Is McIntosh The Best Deal In Vintage Hi-Fi Right Now?

we're going to talk about Macintosh today and how I might have just discovered that Macintosh might be the biggest bargain brand in vintage audio I know I'm going to get a lot of backlash for that but let's talk about MacIntosh and how I came to that conclusion let's start right now we've had a lot of requests down in the comments from our previous videos from people that want to hear about two Brands specifically one is JVC the other one is Macintosh and the reason we don't usually talk about those Brands is two completely different reasons with JVC it's kind of like our parents used to tell us if you don't have anything nice to say you probably shouldn't say anything and since we don't talk about VCRs on this channel that's why we don't talk about JVC I'll leave it at that with Macintosh it's completely opposite and that it's almost an unfair fight to even put them in the conversation with consumer gear that we usually talk about and it's not that Macintosh sounds that much better than the 70s Japanese gear at least in my opinion there's definitely another level of build quality materials used and a lot of other factors that go into why it's not a fair fight and in this video we're going to talk about those and in doing the research for this video I kind of stumbled on something that I hadn't realized yet and that is it doesn't look like Macintosh is gaining value like some of the Japanese 70s stereo equipment is I had no idea while we do service several pieces of Macintosh every year we definitely don't get as many Macintosh pieces for sale like we do Mor Sansui and Pioneer so it's just been a while since I've looked at prices on some of these pieces of Macintosh and when I just did that over the weekend I was kind of shocked because looking at amplifiers made by pioneer in Sansui in the same walk class and made around the same time it almost looks like some Pioneer and Sansui amplifiers are more expensive than the Macintosh and that's definitely interesting if you consider how much those pieces of equipment cost new and then looking at receivers it's blatantly obvious that that some receivers manufactured by Pioneer morance Sansui are quite a bit more expensive than the receivers from Macintosh if anything I think most people agree that just wasn't their focus they were focused on separates some of the earlier receivers are great like the 1700 1500 1900 but I do think Macintosh was actually guilty of actually cutting corners on some of their 70s units like the 4100 that's got a vinyl WRA cabinet on it the first time I saw one of those in person I was actually shocked I couldn't believe it I couldn't imagine Macintosh putting out a piece of stereo equipment that didn't have real wood and I imagine that'll probably never happen again ever it does go to show you that maybe in the 70s they did want to compete a little bit with the the consumer Brands and maybe that's why they don't have the value those receivers don't have that classic Macintosh look okay so everybody knows how much I love vintage equipment I think it's pretty obvious you have to draw a line somewhere I'm always shocked at how many times people come in and they'll say I'm still using my headphones from the 70s these things are they are heavy they get hot they sweat all these volume controls and tone control pots are dirty and they're really hard to get in there and clean these are great for display headphone technology has really come a long ways enjoy looking at them and remembering those times but it's definitely time to upgrade these headphones and I love Gro headphones I I love selling Gro headphones because they stand behind their products at $99 a pair of Sr 60s is criminal that is so cheap for how good those sr60 sound definitely head over to skylabs audio.com check out the gro headphones I've never had anybody buy a set of Gro headphones and not say anything other than these are amazing I'm so glad I bought them and I would definitely consider Macintosh kind of a Hot Topic on the internet for forums and Facebook groups and whatnot you know people get pretty charged up whether they're for or against Macintosh a lot of people think they're overpriced you're just paying for the brand name and I get that you know that's the internet and I could see why people would think that looking closer into MacIntosh and considering the build quality the fact that they made almost every single part inhouse essentially taking quality control of stereo equipment to the highest level in that they weren't relying on another company to manufacture their parts for them the amount of service you can still get for Macintosh this might be one of the only stereo manufacturers from that era still manufactures some parts I even have one sitting right here this is a brand new face plate from an mc2105 it was made last year they want this equipment to continue to be serviced so that you know it builds their legacy it helps them sell new equipment by the old equipment still being used that says something about their product you know if you were to call Pioneer or morance and ask them for a face plate or even a schematic uh if the person that answered the phone didn't put you on hold you'd probably hear a room full of people laughing because they've changed hands so many times they don't care about Legacy equipment all those extra parts probably went into a landfill a long time ago and you're on your own and that's just the way it is so when asking yourself is it worth