When people think of McIntosh they either get really happy or really frightened. Happy because they love the quality and the sound, but frightened sometimes by the price, but let’s get real here. You have to pay to play. The McIntosh MX121 A/V Control Center is like having the best of both worlds though. For the price of about $6000.00 you can have one of the industry’s leading A/V Processor with a plethora of performance features, which is relatively inexpensive.
The MX121 comes with HDMI 1.4a with 3D pass-thru switching, which also incorporates six HDMI …

There are no other words for this turntable and cartridge combination…it is MAGICAL.

Just a few short weeks ago I wrote to tell you about the new Sharp 70” LED/LCD TV. The largest and probably the coolest LED/LCD TV on the market. So there all you other guys with your wimpy little 65” sets!
Well, that was after all of a few weeks ago and our friends at Sharp have been busy fellows lately. So now we have on display and ready to deliver the Newer, Bigger, 80” LED/LCD TV!

The McIntosh C50 is a McIntosh first in the way they have combined stereo analog sources in unison with assignable digital inputs. What is amazing is music that is stored on computer programs like J. River, and I-Tunes are now available. They are available through a dedicated USB input making it very easy to access your downloaded music. Another great feature is its programmable eight band tone control, which is fantastic. One can change inputs and the programmed EQ setting follow suit. So, if you know you are generally playing vinyl, with a rock genre, …

I had the good fortune of going to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver a few weeks ago. For those who don’t know, this is the biggest High-End show in our business. This is where the guys that make the most out of this worlds’ products get to showcase them for the industry…and it is open to the public.

First, if you ever have the chance to attend the show; do it. No matter what your level of interest, there are things here that will expand your understanding of the High-End and expand your appreciation …

We have a brand new McIntosh Theater system in our main room! It’s from the Westchester I collection and a resounding ‘WOW’ is all I can say about it. This thing flat out rocks! You simply must stop in to see and hear this system for yourself. It includes the XRT1K main speakers, XCS1K center speaker, and a pair of the XCS200K for rear surrounds. Powering it are three MC1.2KW – 1200 watt amps on each of the front three speakers and an MC452 at 450 watts per channel for the rear speakers. It is …

In 1949 Frank McIntosh and Gordon Gow began manufacturing high quality amplification products in direct defiance of what was believed to be possible at the time. They were among the pioneers of high-end audio, quickly established the McIntosh brand as a performance powerhouse and established a large following. They have maintained this through the decades by expecting the highest quality from every employee at every level and this is exactly what I experienced when I recently attended the McMasters training at their factory in Binghamton, New York.

Their course starts out with classroom education which …

For those not sure CEDIA is the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association, and there is a yearly show we attend to see all of the new goodies coming our way for the fall.
I have just returned from 3 days at the show, and here is the news on the cool new things I saw.

First, remember the name

Ask the Advisors is now, and has been for some time in the business of buying, selling, and trading used Audio gear…

Really you ask?
Yes really, but I thought I would re-visit it for all you avid readers of mine. Although we have been doing this for years, the problem is that sometimes there just is not very much cool gear being offered to us; which is part of why I am writing this blog. We want more interesting and important older Audio gear to be offered to us, so I am going onto …

At its most basic level, you could say that the Audio / Video industry was founded by a group of people who truly loved music.

Good music was the first killer application that consumers were willing to spend big money on. Brand loyalties were deep rooted and names like McIntosh, Marantz, B&W (Bowers and Wilkins) and Klipsch were created by music fanatics because what was available to buy was just not good enough for them; and they proudly put their names on the products they developed. Audiophiles were an established market niche long before custom …