Big name being sold on i-net

The last standing B&M hifi store in Madison has his demo rigs full of Mac gear. I hope this doesn't take him out.

I've never known Crutchfields to offer or sell anything for less than Suggested Retail Pricing, unless it's a "Demo" or returned item. Same with Audio Advisors.

Can't speak for Amazon, but I doubt they have any Mc gear offered on the "Deal of the Day"

Many people invest money in audio equipment. Many dealers reply on Mcintosh gear as part of their sales.

Not an issue from my perspective, unless Crutchfield starts selling NOS MC-225 amplifiers. If they do, someone PM me please ;- )

Tony I know some guys I have met through ebay that just go for mcintosh gear to buy and sell. Those types of guys are going to suffer as mcintosh has always had an overinflated price tag on the used market. This is partly due to the fact you can only buy from dealers who keep the used prices high. I fear all this is about to change and some people who bought the brand knowing that they could sell it on for what they paid are going to it the panic button and start selling. This is going to drive the prices down even more when the markets buzzing with mac gear.

I suspect McIntosh is simply making a lurching step to join the 21st Century. Only 16 years in, so that's not too bad.

The big breakpoint for Mac will be whether they manage to keep the price/perceived value curve in a place that enables them to continue to offer American made (well, at least American assembled) hardware and still make money. They might -- but then again they might not.

Mac's long been pitched as a high-end audio product, but it's also a hifi brand name -- those two don't typically correlate any more. In other words, there's a hipster-type mindset in audiophile-dom, I think, that says, "if you have heard of it, it isn't nearly 'high-end' enough for me". To that end, Mac's neither fish nor fowl -- priced like truly esoteric hifi hardware (well, at the low-end of that spectrum, but still fairly pricey) but kind of ordinary, if not old-fashioned, in terms of its sonic performance, cosmetics, etc.

Yes, yes, I know that the Mac look has a deep pedigree, but they recent products tend to strike me as caricatures of "the McIntosh" look.


I mean, ewwww...

They've also seemed to struggle a little with modern technology integration with their products (but that's of course been a challenge for many long-established brands).


http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/ms300-gracenote.682776

I think McIntosh's current ownership (which I THINK is still FineSounds or some descendant thereof: http://www.cepro.com/article/mcintosh_sold_again_in_management_buyout_of_fine_sounds) looks at companies like b&o and says, 'we can increase unit sales by becoming a 'luxury lifestyle product line' and we should probably market ourselves as such, and use the sales and marketing tools generally used by such".

At the least, Crutchfield is an honorable and well-established retailer with an extremely good reputation.

Obviously just my opinions -- other than the MR-67 tuner I own and use nearly daily, the other Mac stuff here is pretty pedestrian sounding equipment (MC-2100, C-28), so, obviously, I am not much of a fanboy.

Still love to have a nice MC-225, though! :- )

McIntosh? Pfft!

Mark's post is on the Mark (pun). Plus, like him, I'm not a fan of their more recent gear. In fact I've never heard a MI SS amp that was anything less than ear piercing. But that's me! Mate them with some B&Ws and get thee to an Audiologist! lol

polkfarmboy wrote: »

The exclusive mcintosh blue glow will go from this


To this

Heck, they already did that quite a while ago -- ever see the current morph of the MC-275?



In total fairness to McIntosh, the two color LEDs they put below the small signal tubes change color (EDIT: yellow to green) as the P/S output stabilizes -- which is goofy and silly but not quite as goofy and silly as shining different colors up through vacuum tubes "just because".

The seven small tubes are LED illuminated to indicate the amplifiers functional status: upon power up, they sequentially glow amber for a few seconds and then all turn green to signify system readiness (see below). In the rare case of an output tube failure, the small tubes in front of it will turn red to notify you of the problem. Power Control is used to remotely control tube illumination from a McIntosh preamplifier. Contact your local dealer​ to learn more.

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Products/pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=amplifiers&ProductId=MC275B

PS The current MC275 morph is (still) a very decent sounding amplifier and is (or at least was, last time I looked) still reasonably priced (in terms of the value of 2016 dollars and 2016 economics).

That's a bad deal for the hifi shops and quite likely for Mac down the road.

It'll take even more business away from them.

Also, I believe that Crutchfield has and will only have access to a selected subset of Mac hardware.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-ICGqIjHLi0u/brands/McIntosh/

Oh, one other aside -- I'm pretty sure you all know this, but McIntosh has dipped its metaphorical toe in the "downscale" market a couple of times in its history.

First and foremost, because it was long anathema to the company (and or its leadership) to lower itself to put the McIntosh name on a receiver, for some time any and all receivers made by the Binghamton company were clearly labeled MAC, not "McIntosh".



by the time the MAC-4100 came along (mid/late-1970s), though, the McIntosh brand name was included on the fascia.



http://www.roger-russell.com/rcvrs.htm

... and, for a little while, McIntosh was "responsible" (for lack of a better word) for a line of Japanese-made receivers branded "Stereotech".

http://www.roger-russell.com/stech.htm

miner wrote: »

In today's economy change is constant. As a a company you have to be able to adapt to survive. I don't like this step they are taking but I realize to some this will hurt the B&M stores. B&M stores are quickly disappearing. In Houston, the 4th largest city in the US, I only know of 2 B&M dealers, not counting Best Buy/Magnolia. McIntosh will survive and continue to make great gear.

I remember back in the day when Home Entertainment carried McIntosh, then Tweeter took over and now all Tweeter stores closed here in Houston. Years ago there were a few nice b&m audio stores like AudioConcepts and B&M Electronics here in Houston that may__ have carried McIntosh gear, can't remember for sure though. But you are spot on miner, the high end audio b&m stores in Htown have collapsed over the past 15 years or so.

No data, just a guess:

McIntosh sales have likely been plummeting; the sales VP decided they should go online (mostly to preserve his bonus, probably); somebody with more clout didn't like the decision.

Sayonara, Mr. Sales VP.

McIntosh may be in trouble as a company.

As I said above, "just a guess" -- based on a few years of experience in the corporate world.

Dennis Gardner wrote: »

Lots of ways around MSRP. Open box, returns, floor demo, scratch and dent. All still carry warranty and most makers don't enforce any type of proof of condition or limit these types of sales. This type of direct sales with no sales taxes and the wiping clean of long held territorial sales districts can change the market of upscale items in niche markets like this forever.

This is a legit claim. I fought the battle. It is a major loophole

Times have changed, as have peoples buying preferences. Polk has remained steady because they have changed with the times. If all you are planning on doing is resting on old laurels and your once big name, you might find yourself on the outside looking in.

Just ask Sony how doing that has worked out for them. Their name doesn't carry the same weight that it used to. They have a lot more competition now, with products that are in the same league but not as much money.

High cost audio has always been a niche market, and will remain so.