McIntosh is out at Best Buy/Magnolia…
nooshinjohn
Posts: 25,554
Bose, which now owns the McIntosh brand, has decided to pull the product line from Best Buy.
https://futureaudiophile.com/bose-yanks-mcintosh-line-from-magnolia-stores-nationwide/
May be good for me at least as when they start to sell off the demo gear, I will be 1st up to get the C2800 at dealer cost plus 10…
https://futureaudiophile.com/bose-yanks-mcintosh-line-from-magnolia-stores-nationwide/
May be good for me at least as when they start to sell off the demo gear, I will be 1st up to get the C2800 at dealer cost plus 10…
The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
Comments
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That was a depressing read.
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skipshot12 wrote: »That was a depressing read.
Agreed… hard not to come away from that without some pessimism about the future of some well respected audio brands.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Best buy carries audio stuff??
Our BB's basically only carry computer, phone, TV and appliances. It's depressing as all get out to have watched them fold up like they have. Ours carried a very nice assortment of separates and top of the line receivers not to mention a large room of a large speaker selection. Oh yea you had better know what you're looking at or for because their employees only know how to walk items to the front registers.
Ouch!!Classe’ has been literally ruined and abandoned by Masimo and their gross mismanagement of all of their AV brands as they try unsuccessfully for a year-plus to sell them.
Not off base either. -
I went in to BB a couple months ago looking for some 4k movies. Guess what? They don’t carry ANY movies. NONE. When I asked, I was informed that “everyone streams now”. I get it, and I stream too - BUT - 4k streaming is not even close to the performance of physical media. (And no, it’s not a limitation on my end - we have gigabit fiber internet)“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
I went in to BB a couple months ago looking for some 4k movies. Guess what? They don’t carry ANY movies. NONE. When I asked, I was informed that “everyone streams now”. I get it, and I stream too - BUT - 4k streaming is not even close to the performance of physical media. (And no, it’s not a limitation on my end - we have gigabit fiber internet)
They still don't get that folks rented movies before they bought the disc.
I now know folks who stream before they buy the movie off ebay or Amazon. 🤷🏽♂️
Walmart still sells DVD, Blu-ray and 4k but you had better get there the Tuesday they are released because all but DVD will be sold by Thursday. -
I really liked the Barnes and noble we had here in laramie.
That’s where I’d get my blu-ray movies, 3D blu-ray and the blu-ray audio & concert discs.
No more, if I want to purchase blu-ray it has to be done via internet.
Laramie has like low 30k something population and, 12k of that are students at the University of Wyoming.
Internet is my necessary friend.
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I went in to BB a couple months ago looking for some 4k movies. Guess what? They don’t carry ANY movies. NONE. When I asked, I was informed that “everyone streams now”. I get it, and I stream too - BUT - 4k streaming is not even close to the performance of physical media. (And no, it’s not a limitation on my end - we have gigabit fiber internet)
The last time I went into BB about six months ago, I could not find myself around the store."Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"
Harry / Marietta GA -
The stand alone best buy location we used to have here had a magnolia center.
I completely understand why any company concerned with brand value over profits would pull out of that if that is the norm.
The associates knew nothing and the gear was setup terribly- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
The associates knew nothing and the gear was setup terribly
I believe this is one of the main factors behind the decline of audio/home theater.
I will never forget one particular trip to an Ultimate Electronics store in the early 90's.
They had two displays set up back-to-back. One display was a Pioneer 60" rear-projection tv (That was HUGE back then) playing Terminator 2. The other was a 27" Mitsubishi tv paired with a Yamaha receiver powering a Polk LS90/CS350LS/LS F/X 5.1 w/ a Klipsch 8" sub, playing the same movie. Literally no one was watching the 60" screen, and there were over half a dozen folks jammed on and around the couch by the Polk setup. And there were a couple salesmen circling like sharks, explaining to the various folks how they could recreate this effect in their own homes. True salesmanship, and not available anywhere now, with the exception of cellphone salesmen...“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
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Best buy doesn't do much well. They are likely to be the next casualty of
the big chain collapses we are seeing. Surround sound isn't selling that
well. A lot of people are just dropping in a self amplified sound bar setup
and calling it a day. I sold off my system when I moved and never looked
back. Just 2 channel here in my man cave. I don't even watch much TV and
very few movies. Protecting their audio shop dealer network is most likely
the reason for this move. Put the product in the hands of people most capable
Of selling it."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
Home theater is never coming back like it was in the late 90's early 2000's. We have better products now but they have killed off the individual audio shops with AMAZON.
