[BaronKyle]

http://youtu.be/2HgS6gvokEI

Very educational, now give me all the gear in the video!

[Folsom]

In the USA, too.

[bladesmith]

Cool....

[FullRangeMan]

It is beyond my comprehension why this top price brand made tube amps with PCBs and solid state amps with transformers in the audio output.
Even small Chinese brands built tube amps one by one w/hard wiring.

[Guy 13]

Hi all,
nicely made video.
For an amplifier of that reputation and that price,
I am disapointed about the use of PC boards and tube socket bases LED
to me it does not look very serious.

Guy 13

[thunderbrick]

It is beyond my comprehension why this top price brand made tube amps with PCBs and solid state amps with transformers in the audio output.
Even small Chinese brands built tube amps one by one w/hard wiring.

Did you ever consider that they use hard wiring because labor is cheap and they don't want to invest in production equipment?   What does it matter if it's reliable and sounds good?

[Early B.]

It is beyond my comprehension why this top price brand made tube amps with PCBs and solid state amps with transformers in the audio output.
Even small Chinese brands built tube amps one by one w/hard wiring.

The price would skyrocket if McIntosh built their amps one by one. With McIntosh, you're buying a brand and an aesthetic, not a high end component. 

[kentj1948]

Just curious as to what McIntosh equipment you owned that left you with this opinion.

[bladesmith]

Hi all,
nicely made video.
For an amplifier of that reputation and that price,
I am disapointed about the use of PC boards and tube socket bases LED
to me it does not look very serious.

Guy 13

Really...

[Guy 13]

Really...

Hi bladesmith.
'' Really '' what ?

Guy 13

[Folsom]

The price would skyrocket if McIntosh built their amps one by one. With McIntosh, you're buying a brand and an aesthetic, not a high end component.

They also retain value very well.

I wouldn't say they aren't high end. But I'd say their DAC's are a disappointment, their phono is good, and the amps trade refinement for power. In other words, I think it can be hard to squeeze out good sound in the unified way of all encompassing products they offer.

I don't see why the wiring matters, depending on how it's done. Lamm uses PCB boards and they cost as much as your house.

[undertow]

What I find interesting is the "Female" movement always mentioned in tech or engineering. Its funny because all I hear about is how they don't get these types of jobs, but not many videos I have ever watched had a man assembling or running the machine! I don't care if its from Chinese electronics, Japanese, or whatever type of manufacturing production videos all the way to this Mcintosh video...

Almost every soldering video I have seen as well made as far back to the 50's in the U.S. have women doing it?

By the way PCB vs. point to point might be the most overrated issue one way or the other in the entire audiophool world... Its really a "Micro" sized difference in most cases, and many PCB based components sound 10 times better than any point to point just the same.

[Wind Chaser]

you're buying a brand and an aesthetic, not a high end component.

 

What constitutes 'high end' in your opinion?

[thunderbrick]

Hi bladesmith.
'' Really '' what ?

Guy 13

It's sarcasm.  It means your statement has little or no validity.

[Phil A]

Wonderful video - thanks for sharing.

[Folsom]

What I find interesting is the "Female" movement always mentioned in tech or engineering. Its funny because all I hear about is how they don't get these types of jobs, but not many videos I have ever watched had a man assembling or running the machine! I don't care if its from Chinese electronics, Japanese, or whatever type of manufacturing production videos all the way to this Mcintosh video...

Ignore it. They're typically very privileged or just too hip and worthless to have a clue what work places are actually like for normal people. They go to school for degrees unrelated to the STEM fields, then complain that women are not in the STEM fields.

[Early B.]

What constitutes 'high end' in your opinion?

What constitutes "high end" is premium parts and build, hence the price tag. McIntosh doesn't use premium parts.   

[Folsom]

What constitutes "high end" is premium parts and build, hence the price tag. McIntosh doesn't use premium parts.

Then Bryston, PassLabs, Sony, NAD, AVA, Parasound, Sutherland, and so many more wouldn't fit your definition of high end.

But I'd say you're wrong. McIntosh winds their own transformers, uses tubes, lots of Wima caps, and pretty nice enclosures (especially their big amps). I even see R transformers and Elna caps.

You might be able to buy something for a similar price with some higher grade premium parts, but that's not a guarantee it will sound better. Also the company may or may not exist tomorrow if they're charging too little. But the big question is, do you want to pay for sound or parts? Plenty of companies get shamed for using premium parts and having mediocre sound.

[Early B.]

Then Bryston, PassLabs, Sony, NAD, AVA, Parasound, Sutherland, and so many more wouldn't fit your definition of high end.

But I'd say you're wrong. McIntosh winds their own transformers, uses tubes, lots of Wima caps, and pretty nice enclosures (especially their big amps). I even see R transformers and Elna caps.

You might be able to buy something for a similar price with some higher grade premium parts, but that's not a guarantee it will sound better. Also the company may or may not exist tomorrow if they're charging too little. But the big question is, do you want to pay for sound or parts? Plenty of companies get shamed for using premium parts and having mediocre sound.

There's no direct correlation between "high end" and sound quality. However, most can agree on what constitutes premium parts (i.e., V-Caps vs. Wima), but nobody is gonna agree on sound quality. Nevertheless, I'd much rather have premium parts in the same way that I'd rather have a 2016 Jaguar XF over a 2016 Ford Fusion. But there are some people in the world who would actually prefer the Ford.

[Wind Chaser]

What constitutes "high end" is premium parts and build, hence the price tag. McIntosh doesn't use premium parts.

That's an interesting perspective. For me, high end is strictly about high performance.