toys. Personally, I didn't begin my hi-fi journey with McIntosh. It was Kenwood, Pioneer, Dynaco, and Sony. Nothing says someone at their first real job has to be able to afford McIntosh to keep the industry alive. A high-end audio system is something to aspire to in my opinion. These same wet behind the ears won't be purchasing the D'Agostino preamp and Momentum mono amps right out of the chute either. Should Dan introduce a streaming speaker at Best Buy just to gain the attention of the iPod and iPhone crowd in order to gently guide them into his fold? What's next, Wilson Audio car speakers?

 

[Steve]

I'd be interested in a streamer if it was better built and McIntosh were serious about pushing the boundaries of this technology in-house. Something that was at least on par with Aurender or Lumin.

But we all know that they develop none of their digital technology and all that go into these tin boxes is their own house flavour of op-amps and power supplies.

Given McIntosh pricing and the current USD$, it won't even compete with Lumin or Aurender's entry level stuff internationally.

 

[jdandy]

I'd be interested in a streamer if it was better built and McIntosh were serious about pushing the boundaries of this technology in-house. Something that was at least on par with Aurender or Lumin.

But we all know that they develop none of their digital technology and all that go into these tin boxes is their own house flavour of op-amps and power supplies.

Given McIntosh pricing and the current USD$, it won't even compete with Lumin or Aurender's entry level stuff internationally.

Steve.......Another issue McIntosh suffers from is poor to nonexistent firmware updates for their digital wonders. Sometimes it is difficult to even discover if a firmware update is available, much less trying to acquire it and get it properly installed. McIntosh could learn a great deal from the way Oppo approaches updates for their gear via the Internet with automatic or USB enabled firmware downloads. Firmware updates have been a major hassle for many owners of the McIntosh MX150, MVP881, C2500, C50 among other McIntosh digital components. There is no excuse for ignoring your customer's installed equipment base. When I was able to actually locate and download the McIntosh firmware update for my MR88 tuner several years ago to correct an XM radio issue, it required a Windows XP operating system and a serial connection to the tuner to perform the update. In this day and age that is ridiculous.

 

[still-one]

Jim.......You might want to ask that same question of Dan D'Agostino. There are many high-end manufacturers whose successful business model doesn't embrace entry level toys. Personally, I didn't begin my hi-fi journey with McIntosh. It was Kenwood, Pioneer, Dynaco, and Sony. Nothing says someone at their first real job has to be able to afford McIntosh to keep the industry alive. A high-end audio system is something to aspire to in my opinion. These same wet behind the ears won't be purchasing the D'Agostino preamp and Momentum mono amps right out of the chute either. Should Dan introduce a streaming speaker at Best Buy just to gain the attention of the iPod and iPhone crowd in order to gently guide them into his fold? What's next, Wilson Audio car speakers?

Dan, your point is well made but D'Agostino does not have the overhead of McIntosh. Even though most of Mac's manufacturing equipment is amortized they still manufacture most of their product in house. It is a very different business model. Dan's idea of entry level amps is ~$14k which compared to the Momentum's now at ~$50k is a significant difference. Dan's idea of a Streamer is priced around $50k I believe. Could you imagine how the Mac crowd would be howling if McIntosh released a streamer/dac in the $25k range. They complained when he released a $2k version.

 

[Steve]

I would certainly pay more for McIntosh digital if they were able to prove themselves as distinguished leaders in the digital arena.

As Dan rightfully put with regards to device drivers, firmware and software, McIntosh don't have a great support history because they don't design and build digital tech themselves. They implement white label SDKs under license inclusive of software drivers.

Other vendors do this also but seem to manage their licensed SDK elements better through their product lifecycle.