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Mcintosh Early Days.

97.95.43.235

Posted on June 27, 2016 at 01:16:44
Michael Samra
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"
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

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RE: Mcintosh Early Days., posted on June 27, 2016 at 03:48:09
Posts: 599
Location: North East
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It's cool to look back 50 years into McIntosh history.

 

Mac went back further than that, posted on June 27, 2016 at 05:17:49
mhardy6647
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That could be 1960s... the company dates back to the late forties.


Scan_Pic0006
(mid-50s Mac ad)
all the best,
mrh

 

Only two things come to mind, posted on June 27, 2016 at 06:32:23
airtime
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1- I wonder how much money in todays value just in tubes in that building were worth?

2- I wonder how many of those stereos rolled off that assembly line and fell onto the floor?

 

Of course Mac goes back further than the picture, posted on June 27, 2016 at 07:49:07
Michael Samra
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I wanted to show the ladies that built the stuff..A lot of good looking women even tho they are as old my mother but I can imagine that old George Mcintosh and Sidney Corderman liked to hang out in the shop area quite a bit.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

RE: Only two things come to mind, posted on June 27, 2016 at 08:36:33
Hornlover
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'I wonder how many of those stereos rolled off that assembly line and fell onto the floor?'

Probably none. It was not a powered line.

 

My first exposure to "high end" audio, posted on June 27, 2016 at 10:15:11
M3 lover
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At a summer job between HS and college in 1960, one of the staff learned I was interested in music. So he invited me to come hear his system. He was married and still in his 20s but they had no children so I suppose more disposable income.

When I entered their living room I saw what I took to be a walnut console, but longer than the one my parents had. Oh, and it had this gracefully curved front center section. He told me it was a stereo speaker system called a JBL Paragon. Then I saw some chrome devices with blue lights and meters. He explained they were McIntosh components, the electronics of the system. He also had a turntable but I don't remember anything about that, probably a Thorens.

Well once he played some music even my uneducated ears told me this was something very different than anything I'd experienced before. My little Steelman portable AM/record player was suddenly woefully inadequate.

"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, if you can fake that you've got it made." Groucho

 

RE: My first exposure to "high end" audio, posted on June 27, 2016 at 11:55:19
Michael Samra
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Location: saginaw michigan
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Well once he played some music even my uneducated ears told me this was something very different than anything I'd experienced before. My little Steelman portable AM/record player was suddenly woefully inadequate.

I can imagine..My story was a little more simple..In 1976 I was just out of high school in the summer before I had gone off to college,I had an ad in the paper for fixing TVs. This guy had called me to fix a Magnavox color TV that couldn't get the flesh tones.This particular gentleman used to fix TVs on the side like many did in those days but he was having a horrible time with this set.
When I got there,he had these huge Klipshhorn speakers playing that were custom built with EV drivers and it was powered by a Knight KB-85 tube amp,driven by a modded Dynaco Pat 5 preamp and a nice Thorens turntable and when I hearD this system,I had absolutely NO INTEREST in working on that TV.This man was my audio and electronics mentor and he was maintenance director at the big hospitals in our town. He told me this KB85 amp was 30 watts per channel and then I thought,let me go get my receiver which was 45 wpc.Once we hooked my Realistic STA-200 up,I realized then and there what a POS it was.LOL.
From then on we became close friends as he was like a dad to me and I inherited most of his audio gear and sold the modern stuff for his wife.
We had several different systems thru the years but I still have the original KB85 that started it all for me..
We did end up fixing the Magnavox color tv..It turned out to be leaky pin diodes in the Chroma demox.

I want to ask you..You mentioned seeing Mac gear with blue lights and meters in 1960..Were you referring to a tuner or did they maybe have a separate add on power meter display? I wasn't aware Mac had any metered amps in the tube days.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

RE: blue lights and meters . . ., posted on June 27, 2016 at 12:19:53
M3 lover
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Michael, as you may appreciate, after 56 years my memory is a bit vague.

But in hind sight I'm certain no meters on the amp(s). As for a preamp and tuner, I may be transposing the blue lights and meters from later models in my memory. But there was something there that makes me certain it was Mac gear, maybe all the chrome?

