Price Paid:  $2600.00 from Private Sale

Summary:
I , like many others on this site, purchased this unit used. It took a long time to find one, but when I did I snapped it up. What can I say, Liquid,liquid, liquid. The sound coming from my Thiel 3.6's now that they are powered by this big Mac is wonderful. I can listen for hours with no fatigue at all, even with red book CD's! And of course, that great look and fantasic build quaility. It's to bad that some people that come onto this site leave some unfair reviews on products. I highly recommend this amp. Like I said, works greta with Thiel speakers.

Strengths:
Warm yet detailed sound. Amazing build quality.

Weaknesses:
Price! But you get what you pay for in life.

Similar Products Used:
Krell, Bel Canto, Adcom Bryston...

Price Paid:  $2600.00 from used

Summary:
I was searching for this amp for quite a while. There are really difficult to find on the used market. Finally I was able to grab one and I've been happy ever since. This amp brought me so much musical enjoyment! My system consists of Sonus Faber Electa Amator II speakers, Conrad Johnson Premier 14 preamp and Theta Pearltransport and MSB Gold dac. The Mac was what I needed here: it gave me the additional liquidity, almost tube-like, rich and full bodied midrange with detailed but very, very smooth highs. There is incredible power in the lower registers with excellent control and dynamics, but that's what you should expect from a 300 W powerhouse. The soundstage extends well beyond the room boundaries and is nicely lit.
There are also no excessive heat, buzzing or humming issues. This thing is dead quiet.
Frankly, before I had a chance to listen to the MC 300 I never even gave a Mac a serious thought. I'm glad I found out I was wrong.

Strengths:
Smooth and liquid, beautiful midrange, powerful and well resolved bottom end. Will drive anything.

Weaknesses:
None that I can think of. This is a truly amazing amp.

Similar Products Used:
Bryston, Krell, Blue Circle

Price Paid:  $2500.00 from Used

Summary:
It is an ever difficult task to balance benefits and costs, and I found MC300, along with C40 Preamp, B&W N804 and Kimber wires and cables, to be as close to ideal as anything I have tested.

On the upper price range, I have listened to much higher priced Mark Levinson Monoblocks; ML may boast more accurate musical reproduction, but I did not feel a significant difference that would justify the price difference. If anything, I preferred the warm sound of MC300 -- it felt softer, gentler and very smooth. On the other hand, I listened to NAD and other amps that cost less than MC300 (MC300 most certainly was too expensive for me), but the difference between MC300 and NAD was too obvious to ignore, for NAD did not sound too different from the $600 Harman Kardon that I had had for the past 10 years, and it did not make sense to upgrade to NAD. I wanted a major change in sound, although MC300 was a bit pricey, there simply was no middle ground for me.

I mostly listen to classical music (strings, vocal and piano), and I found my system to be fully satisfactory for now, and probably for a very long time to come. I could not wish for more.

Strengths:
No noise. Tremendous soundstage and imaging. Beautiful appearance with characteristic blue lights.

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Summary:
This Amplifier has everything for all users. As a home theater unit, it provides incredible dynamics. For raw energy audio, it is virtually unmatched, especially for the price. I have two MC-300's Bridged Mono for 600 watts rms @ 4 ohms driving a pair of Kef Reference Series 4 using a Bi-wire compliment of AudioTruth Crystal & AudioQuest Midnight Speaker Cables. A truly outstanding combination. I have added a Velodyne F1800R Subwoofer and have assigned the crossover to frequencies below 40 Hz, just to add bottom end presence that is lost in most rooms with a lot of furniture. I currently use a Denon AVR-5600 for PreAmp and Rear/Center Speaker Amplification (Kef Ref 2's for Rear and Kef Ref 200C Center). The MC-300's give this system tremendous presence and absoulute (to the ear) reproduction, given the compliment of equipment that I have choosen. May I add that the Denon DVD-5000 24 bit DVD Player has an unbelievable soundstage image, unlike anything that I have ever tested or listened to before. I am contemplating the MX-132 from McIntosh, as soon as I get tired of the Denon AVR. Until then, The MC-300 will remain the heart of this ultimate Home Theater that took me 25 years to eventually afford and collect. Buy it for keeps!

Strengths:
Effortless Soundstage, Smooth Delivery at All Frequencies, Unmatched Reliability, Warmest reproduction for all medias.

Weaknesses:
McIntosh has not found a light bulb that meets there reliability standards. Expect a burned out bulb someday.

Similar Products Used:
Denon, Krell,

Summary:
Highly recommended. The sound quality is unbelievably true to source. Clear, crisp, with deep base and outstanding mids/highs. Pleasure to listen to at low volumes as well as high. NO NOISE. NO NOISE.NO NOISE.NO NOISE.NO NOISE One of the best audio products i've owned. Never go back.

Strengths:
Beautifully made... pleasure to listen as well as look at

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
Classe, Krell