McIntosh Audio, Damn $$$$

[CJ]

that is just bitchin.... have you or your dad restored or is it a survivor?

It's untouched, no restoration. Several of the Mac amps I have are still new in their original box, which is pretty cool.

[forbes]

My father was one of the foremost experts on HK and Mac equipment, he ran a few message boards/websites about them. So from that I inherited some of his components.

I have an HK Citation II 4 channel amp


And I run a Sony reel to reel on it, just like the one in pulp fiction. I also have 2 MC275 mac amps. My Citation II amp is matched to a Citation I preamp. They say quality is weight, and that Citation II weighs 70lbs

that is just bitchin.... have you or your dad restored or is it a survivor?

[momo]

Which series 805s? If u say ur speakers smoke the 805diamond v 2s, I'd be a little skeptical.

805, pre diamond, circa 2004ish maybe. i did get a chance to listen to a set of diamonds and it's nice they decided to get off the mellow midrange horse and enjoy some high frequency.

[Geor!]

My father was one of the foremost experts on HK and Mac equipment, he ran a few message boards/websites about them. So from that I inherited some of his components.

I have an HK Citation II 4 channel amp


And I run a Sony reel to reel on it, just like the one in pulp fiction. I also have 2 MC275 mac amps. My Citation II amp is matched to a Citation I preamp. They say quality is weight, and that Citation II weighs 70lbs

The low glow of tubes if one of the most awesome sights in the world. Nice photo.

[STROKD]

kef tends to use stupid materials in their lower lines but never in their reference series.

when i was looking for a set of bookshelf speakers, i went with kef's reference 201 then eventually added the 202c center in favor of B&W 805 bookshelfs and the htm center.

i loved the way b&w looked but the sound of the kefs blew them the hell away. i realize it's subjective but to say the 2-way muted sound of the 805 compares is ridiculous. the 804 towers sound completely different and are much nicer but no thanks on the 805.

these kefs bookshelfs are a 4 way speaker with an excellent crossover, use titanium hyper-tweeters, plus coaxially mounted traditional tweeters (either titanium, possibly aluminum) over a synthetic polymer midrange cone but then have a natural material for their LF driver, paper or paper like. i've had plenty of chances to "upgrade" these speakers but always find them too hard to beat.

(this is the reference 201, not the newer 201/2 which does not have the hypertweeter 4 way design)

Which series 805s? If u say ur speakers smoke the 805diamond v 2s, I'd be a little skeptical.

[momo]

The last set of KEF's I heard were their floor standing reference series, and they had aluminum tweeters that achieved some ridiculously high frequencies.

yea something like 40kHz or 60kHz with SACD. basically shit you cant hear anyways.

[momo]

i tend to alway prefer good tubes for music over great solid states.
i will say i do like solid state for driving woofers though.

run half the top half on tube, bottom half on solid. : ]

like this:

[CJ]

kef tends to use stupid materials in their lower lines but never in their reference series.

when i was looking for a set of bookshelf speakers, i went with kef's reference 201 then eventually added the 202c center in favor of B&W 805 bookshelfs and the htm center.

i loved the way b&w looked but the sound of the kefs blew them the hell away. i realize it's subjective but to say the 2-way muted sound of the 805 compares is ridiculous. the 804 towers sound completely different and are much nicer but no thanks on the 805.

these kefs bookshelfs are a 4 way speaker with an excellent crossover, use titanium hyper-tweeters, plus coaxially mounted traditional tweeters (either titanium, possibly aluminum) over a synthetic polymer midrange cone but then have a natural material for their LF driver, paper or paper like. i've had plenty of chances to "upgrade" these speakers but always find them too hard to beat.

(this is the reference 201, not the newer 201/2 which does not have the hypertweeter 4 way design)

The last set of KEF's I heard were their floor standing reference series, and they had aluminum tweeters that achieved some ridiculously high frequencies.

[momo]

KEF is another good brand, but they tend to prefer aluminum cones - while great for very quick response highs, I find them lacking in the volume/richness department.

kef tends to use stupid materials in their lower lines but never in their reference series.

when i was looking for a set of bookshelf speakers, i went with kef's reference 201 then eventually added the 202c center in favor of B&W 805 bookshelfs and the htm center.

i loved the way b&w looked but the sound of the kefs blew them the hell away. i realize it's subjective but to say the 2-way muted sound of the 805 compares is ridiculous. the 804 towers sound completely different and are much nicer but no thanks on the 805.

these kefs bookshelfs are a 4 way speaker with an excellent crossover, use titanium hyper-tweeters, plus coaxially mounted traditional tweeters (either titanium, possibly aluminum) over a synthetic polymer midrange cone but then have a natural material for their LF driver, paper or paper like. i've had plenty of chances to "upgrade" these speakers but always find them too hard to beat.

