I just got an email from McIntosh asking about cars and car audio. hum..... Something is cooking. :D

I'd say it's COOKED, not cooking.

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/Car-Audio.asp

When I was in S. Africa a few weeks ago, one of my business associates had a newer model Subaru something-or-other that had McIntosh equipment in it from the factory.

Old news, I wonder if they are coming out with new gear or something. Like tentoze I saw a Subi outback with a mac headunit in it about 4-5 years ago.

Evan

What I thought was funny about the survey was the question about how much you might be willing to spend for a McIntosh brand car stereo option. The survey would only allow you to input a dollar value of between one and one thousand dollars. I had initially put in a higher value, and it wouldn't let me submit the survey until I lowered the dollar amount to $1000.

What I thought was funny about the survey was the question about how much you might be willing to spend for a McIntosh brand car stereo option. The survey would only allow you to input a dollar value of between one and one thousand dollars. I had initially put in a higher value, and it wouldn't let me submit the survey until I lowered the dollar amount to $1000.
Same over here. SURE thing that I would take mac for 1k ;)

The questions in the survey are toward US made units, brb.


Carl

For our friends not on the mailing list,

Welcome to the McIntosh Labs customer survey. Your input as a McIntosh customer is very valuable to us and will help us deliver the future products that will best meet your needs. This brief survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete and we thank you for your participation.
1) What is your gender?
Male
Female

2) How old are you?
Under 18
18 - 24
25 - 34
35 - 44
45 - 54
55 - 64
65 or older

3) What is your marital status?
Married
Single

4) How many people live in your house?
1
2
3
4
5
6+

5) What is your household income?
Less than $30,000
$30,000 - $39,999
$40,000 - $49,999
$50,000 - $59,999
$60,000 - $74,999
$75,000 - $99,999
$100,000 - $149,999
$150,000 - $249,000
$250,000 - $499,999
$500,000 - $999,999
$1,000,000 or more

6) What is the make of your most recently purchased vehicle? (ex. Chrysler)
Make

7) What is the model of your most recently purchased vehicle? (ex. Camry)
Model

8) What is the year of your most recently purchased vehicle? (ex. 2005)
Year

9) Was the vehicle purchased or leased?
Purchased
Leased

10) What made you choose this vehicle?


11) What other vehicles were considered and why?


12) How often do you buy/lease a vehicle?
About every years.

13) Do friends seek your opinion for their car purchases?
Yes No

14) How important is audio quality in your vehicle purchasing decision? (1=not important, 5=very important)
1 2 3 4 5

15) Does your car have a brand name audio system from factory?
Yes
No
Not Sure

16) If Yes, what brand?


17) Have you installed any of the following after-market audio equipment in your car? (check all that apply)
Radio
Speakers
Subwoofer

18) What is most important to you in automotive audio?
Sound quality
Power
Feature set
Ease of use

19) How important is good sound quality in your vehicle? (1=least important, 5=most important)
1 2 3 4 5

20) How much would you pay for a genuine McIntosh system in your car if it were available from the factory?
$ US Dollars

21) What was your most recent audio equipment purchase? (Please include brand name.)


22) What other brands did you consider? (Separate brands with commas)


23) Do friends seek your opinion for their audio purchases?
Yes No

Thank you for taking our survey!

I entered $2000 and it kicked back as too high. hahahaha... I didn't know McIntosh made anything of use under $1000.

When McIntosh was owned by Clarion they rebranded Clarion radios as "McIntosh" and installed them as OEMs. Nakamichi did that with rebadged Sonys. There is a long tradition of doing this. Bose is the grandaddy. There is supposed to be a Levinson system in one luxury car. Since Mac is now owned by D+M they probably are inquiring about perceived value.

What I thought was funny about the survey was the question about how much you might be willing to spend for a McIntosh brand car stereo option. The survey would only allow you to input a dollar value of between one and one thousand dollars. I had initially put in a higher value, and it wouldn't let me submit the survey until I lowered the dollar amount to $1000.

same here

Lexus has Mark Levison audio/video systems in some of their vehicles.

