The one huge thing that gets me is that the Mc’s don’t have any sort of HD audio decoding to them, while a $500 Denon unit does. Considering this room is an HT room and will incorporate a BD player I’d prefer to take advantage of the HD audio. Unless I’m just wrong, you have to buy a receiver that can do this, and can’t rely on the BD player itself.
Another issue is that the Mc’s do not have any sort of auto-EQ. I’ve gotten pretty good with my ears, and I also have tools necessary to make manual adjustments. But when you consider a $500 unit that you can buy from CC or BB has this (and Denon has their dynamic EQ in models under $1k), it’s another shot in the foot.
I dunno… I really like the mcintosh gear, but it almost doesn’t make sense when you look at it on paper. The thing that draws me to it is that there’s so much history with their products as well as a very nice build. The gear will be in the back of the room, so it’s not going to be seen.
FWIW, I’m likely going with scanspeak F/R/C and using a set of Aperion bookshelves for rears in a 5.2 system. I’ll be making my own subwoofers out of some old JL 12w7 if I can find a good amp to drive them each.
I’m going to keep digging on the above mentioned issues (BD audio, auto-eq) but those might be the deal breakers for me.
