I’m a recovering audiophile. For the past decade or so I have been trying to ween myself off the quest for perfect sound. My best sounding system consisted of Magnepan speakers, Marantz monoblock amps, and a Revox CD player. No preamp, as a I directly powered the Magnepan’s with the amps, using the variable output from the Revox. The sound was incredible.
In my search for perfect sound, I tried many amps, including Adcom, Coda, and even McIntosh. The McIntosh amp is considered by many audiophiles, especially the old school guys, as the best you can get. I personally think that depends on your system configuration, and the type of music you wanted. For my, a rock and roll fan, my system worked a bit better. But I have heard some amazing classical, piano and jazz stuff come from the McIntosh.
The classic look and feel of the McIntosh, which has gone unchanged for as long as I have known of the company, has served them well. The big blue gauges, and the old style knobs, make the amp feel weighty and solid, and helps you feel like the obscene price you paid is actually legitimized in the quality of material used.
And know they have decided to sell out a bit and make a clock the McIntosh Mantle Clock that matches that classic look. I don’t mind that they made this. I think there is a small market in people who are big fans of the brand. But what I do mind about the McIntosh mantle clock is the insane price point of $2,000. Their amps are expensive, but I don’t think to the point where a customer would pay $2k for the pleasure of having their clock match their amp.
I’m all for excess, it’s a big part of why I maintain this blog, but this is just silly. If you’re a fan of McIntosh and you want to blow $2k on something, but some new speaker cable, upgrade your DAC, or even just get a nice power conditioner. But if you do buy one, send us a pic of your set up.
