Am I completely crazy? Sell my McIntosh... (1 Viewer)

[Erock Steady]

Hello everyone! I'm brand new here, and need some advice from your community!

I have a vintage McIntosh 2505 amp paired with a C26 pre, and I love 'em! They were my grandfather's, and I took them over about 10 years ago.

Recently, I've been thinking of selling them and buying a LCD HDTV and one of those all-in-one home theater units. I've been wanting to upgrade to HDTV and for a while, and this would be about the only way I could afford it.

I'm leaning against it because I know the value of what I have in the McIntosh equipment. It's also a bit sentimental. But I want to know: is there anyone here that would do it? Would it be completely stupid to make a move like that? I know that no current all-in-one home theater receiver setup could come close to the McIntosh in power and quality. But it's tempting... offloading the amp and preamp would get me a TV and a surround setup...

I'd appreciate any input from this forum! Thanks a bunch!

 

[Alon Goldberg]

Personally I wouldn't trade the McIntosh gear, I promise you'll regret it later on. Not only for sentimental value, but also because the home theatre in a box will not live up to your expectations, and will not have any soul.

Instead I would purchase your new home theatre system slowly in stages over a couple of years, and keep the McIntosh for music.

http://www.roger-russell.com/c26pg.htm

 

[Bobby T]

x2

 

[Dave Moritz]

Thats all you need to say! I would not sell them if it was the end of the world! If I could not buy a new surround reciever and needed the money I still would not sell them. I would wait and scrape the money together to get what I wanted, but I recomend that you keep that equipment. IMHO you will regrete it if you sell it!

 

[JeremyErwin]

take a favorite CD to a dealer and demo it on a home theater system. You'll then be able to gauge how much life is sucked out of the music, and how soon you'll regret your decision?

What would have been your budget, had you successfully sold your McIntosh?

 

[Dave Moritz]

Before I got married I had a MX-130 McIntosh pre/pro, granted it wasn't vintage McIntosh but it was still McIntosh. I got married and I quickly realized that my former wife would have a fit if I even tried to spend the $1k on upgrading the MX-130 to include analog inputs and other features. So I could add an external Dolby Digital / DTS decoder to my McIntosh. Needless to say I traded my McIntosh and I regret it! The audio performance from that peice was awsum and I have not been unable to replace it since my divorce.

Those two peices are audio nervana and IMHO should not be sold!

 

[Erock Steady]

You guys are all right: selling my McIntosh to get a home-theater-in-a-box system would not be wise. I had definitely been leaning against it, but was tempted by the thought of finally being able to land a HDTV... ha ha. Oh foolish me.

A couple of my close friends told me I was crazy, as well as my own conscience. Add to that your recommendations, and I for sure won't sell my McIntosh stuff. You're right Dave, I'd regret it for the rest of my life.

Jeremy, for what it's worth, I could sell the amp for around $600-800, and the pre for about $300-400. So maybe $1200 total. Using that budget for both a TV *and* a sound system would most definitely mean a serious downgrade in audio quality.

No question: I'm keeping my stuff. Thanks guys!

 

[JeremyErwin]

selling the amp would get you an entry level hdtv.
selling the pre-amp might get you an entry level receiver.

way out of whack.

 

[mackie]

Keep your gear! Your grandfather bought that stuff for a reason...it's good stuff. Learn from your elders. They really are a lot smarter than we give them credit even if they're not with us anymore.

 

[Mathew_M]

Unless the McIntosh gear needs refurbishing I would hang onto it. HT receivers and TV's are disposable nowadays but McIntosh gear isn't. However I'm not saying that if you needed the money for say a house down payment that I wouldn't sell it--truth is that vintage McIntosh gear is over priced and you can buy comparably better sounding gear for less money nowadays.

 

[Grant B]

You can pick up a decent CRT HDTV for under $1000 these days and there is nothing wrong with it unless you have space limitations.