When McIntosh was owned by Clarion they rebranded Clarion radios as "McIntosh" and installed them as OEMs. Nakamichi did that with rebadged Sonys. There is a long tradition of doing this. Bose is the grandaddy. There is supposed to be a Levinson system in one luxury car. Since Mac is now owned by D+M they probably are inquiring about perceived value.

Got the same email from Marantz today.......started a thread over in the Marantz forum.....http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=162039

I just feel like these OEM systems for cars are sub par as compared to the hi-fi products. I know it is a way to get a name out there so consumers will say "Oh I have a Mac or Marantz system in my car and it sounds good, so maybe I will look at them for home audio." What the heck is going on at D&M other than they are trying to sell everything?

20 years ago there was a big difference in quality of factory vs. aftermarket mobile audio. I know...I once sold & installed them. That's not the case any longer, much of the factory installed units are pretty decent. Not great, but pretty good. I think that market has really limited potential, but again, that's just my $.02

20 years ago there was a big difference in quality of factory vs. aftermarket mobile audio. I know...I once sold & installed them. That's not the case any longer, much of the factory installed units are pretty decent. Not great, but pretty good. I think that market has really limited potential, but again, that's just my $.02

That's why the question is "how much would you pay if it was available from the factory". If you can order your BMW with a "generic" or MAC stereo, which one would you take?

20 years ago there was a big difference in quality of factory vs. aftermarket mobile audio. I know...I once sold & installed them. That's not the case any longer, much of the factory installed units are pretty decent. Not great, but pretty good. I think that market has really limited potential, but again, that's just my $.02

My Honda's head unit works pretty well, but the speakers suck. Same thing in my wife's Exploder.

My Honda's head unit works pretty well, but the speakers suck. Same thing in my wife's Exploder.

The wife has a Honda & agree -- for me though, I could care less about a high dollar car stereo -- so, if those fifty dollar McIntosh car audio products show up -- you can thank me.:D

20) How much would you pay for a genuine McIntosh system in your car if it were available from the factory?
$ 50 US Dollars

Funny, I was just thinking of putting a complete Mac system in my Ferrari.

If mc came out with an "affordable" system I would put one in my truck

It wouldn't let me put 12 in for the number of years I keep a car. Frustrating survey.

Funny, I was just thinking of putting a complete Mac system in my Ferrari.

Please allow me the return-favor of consulting you on this Ivan, as one who has a Focal/JM Lab Utopia, McIntosh mobile audio system, and who has a dealer friend who has done countless ferrari's w/ mac gear. :D

The one thing I hated about this survey was no questions asking: "DO YOU ALREADY OWN MAC MOBILE AUDIO EQUIP?" To which I would have then answered yes. Instead, I had to enter it into the "do you have an aftermarket audio system?"

The mac audio speakers are great, but could use a little revamping, a-la using the drivers from the currentl X-line or, even better (and someone with your level of cash & connections), just to make a scaled down version of the 1K crossovers, take the drivers out of there, and make an array with the same tweets/mids, and then take them woofers and wedge them in somewhere (would either squeeze behind your seats in the smalllllll gap, or under your hood). Anybody know how deep that 10" on the 1K sits with its magnet?

I entered $2,000 and it took it with no problem.

We get our new Volvo XC90 tomorrow and it comes with a Dynaudio set-up
for an additional 2K. I'll let you know how it sounds. We looked at Mercedes and they come with Harmon Kardon. Seems like all the car makes are starting to use at least home audio branding of their stereo gear

I put $3,000 and it took it.

Please allow me the return-favor of consulting you on this Ivan, as one who has a Focal/JM Lab Utopia, McIntosh mobile audio system, and who has a dealer friend who has done countless ferrari's w/ mac gear. :D

The one thing I hated about this survey was no questions asking: "DO YOU ALREADY OWN MAC MOBILE AUDIO EQUIP?" To which I would have then answered yes. Instead, I had to enter it into the "do you have an aftermarket audio system?"

