The new C22 and MC75
(Credit: McIntosh Labs)Apple was founded in 1976; McIntosh Laboratories goes all the way back to 1949.
Computers get old really fast, while TVs age a bit more gracefully. But there's not much of a collectors market for old TVs or computers, at least by people who use them on a daily basis. Face it: computers, iPods, and TVs are disposable technology, while the useful working life of great audio designs is measured in decades. Many decades. Case in point: McIntosh's classic designs from the 1960s still fetch big dollars. Which is why buying really good stuff makes sense.
I doubt Apple will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Apple II in 2037 with a commemorative reissue, and I can't imagine Sony announcing plans to offer Trinitron CRT TVs anytime soon. Audiophiles still covet classic tube and solid-state electronics, and pay big bucks for good condition originals.
Which brings us to McIntosh's 60th anniversary limited-edition reissues of its legendary amplifiers, the 75-watt MC75 monoblock tube amplifier (modeled after the original 1961 version) and the C22 stereo preamplifier (originally introduced in 1962).
... Read moreAs reported in Bloomberg.com D & M Holdings Inc, makers of Denon, Marantz, McIntosh, Snell Acoustics, Boston Acoustics, and Escient, is on the sales block. I can't comment on the business aspects of the deal, but speaking as an audiophile I'm concerned. These companies are in the upper echelons of audio, the Marantz name goes back 50 years, McIntosh has been building some of the world's best electronics in Binghamton, New York for 60 years, I was a friend of Peter Snell, the founder of Snell Acoustics, and the D & M Holdings owned company still builds speakers with the same attention to detail as it did when Snell first started in the 1970s. D & M Holdings has treated these brands with respect, so now I can only keep my fingers crossed that if a buyer steps up, it will also leave well enough alone.
Audio today, as exemplified by the iPod, has become a mere commodity, most mainstream audio products are cranked out by anonymous subcontractors. What part(s) of an iPod was actually designed by Apple engineers? There's no there, there.
D & M Holdings products are different, they're designed and made by real people; when I visited the McIntosh factory a few years ago I was impressed by their dedication. McIntosh engineers still design McIntosh electronics, and the McIntosh workers don't merely assemble parts made by subcontractors, the make most of the things that go into a McIntosh in house. The workers actually get to meet McIntosh equipment owners on a regular basis. The faithful schedule factory visits to see the place where their amplifier was built. McIntosh still stands behind gear they built when Eisenhower was President of the United States. Amazing!
So my deepest fear is that D & M Holdings' new owners close the factory and move production "off shore." Sure, the profits would skyrocket, but the soul of the brand would go out the window. D & M Holdings' brands each have their own story, I'm hoping this isn't the end, but a new start.
Perusing the August 26th Sunday New York Times Style Magazine, ogling the latest in women's fashion, my mind wanders. Apparently there's an insatiable market for luxury apparel; the 316 page issue is jam-packed with goodies like a $3,495 Chanel Jersey Handbag and a freaky looking $5,390 Louis Vuitton Feather Necklace. Then again, if you really want to make that special someone really happy, go for the $26,500 Hermes Sable-and-Crocodile Kelly Muff or perhaps something more practical like the $23,155 Yves Saint Laurent sweater embroidered by Lesage. I'm sure it's all splendid couture, but doesn't that strike you as a little extreme?
This all American beauty sounds amazing
(Credit: McIntosh Labs)Thing is, the lucky Yves Saint Laurent sweater owner will probably wear the thing two or three times a year. The rest of the time it'll be safely hidden away in a drawer. By contrast, a high-end audio system can be enjoyed on a daily basis. So sure, a $6,500 McIntosh MA2275 stereo amplifier might at first blush seem exorbitantly pricey, but it probably has a much longer and useful life span than most of the goodies so lavishly displayed in the Style Magazine. Oh, and I loved the matter-of-fact style of the magazine's prose, never once was the price an issue. You see, outrageously expensive apparel is apparently the norm.
I'd like to point out that American made hi-fi, like that McIntosh amplifier, is made by Americans who like to earn a living wage and receive benefits, health insurance, etc. Mass market audio, $500 A/V receivers, MP3 players and their ilk are assembled in China by 15 year old girls working 16 hours a day, who are lucky to get 20 minute lunch breaks. That's one way to keep prices under control.
While it's true that even in the high-end some companies are moving production "off shore," most of the top tier brands still manufacture their products here or in Europe. The only really major American industries still manufacturing here are making cars and planes. Their factories employ hundreds of thousands of people--but their days are numbered--so those jobs will be gone in the next decade or two. And when that happens, who's gonna buy those sweaters?
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
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