There is no question that I am a fan of McIntosh. I love the look, the build quality, the sound, the fact that they are still today built in the same factory in Binghamton New York.
What I miss about McIntosh is that they seem to me to have lost their way. Car Stereo? Seriously? How big can you make meters on a power amp? Ridiculous. How many mono power amps can you stack on one another? Ridiculous. Turntables that light up in teal green? Seriously? It’s not even a particularly good one. All-in-one compact? Really? Ridiculous. No longer servicing customers repairs? Really? Are you kidding me? Ridiculous.
I miss, the stodgy old company that stood for something. They were the ‘Rolls Royce’ of audio. Completely hand built, using bullet proof technology, tested, listened too, inspected and packed well enough to survive an atomic blast. McIntosh has been bought and sold so many times over the years that the inconsistent corporate identity seems to have changed the company forever. Not for the better, at least not to me. McIntosh equipment had understated elegance and beauty, now it’s just gaudy.
I remember sending my C-29 to McIntosh back in 1995 for service. It had a nosiy channel. I no longer had the box, I packed it well with a note about the problem and my contact information. A kind lady called confirming that they had received the unit and it would be about two or three weeks for the repair. Ten day’s later it was at my door. Repaired, tested spec sheet included. It was also in a brand new C-29 shipping carton. I smacked my head wondering “where’s the bill?” I haven’t paid for anything, never gave a credit card number. I called, and got another well spoken, helpful kind service department lady. I explained that there was no charge for the repair. I reminded her that my preamp was 7 years out of warranty. She said, “Mr. Sizemore, it was a simple repair, enjoy your preamp”. What about the new shipping carton? She said, “Some how we misplaced your’s so we pulled a new one from stock.” I said, I shipped it in a plain UPS box. She laughed, and asked if there was anything else she could help me with? No,.... thank you very much! Who does that? NO ONE! And not McIntosh anymore either.
The McIntosh MA-6100 was my first McIntosh amp. I bought it from my junior high-school teacher Jim Doner, who was an enormous influence on my music taste and hifi selection. Notice the photo of me, next to my hifi back in 1980. The Dual 1219 and the McIntosh were both Jim’s. My Daughter still uses the 1219 to this day, but sadly I sold the MA-6100, which I miss immensely.
Jim also introduced me to new music. Utopia, Traffic, Weather Report, Return To Forever, and Stomu Yamashta just to name a few.
The McIntosh MA-6100 came directly after my Project/ONE MKXX1 integrated amp, which I will cover in another blog post. The Project/ONE replaced my Sansui 551 receiver, just to give you an idea of the transition in gear.
The MA-6100 had a pleasant sound, non-fatiguing like all Mac gear from this era. I really enjoyed having it, and the other thing about Mac gear from this period was pride of ownership. You could tell from looking at it, the tactile feel of the controls and push buttons, wow. Nothing felt like this. You knew this was something special.
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