The mac audio speakers are great, but could use a little revamping, a-la using the drivers from the currentl X-line or, even better (and someone with your level of cash & connections), just to make a scaled down version of the 1K crossovers, take the drivers out of there, and make an array with the same tweets/mids, and then take them woofers and wedge them in somewhere (would either squeeze behind your seats in the smalllllll gap, or under your hood). Anybody know how deep that 10" on the 1K sits with its magnet?

Thanks!

I put $3,000 and it took it.
Well, something must have been changed because it wouldn't take a value over $1000 earlier this afternoon. I just tried it again, and it took $2000. Given the cost of some factory installed optional systems, they needed to allow the entry of higher values.

Maybe it's weighing the relation of the make/model of car you last bought compared to how much you'd spend.

BTW - I entered $500 an it took it for my Acura.

Maybe it's weighing the relation of the make/model of car you last bought compared to how much you'd spend.

BTW - I entered $500 an it took it for my Acura.
Well, the car I entered information on was an 07 Porsche 911 C2S, so I think the problem must have been that I listed the installed stereo brand as Bose. The survey then obviously figured there would be no way I'd pay more than $1000 for an upgraded stereo.

It appears as more of a solicitation you would expect from a Auto manufacturer.
Did not even say mcintoshlabs.com anyplace.
Wonder if it came from Marantz (as listed in the string) or some other D&M division.....:scratch2:

IMO, the question is bordeline pointless. They are literally asking if you would be willing to pay for a name... it does not matter what it says but it matters what it sounds like.

You won't see the same quality at an OEM level that you would on aftermarket Mac gear.

Just got this e-mail this morning:

"You recently received a survey from McIntosh Labs that may have left you with many questions. I wanted to take a moment to clarify this survey.
First and most important, this is a REAL survey. Your opinions and insights on these topics are of tremendous value to us as we seek to always exceed your expectations for industry leading products.
Second, and equally important, we consider this information to be highly confidential and for our internal use only.
The final important point is how highly we value your input. With this kind of information you can help shape the future of the products we provide and allow us to continue to deliver the kind of award winning products you can always be proud of.
My team will be using this data to identify new ways to deliver the great McIntosh tradition to our customers.
If you feel the least bit uncomfortable with completing this survey, please simply accept our apologies for disturbing you. If you are comfortable providing any of the information on the survey, rest assured that its sole and complete use will be to provide you with entertainment products that you can be proud to own.
Once again, our sincere thanks for your time and our apologies for any confusion. "

From the VP of OEM sales, which means, non-aftermarket mobile McIntosh insertion (like Levinson, Bose, et.al.) First they ask our opinion, then they apologize! Go Fig!

why wouldn't it be a REAL survey... biz

It appears as more of a solicitation you would expect from a Auto manufacturer.
Did not even say mcintoshlabs.com anyplace.
Wonder if it came from Marantz (as listed in the string) or some other D&M division.....:scratch2:

Think you might be right.

Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=hardfail (google.com:
domain of mcintosh-team@mail.marantz.com does not designate
140.98.193.23 as permitted sender)
smtp.mail=mcintosh-team@mail.marantz.com


Car-audio is of no particular interest to me anyway. I also consider putting McIntosh-quality sound equipment into a vehicle to be more of a traffic hazard than driving blindfolded through a busy street filled with midday shoppers & kids (which is what would happen to me at least if the music gets too involving!) ;)

Ok, so the guy from mac is sorry for the d*** a** that decided to bug his customers without asking..

When McIntosh was owned by Clarion they rebranded Clarion radios as "McIntosh" and installed them as OEMs. Nakamichi did that with rebadged Sonys. There is a long tradition of doing this. Bose is the grandaddy. There is supposed to be a Levinson system in one luxury car. Since Mac is now owned by D+M they probably are inquiring about perceived value.

I hope to hell McIntosh's car audio sounds better then the 'Pro Audio' crap coming from Clarion today. Either way I don't listen to music in the car, too many dangers.