the money that you are going to spend you do have to look at all those things you know there is resell ability there's repairability there's the sound quality I don't think you can look at a piece of Macintosh equipment and not see the amount of work and thought that went into every single detail of the Finish to the way you engage with it to the way it looks it is an experience it's no different than a mercedesbenz or a Rolex watch you know if if you've got the money it doesn't matter anyway and if you have a house full of Fine Art you want a Macintosh to sit next to it because in a lot of ways these pieces of equipment even the Vintage stuff is Art it looks like art and I get it why some people dog on Macintosh in a lot of ways even for me it's kind of a LoveHate relationship because I do own a couple couple pieces of vintage MacIntosh and I'm not so sure I want to be in that club even if that puts me in the club it kind of brings me in as a guest well I'll guarantee you'll never be a member here because I am not their demographic I am not their buyer you know we are supposed to believe that if we are able to achieve Macintosh status that we've elevated Our Lives I don't buy into that kind of stuffff I drive a Ford truck I don't wear fancy clothes or anything like that and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that it's just not important to me that doesn't mean I don't appreciate owning something that's really really nice and Macintosh is it just so happens that the pieces of gear I've got I was able to get cheap because they need it fixed and that's really all it is but as far as like going out and buying new Mac minosh gear or even buying vintage Macintosh gear at a retail price I'm not the customer that's just where I'm at in life and with my priorities that's all and I've got really good news out there we are launching our Discord Channel I think this is going to be so cool I am new to Discord I know nothing about it my nephew helped me set this up thank you Alex I think this is going to be a really cool Community I think there's going to be so much good information on that Discord Channel whether you're brand new or whether you feel like helping somebody out or just talking about vintage stereo equipment we'll have a link down in the description so definitely go check it out it's free you can jump on get in the conversation with the community hang out with like-minded people and talk about vintage stereo equipment and it's kind of weird to say but looking at the prices of Macintosh amplifiers and receivers and compared to the' 7s Japanese stuff seem seems to be a bargain right now and maybe we'll see that change at some point but but right now the demand for the vintage Japanese stereo equipment from Pioneer morance and Sansui just seems to be skyrocketing and actually outpacing the legendary Macintosh so if you have been wanting to get a piece of Macintosh gear now might be the right time to get it again if you look at the parts available the quality the repairability I don't think they're going to down in value I just don't see it we're talking about some of the most iconic pieces of Hi-Fi gear from the' 60s and' 70s the 275 amplifier is still in production they really haven't changed the design of their amplifiers all that much over the years you still have two really big blue meters and if you don't think that has a strong Allure to a potential purchaser I would say you've never sold stereo equipment before because as somebody that shows people stereo equipment on a daily basis people open their wallet when they see Vu meters it's that simple and if you are out looking for a Macintosh you're thinking about getting into a Macintosh especially in the Vintage side any one of the tube amplifiers are amazing you can't go wrong there I would definitely say the most sought after pieces from the70s are the mc2105 amplifier and the c28 preamp when I think of classic iconic Macintosh that's what I think of I remember seeing these when I was a kid I remember back then I knew that was something different it doesn't take a trained eye to see the quality in those pieces of equipment there's just something so cool about that front smoked glass panel with the green lettering and the big Vu meters you just want to look at it at least I do and just for those out there that will definitely say well how does it sound my 2105 and my c28 to me are definitely on the laidback side they are not super detailed some people don't like that about them but even with that said there isn't a genre of music that doesn't sound amazing on a piece of Macintosh equipment you can listen to anything on a Macintosh and enjoy it it's really non fatiguing it's not bright it's not Brash it's not in your face if any solid state piece of gear out there emulates kind of a tube like sound in my opinion it's that 2105 and that c28 preamp but again that is all in the ear of the beholder and I would say if you're buying it strictly for the way a Macintosh sounds I would highly recommend a being it blindfolded with another piece of gear the visual appeal of a Macintosh can be deceptive and if it is strictly sound quality I would do an AB test thank you for watching another video really appreciate it and if you haven't subscribed definitely hit that subscribe button you can always unclick it later

Channel: Skylabs Audio

Views: 81,210

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Id: Z3saOdjg5wQ

Length: 12min 19sec (739 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 28 2024