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Perhaps (??) the weirdest thing about that futureaudiophile piece is the gratuitous photo of an MC-225 "that our publisher restored".
Don't get me wrong -- the MC-225 is, from my perspective (and by a good margin) the finest Mac power amplifier ever. It is one of the few "store bought" power amps I'd really like to own an example of (the Marantz 8B being another).
But... if I had one, and whether I had restored it or someone else had... I think I'd make sure all the tubes were properly seated in their sockets and straight. Especially before I took a photo of it.
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The slanted tubes adjust high frequency response kind of like a steering wheel- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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Best buy carries audio stuff??
Some select BB's use to be Magnolia equipped with separate rooms with entry, mid and high-end level gear. You just don't see that anymore.
Source: BRP Panasonic UB9000, CDP Emotiva ERC3 - Display: LG OLED EVO 83 C3 - Pre/Pro: Marantz 8802A - Amplification: Emotiva XPA-DR3, XPA-2 x 2, XPA-6, Speakers, Mains/2ch-Focal Kanta No2's, C-LSiM706, S-702F/X, RS-RTiA9's, WS-RTiA9's, FH-RTiA3's, Subs - Epik Empire x 2
Cables: AudioQuest McKenzie XLR's/CDP/Amp, Carbon 48/BRP, Forest 48/Display, 2 channel speaker cable: Furutech FS Alpha 36 12AWG PCOCC Single Crystal (Douglas Connection)
EXPERIENCE: next to nothing, but I sure enjoy audio and video MY OPINION OF THIS HOBBY: I may not be a smart man, but I know what quicksand is.
When I was young, I was Superman but now that old age has gotten the best of me I'm only Batman -
When I read Mark's first sentence and then scrolled down to the pic, I thought that was the BEFORE pic of the restoration, so I was confused when there wasn't an AFTER pic.
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I remember back in the 80's or 90's there were two Magnolia Hi-Fi stores in the Seattle area. The original stores, dedicated to hi end Hi-Fi. The first one was located in the Magnolia Village shopping mall in Seattle, hence the name. I stopped by the one in Bellevue a couple of times and knew that I could never afford anything they sold, but it was certainly something to see. I remember seeing a Mac setup they had and I looked at the speaker wires and I'm like, holy cow they're using jumper cables as speaker wire! lol. First time I'd ever seen true hi-fi gear. It's a shame what Best Buy turned them into.SystemLuxman L-590AXII Integrated Amplifier|KEF Reference 1 Loudspeakers|PS Audio Directream Jr|Sansui TU-9900 Tuner|TEAC A-6100 RtR|Nakamichi RX-202 Cassette
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Having kicked this topic around at - ahem - a couple of other places
, and in all seriousness, this "development" is probably a good sign for Mac. McIntosh, I reckon, has a bit of the 1980s or 90s Cadillac taint to their name: it was your grandfather's luxury brand. It was what doctors and lawyers bought because they thought they should. Bose would (probably) like it to be viewed as a status brand, but with the added zest of very good engineering (a value that "real" Mac equipment has never lost). Being in Best Buy in this day and age (Magnolia's storied past being well behind them nowadays) certainly wasn't adding to that perceived cachet.
Imagine buying an Omega watch (or a Patek Philippe) at Best Buy! Mac might never rise to the Veblen goods level of a brand like the latter, but they might be a perfect analogy for the former.
The one concern I'd have: historically, dollar for dollar, McIntosh's actually offered quite a bit of value compared to the stratospherically high-end audiophile marques. I would not be surprised if Bose also cranks prices up considerably to add to the perceived cachet of the big boxes with big blue meters.
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Today's newly minted physician is too much in debt to even think about buying Mac, even with the big blue meters.
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SeleniumFalcon wrote: »Today's newly minted physician is too much in debt to even think about buying Mac, even with the big blue meters.