Anyway, sorry if I got your hopes up for a rare, unseen model. ;^)

PS - FYI this was in Lansing.

"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing, if you can fake that you've got it made." Groucho

 

You're right., posted on June 27, 2016 at 16:41:25
briggs
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The photo is of the Chambers St. plant, not the earlier Water St. facility.

On another note, I knew Sidney Corderman and doubt that he hung about the women on the line, and have no recollection of a George McIntosh, nor amplifiers falling of the end of the line.

McIntosh was considered a desirable place to work in a then prosperous community where major employers included Endicott Johnson, Link Aviation, Ansco, General Electric and IBM.


 

RE: blue lights and meters . . ., posted on June 27, 2016 at 18:01:40
Michael Samra
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after 56 years my memory is a bit vague.

I hear you.The same thing happens to me quite often..There are days that CRS sets in real bad with me. LOL..
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

RE: You're right., posted on June 27, 2016 at 18:05:34
Michael Samra
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That picture is the early days of stereo because if you will notice,the Mc240s in the picture had their speaker terminals off to the right where the later ones were centered.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

RE: Mcintosh Early Days., posted on June 27, 2016 at 18:10:13
Michael Samra
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Dave
I can tell you that your Mc240 is not in that bunch? LOL
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

Frank McIntosh's house in Scottsdale, posted on June 27, 2016 at 19:24:01
airtime
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it is the curved one in the center. pull out and notice the multi million dollar homes in the Scottsdale hills.

 

RE: Frank McIntosh's house in Scottsdale, posted on June 27, 2016 at 22:03:15
Michael Samra
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Charlie
Wouldn't it be a far fetched dream to go visit the people living there now and tell them your an audio enthusiast and they are so wealthy they pay you to haul the old Mac tube gear away along with several NOS Telefunken and Genelex and RCA tubes that old George kept as momentos?
They would say,kind sir,if you remove this stuff,we will pay you for your time..Now that would be a far fetched dream but would if it came true?
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

"I wanted to show the ladies that built the stuff.", posted on June 28, 2016 at 06:36:59
E-Stat
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Which remains the case for detail work both there and at Audio Research. The following link was introduced over at Planar.

Click here for tour of ARC facility

The first video visits one who stuffs boards and another who specializes in soldering.

 

RE: Only two things come to mind, posted on June 28, 2016 at 07:21:23
BillH
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I wonder if anyone helped those ladies hoist the big amps such as the 275. It must have been hell working under those lights all day.

 

Frank may have made more money on that house than selling stereos, posted on June 28, 2016 at 08:04:36
airtime
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He bought the entire mountain to build that house. Just selling off that real estate could make you rich!!!!!

However I have a story that is almost exactly as you described. Long story short:

Old guy on my block that I did ham radios with died. He also happened to be an audiophile. When people couldn't get rid of their tubes fast enough for the newer transistor stereos, he horded them as fast as they got rid of their "old" tubed stereos.

He died and his wife asked if I wanted any of this "JUNK". Me being 12 or so and also not wanting anything to do with tubes said NO.

A few days later there was a pile of tubed stereos, tubes and what not 6' wide and taller than I was. And I do mean taller than I was!!!!

I am POSITIVE that there was a gold mine in that pile because I do remember seeing at least one tubed Marantz preamp and amp. The reason I clearly remember that one was because I was lusting for a Marantz 2230 but couldn't afford one.

Rather ironic that I couldn't afford the 2230 yet there was a Marantz 8b and 7c (? tube version) sitting in the trash two houses down from me.

To this day it's like a cold sweat nightmare when I remember it.

 

Early days of diversity in the workplace..., posted on June 28, 2016 at 08:52:06
Neil49
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note the token male, whose job is probably a gofer for parts and coffee.

 

RE: blue lights and meters . . ., posted on June 28, 2016 at 09:40:46
Crazy Dave
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Don't tell me that! From your previous post, we graduated high school the same year!

