playdrv4me
Active Member
I noticed this TT (and his little bro, MT5) isn't discussed much here, if at all. The discussion I started recently about all digital systems versus keeping some legacy analog got me thinking about it.
I went looking for info on it and found that it seems to just be a rebadged Clearaudio Champion with a Talismann V2 Gold cartridge (not that Clearaudio is anything to sneeze at, but I believe that TT is like 3k and the Talismann retails at 1700 or so). It seems Mac sends them the faceplate, they slap it on the base and connect it electrically somehow, then just ship it back to Mac who then plops it at the dealer without doing much if anything to it.
Is this truly the case, or is there something else that makes it worthy of McIntosh tax? I mean, this is one case where the product it's based on is almost as beautiful (if not moreso to some people) than the Mac product. So even appearance isn't quite a selling point for twice the money. One thing that is apparently nice about it is that it requires virtually no set up.
The only thing I've noticed is that there are about umpteen million different variations of the "Champion", including one called a Magnum that does go for more.
I went looking for info on it and found that it seems to just be a rebadged Clearaudio Champion with a Talismann V2 Gold cartridge (not that Clearaudio is anything to sneeze at, but I believe that TT is like 3k and the Talismann retails at 1700 or so). It seems Mac sends them the faceplate, they slap it on the base and connect it electrically somehow, then just ship it back to Mac who then plops it at the dealer without doing much if anything to it.
Is this truly the case, or is there something else that makes it worthy of McIntosh tax? I mean, this is one case where the product it's based on is almost as beautiful (if not moreso to some people) than the Mac product. So even appearance isn't quite a selling point for twice the money. One thing that is apparently nice about it is that it requires virtually no set up.
The only thing I've noticed is that there are about umpteen million different variations of the "Champion", including one called a Magnum that does go for more.