Flawless, and I needed a break

Once the separates had settled in, I needed perspective. So I went to audition a D'Agostino system, their flagship electronics driving large Wilsons with a dCS Varese front end. Many consider it the pinnacle of high-end audio.

It was spectacular. Technically flawless, every audiophile checkbox ticked, impressive in every way you can measure. But after 30 minutes I needed a break. My brain was frosted.

It was too much of everything. Not fatiguing in the usual sense, but surgical, analytical, ultra detailed, a sound that keeps asking you to admire it. That was the moment I understood what makes McIntosh so successful for me.

My system does all the audiophile stuff too, and it is up there on any technical measure. But it does one thing better than anything I have heard: it stays about the music. The only thing I care about is the next song and the next song and the next song, for hours.

And yes, my next system will be a D'Agostino, for different reasons. But the McIntosh is a keeper, because nobody listens to a checklist for hours.