Dave

 

all women, am reminded how )90% who work in CD manufacturing are women..., posted on June 29, 2016 at 02:39:06
Cleantimestream
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there is a sound reason... women are able to focus better and stay on task ... essential for quality control and production... us guys like to skylark {raising my hand} although is WHY there are hardly any engineers I work around whom are female as they have difficulty with abstract tasks.

Obviously, there are exceptions to both of these generalized facts.
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.

 

RE: "I wanted to show the ladies that built the stuff.", posted on July 1, 2016 at 14:08:54
Michael Samra
Dealer

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Nice film.Now Mac and ARC are owned by the same people but their philosophy remains pretty much the same in the people they serve.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

Sexism?, posted on July 1, 2016 at 14:27:22
ph5y
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Isn't is sexist to say women focus better? Even if you grant that you are only making a statistical generalization? Personally, I see nothing wrong with sexism or any of the "isms" if being guilty just means noticing a statistical difference that is really there. But a lot of people will hop on you, certainly if you claimed that men are better focused!
It's never too late to turn back the clock.

 

RE: "I wanted to show the ladies that built the stuff.", posted on July 1, 2016 at 14:33:59
E-Stat
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but their philosophy remains pretty much the same in the people they serve.

Both companies share the same high quality build philosophy, but that's where the comparison ends.

You'll never find Audio Research versions of these:



McIntosh has built an entire culture around blue meters. :)

 

I've said it for years, posted on July 1, 2016 at 14:59:32
1973shovel
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Mac is the Harley-Davidson of the audio world.

Sheesh, what a racket!

 

I was absolutely amazed, posted on July 1, 2016 at 15:28:21
E-Stat
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at the size of an H-D dealer in Vegas. Three-fourths of the immense square footage was devoted to accessories. Want some H-D panties for that special lady? No problemo!

Willie G laughs all the way to the bank. :)

 

I went to that dealership on my last trip to Vegas, posted on July 1, 2016 at 16:20:36
1973shovel
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Maybe eleven years ago. You're right, it's absolutely mammoth.

The Capitalist in me admires how H-D manages to thrive selling $100 pairs of bedroom slippers at their boutiques. The old-school biker in me is embarrassed by the entire fashion show atmosphere.

I'm the kind of H-D rider they don't like. I buy a bike, and keep it forty years. I don't wear their T-shirts (unless someone gives me one), don't buy their oil, filters, spark plugs, etc. The last time I was in a dealer was probably about four years ago, for a gasket.

I used to date a woman who was into all that H-D crap. At her birthday party, someone from her family commented that they were surprised that I didn't buy her a pair of Harley panties for a present.

I said, "$49 for a pair of sequined Harley panties? No thanks. Besides, I could choke on a sequin." I saw more than a few sour-lemon faces at the party after that comment. Oh well.

 

err, NO... there are distinct differences between men and women BEYOND anatomical function.~nT, posted on July 2, 2016 at 07:33:11
Cleantimestream
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~!
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.

 

RE: I went to that dealership on my last trip to Vegas, posted on July 2, 2016 at 10:04:26
E-Stat
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I used to date a woman who was into all that H-D crap.

Perfect for the dentist rider's lady to match his logo do-rag. :)

 

RE: "Perfect for the dentist rider's lady", posted on July 2, 2016 at 18:03:48
1973shovel
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I couldn't find the Laredo track individually, so you're going to have to slide ahead to about 2:43. I think the Smothers Brothers sum it up nicely.

 

RE: I've said it for years, posted on July 3, 2016 at 05:19:57
BillH
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Maybe, but the early tube amps and their transformers always reminded me of Lionel trains and those big, honking transformers that were used to run them.

 

Now, I had heard the MACS recruited Old maids for the war, posted on July 3, 2016 at 19:47:10
manerac
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But mommy isn't one of those, I've known her all these years

 

RE: Now, I had heard the MACS recruited Old maids for the war, posted on July 8, 2016 at 11:03:14
Crazy Dave
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There were a lot of highly skilled women who lost their jobs when the war ended, who were used to having money in their pocket. It would have made good business sense to hire them.

Dave

 

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