Well... I guess that leaves the lawyers, then.
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Did you mean Alea iacta est?
Spreken ze, nicht spell it? -
Crutchfield, Music Direct, and other online dealers have been selling McIntosh gear for a while. Looks like there are only a couple of brick and mortar McIntosh dealers in the major metro area I live in. Sound United brands, Kef (GP Acoustics), and Martin Logan (Paradigm) seem to still be with Best Buy, at least on their website. I haven't been inside a Best Buy store for years but I was very surprised to see McIntosh tube amps and B&W speakers in there when was last in one.
I think the Mark Levinson brand that Best Buy seems to have access to is under the Harman International umbrella which is vast. Expensive stuff! -
Jetmaker737 wrote: »I remember back in the 80's or 90's there were two Magnolia Hi-Fi stores in the Seattle area.
I called up a high-end audio store in Seattle once, asking about audio shelving but the salesman seemed confused. The floor supervisor must have thought he had a golden ticket winner on the phone because he yelled at the salesman and got on the phone with me, apologizing for the salesman's unprofessionalism and asked how he could help me. I repeated that I was looking for a particular piece of audio furniture, there was a slight pause, and he hung up on me. I called back, stating that there was a disconnection and repeated what I was looking for, got hung up on again. I could not believe the audio snobish behavior coming from that store.Source: BRP Panasonic UB9000, CDP Emotiva ERC3 - Display: LG OLED EVO 83 C3 - Pre/Pro: Marantz 8802A - Amplification: Emotiva XPA-DR3, XPA-2 x 2, XPA-6, Speakers, Mains/2ch-Focal Kanta No2's, C-LSiM706, S-702F/X, RS-RTiA9's, WS-RTiA9's, FH-RTiA3's, Subs - Epik Empire x 2
Cables: AudioQuest McKenzie XLR's/CDP/Amp, Carbon 48/BRP, Forest 48/Display, 2 channel speaker cable: Furutech FS Alpha 36 12AWG PCOCC Single Crystal (Douglas Connection)
EXPERIENCE: next to nothing, but I sure enjoy audio and video MY OPINION OF THIS HOBBY: I may not be a smart man, but I know what quicksand is.
When I was young, I was Superman but now that old age has gotten the best of me I'm only Batman -
SeleniumFalcon wrote: »Today's newly minted physician is too much in debt to even think about buying Mac, even with the big blue meters.
Today’s physician can’t afford McIntosh , unless he’s a specialist….
Bk
PS Audio S300 , WiiM Ultra , Yamaha wxc-50 , Salk SuperCharged Songtowers , Kimber Kable 4TC, Sony 48” - BEDROOM
B&K EX-442 ( it will go in my casket when I die ... ) , PS Audio 4.6 preamp ( old school , but it still jams on ... ) , Eversolo DMP-A6 , Boston Acoustic voyager 7’s - POOL
Parasound A21, Eversolo DMP-A8 , Kimber Kable 4vs , Ascend Acoustics ELX Ribbon Towers , Sony XBR-A8F 65” OLED - DEN , MAIN system
Onkyo TX-nr609 , Polk atrium 7 , Boston acoustic sound ware (4) , Boston acoustic sub , B&W center , Sony 65” TV - PATIO -
Hogwash; Over the years I've bought 90% of my Mac gear as well as my 1.2tls while on my annual winter layoff. If an asphalt worker can do it painlessly I see no reason why a competent physician can't. -
motorstereo wrote: »
Hogwash; Over the years I've bought 90% of my Mac gear as well as my 1.2tls while on my annual winter layoff. If an asphalt worker can do it painlessly I see no reason why a competent physician can't.
I wasn't aware you had to carry expensive insurance and a tall 6 figure college and medical school loans to pave roads, who knew?!?
😉 -
I wasn't aware you had to carry expensive insurance and a tall 6 figure college and medical school loans to pave roads, who knew?!?
😉
Did you overlook where I mentioned I bought 90% of it when I was laid off? That means no income other than unemployment checks coming in.
How bout it @Joeyv? Is owning expensive stereo gear tough for a physician? -
Calm down guys. It's just a hobby!"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
