McIntosh 1100 cd player

[realhifi]

There are a lot of good products out on the market right now and what is bliss for one will be ok for another and brand loyalty (at least what someone has at that particular moment) runs deep on internet blogs and forums. That said, if you dig the McIntosh and love how it looks then I personally see nothing at all wrong with that player.

 

It plays SACD and CD beautifully, has a nice number of digital inputs including USB, can function as a digital control center, can also be used easily as a preamp straight into a good amp also. I have not listened to this model at length but have listened to the MCD500 extensively and while it was not the most "transparent" digital source in the shop I always found myself enjoying it and loving the easy way it had with other sources and being able to run it straight into an amp. It didn't hurt that it looked beautiful sitting on top of a cabinet!

 

The thing is that if you are not really looking at playback of cds as being your main listening source then there are better options out there. For SACD and CD playback you can get into a Marantz SA8004 player for $1,000 which will give you a huge slice of the McIntosh for a lot less and then add a dac for your music server if you want to go that route. The Marantz has almost all the functionality of the McIntosh except it does not have the capability to serve as a preamp.

 

As long as you are in Seattle you might want to find the Linn dealer there and give a listen to the new DSM products to see what a modern Dac/Network streamer brings to the party also.

If aesthetics are important to you (and why not?) then the Linn will appeal through it's sleek and clean styling along with it's impecable iPad interface and flexiblity as far as digital inputs and being able to play virtually any music file out there. Oh, it also happens to be state of the art in it's playback. Gorgeous.

 

(I'll probably get my hand slapped for that)

 

[realhifi]

The stores are having a heck of a time and not necessarily because of bad service or management or whatever they are getting blamed for. It is simply because as Priaptor has pointed out, many folks shop the internet and find something used (although it has to be new SOMEWHERE along the way) and are merely using the dealer to listen to something or bend their ear to find out what is best, etc, etc. There ARE spots in the USA where that is not completely the case of course and thank goodness there are pockets of successful dealers that as Chris has pointed out would be happy to let you borrow some gear to see if fits into your system.

 

I am surprised though at what people think is a proper time to have something on loan to see if it "fits" into ones system or whatever. When I talk to the higher end car dealers I find that people in general are MAYBE getting a car on loan for a weekend or night to see if they love it enough to purchase it.

In that case we are looking at an investment of $30,000 up. Nobody balks. They simply drive it for a day or two, think about it and decide.

 

THAT is where things are so difficult in the audio business. There are SO many products on the market and people seem to need to try ALL of them in order to decide what they want to listen to music with, and the dealer is supposed to stock them and loan them for days on end to people that are constantly looking to the "next big thing" or the latest they just read about on the internet. And people wonder why there are less and less hifi shops.

 

I venture to guess that sevice in the high end audio business is better than a lot of folks belive it is. Especially if they give their dealer the opportunity to sell them something that is!

 

[realhifi]

With most of what you are saying Chris and it is a shame that Sandra has had the bad fortune of not just one but three or four dealers that are basically telling her to go somewhere else. I do applaude her decision to go to Seattle and go to a couple of shops there that have a few of the products she is looking for and then meeting the people behind the telephone face to face before asking about sending a multi thousand dollar piece of equipment through shipping hell. I know how Fedex and UPS treats things and it is not pretty. The way those dealers treated her was totally uncalled for but if they were choosing to not ship something and had told her that she may have had a different reaction.

 

The other thing not mentioned in this is the simple fact that a dealer sometimes sells things that they may not be crazy about and if they know that they will be sending a product out there to compete against product "B" then they know they really might as well not bother. Unless a dealer has just a few select lines and is behind them 100% then you can see how this conundrum can come up.

 

My thought would be for Sandra to contact the manufacturers who's products she is interested in and tell them about her situation. The manufacturer may steer her to her closest dealer and also pave the way a bit in making sure that she get's the demo she is hoping for. There may be a bit more leeway between the dealer and the manufacturer at this point making the whole transaction go a bit smoother. I always recommend that a client researches a company they are thinking of spending a large amount on anyway and this might be a nice intro to their products. If it is an imported product then the importer can surely be able to give a bit more background and details on their unit also.

 

In home demos are THE backbone of this industry and the only thing I was in disagreement about was the length of time one should expect to have a product in ones home to audition. A couple of days is plenty in my experience to see if it is something you want to live with.

 

[realhifi]

I see where you're coming from on that. I doubt that any other manufacturer would have a problem with you demoing their product against the Berkely as long as it was apples to apples as far as cost. Good luck in your search, it will be worth the trouble.

 

[realhifi]

The McIntosh products are built beautifully and can be a "fit and forget" purchase that you fall in love with over daily use and interaction with it.

 

[realhifi]

The biggest problem as I see it is the lack of local dealers for you. If you had a local dealer then of course you could simply drop in and give a few dacs a listen and at least narrow down your choices so that the pieces you would want to take home for audition you already at least had an inkling to purchase. I still think that if you were to go to a metropolitan area for a day or two you could cover a LOT of ground in your search for a dac. I know of a number of folks that did just that when looking for a pair of speakers in the $15,000-$20,000 range. They went and listened closely to a number and then choose two to focus on. One of the parties involved went so far as to drive to this area three diferent times (about a 6-7 hr drive) and then he purchased Wilson Sophias. He never did have them at home. He adores them of course.

 

It's not easy in this environment to see, touch and listen to some of the truly great products that are out there now but I believe if you are willing to seek them out you will be rewarded and I also bet that if you are looking at the $10,000 range you MAY just find a dealer that would reimburse your flight in the form of a discount if you decided on purchasing something.

 

PS. I'm assuming your car dealer is close to you and you drove the car a few times because of the easy proximity. I did the same when I bought my last car.