(this is the reference 201, not the newer 201/2 which does not have the hypertweeter 4 way design)

[CJ]

Exactly... And Mac on B dubs sounds like ass holes till recently(new speaker design). I think ALL speakers need the right sound from their amps to compliment the correct sound. I personally like Krell on b and ws, but I've heard a lot of people say Krell is bright and in your face. Lol. So like you said its all about matching components, sorta like proper heads to cam and gearing (or stall speed) in a car... All about the total combo.

Which amps r u running? Mac tubes are fantastic, I want some MC275s one day in a dedicated stereo room (when I move in a year or two to bigger place), no "room" for it yet.

My father was one of the foremost experts on HK and Mac equipment, he ran a few message boards/websites about them. So from that I inherited some of his components.

I have an HK Citation II 4 channel amp


And I run a Sony reel to reel on it, just like the one in pulp fiction. I also have 2 MC275 mac amps. My Citation II amp is matched to a Citation I preamp. They say quality is weight, and that Citation II weighs 70lbs

[STROKD]

You have to match a Mac to speakers. Some speakers do not represent their receivers well, same goes for HK. I prefer using older Klipsch horns with the more modern Mac stuff. I am primarily a tube Mac fan, I have owned a ~2002 Mac pre-amp/receiver, but I don't play with much of their solid state stuff myself. All of my solid state is HK for my home theater, and I've been very happy.

Exactly... And Mac on B dubs sounds like ass holes till recently(new speaker design). I think ALL speakers need the right sound from their amps to compliment the correct sound. I personally like Krell on b and ws, but I've heard a lot of people say Krell is bright and in your face. Lol. So like you said its all about matching components, sorta like proper heads to cam and gearing (or stall speed) in a car... All about the total combo.

Which amps r u running? Mac tubes are fantastic, I want some MC275s one day in a dedicated stereo room (when I move in a year or two to bigger place), no "room" for it yet.

[CJ]

I understand sorta what u r saying, but you do realize on the new market that MOST of McIntosh's gear is MORE expensive than new Krell?

When I got into this shit back in 04 with my first pair of real speakers, I demoed them on every amp carried locally. The Krell and Mac were within a few hundred bucks (Mac was like 6k vs the Krell I got at 5500). The Krell on my speakers was more open, imaging and sound stage is fucken un real, and more detailed... The Mac sounded too bassy, garbled and far away from the speaker in sound stage, sorta like they were singing 50 feet from my house.

The new Mac on the new version of my speakers sounds damn fucken good, but the same store carries ClassE now and not Krell, so I can't compare the two brands on the new big B&Ws... But, I'm still a Krell fan after hearing my shit sound right. My dad has all the Mac setup at his place and its great gear, just not the end all be all...

You have to match a Mac to speakers. Some speakers do not represent their receivers well, same goes for HK. I prefer using older Klipsch horns with the more modern Mac stuff. I am primarily a tube Mac fan, I have owned a ~2002 Mac pre-amp/receiver, but I don't play with much of their solid state stuff myself. All of my solid state is HK for my home theater, and I've been very happy.

[STROKD]

Krell is good stuff, however personally both Krell and Levinson are at the unobtainable levels of audio. Mc is about as reasonable cost to performance as the average person would ever be able to afford.

I understand sorta what u r saying, but you do realize on the new market that MOST of McIntosh's gear is MORE expensive than new Krell?

When I got into this shit back in 04 with my first pair of real speakers, I demoed them on every amp carried locally. The Krell and Mac were within a few hundred bucks (Mac was like 6k vs the Krell I got at 5500). The Krell on my speakers was more open, imaging and sound stage is fucken un real, and more detailed... The Mac sounded too bassy, garbled and far away from the speaker in sound stage, sorta like they were singing 50 feet from my house.

The new Mac on the new version of my speakers sounds damn fucken good, but the same store carries ClassE now and not Krell, so I can't compare the two brands on the new big B&Ws... But, I'm still a Krell fan after hearing my shit sound right. My dad has all the Mac setup at his place and its great gear, just not the end all be all...

[CJ]

KEF is another good brand, but they tend to prefer aluminum cones - while great for very quick response highs, I find them lacking in the volume/richness department. I have a pair of 1964 Altec Lansing 18" loudspeakers which are incredible. You want loud? They'll kill your whole family.

[EW]

Krell is good stuff, however personally both Krell and Levinson are at the unobtainable levels of audio. Mc is about as reasonable cost to performance as the average person would ever be able to afford.

Yeah, like the Sony of high end. Known name but not the shit.