McIntosh Is Awarded "First Place Overall" In The Home Audio/Electronics Group Of Inside Track Supplier Loyalty Survey

— Prestigious Honor Recognizes Both Dealer Satisfaction and McIntosh’s Strong Partnership Commitment with Independent Retailer/Custom Integrators —

Binghamton, NY, January 19, 2010 — McIntosh Laboratory, a global leader in home entertainment that has defined the highest quality in sound reproduction for over 60 years, is proud to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious honor of First Place Overall in the Home Audio/Electronics group of the annual Inside Track Supplier Loyalty Survey.  The Inside Track survey, now in its 25th year, is a wide-ranging analysis that represents an appraisal of dealer satisfaction as well as a measure of the partnership behavior, product selection and other parameters integral to the independent retailer/custom integrator channel. Over 200 dealers and custom installers graded suppliers in 16 different categories, and McIntosh achieved an overall score of 3.81, or an A-. Among the grades received were three A+ grades for McIntosh (for Product Performance, Product Reliability and Brand Recognition), and eight A- grades, including a Certificate of Excellence for first place in Product Assortment.

McIntosh President Charlie Randall noted: “It means a great deal to everyone here at McIntosh to be honored with this first-place award. Of all the accolades in the CE industry, the Inside Track Loyalty Survey is certainly one of the most important and prestigious, because it represents the attitudes and opinions of the people we value most – our retail customers and integrator partners. For McIntosh to be recognized as first-place overall reinforces our commitment to excellence across so many important categories ranging from product assortment to dealer service and support.“

Gisela Schoell, editor of Inside Track, commented on McIntosh’s award and explained how the grading system works, noting: “The dealers participating in the inside track survey grade their vendors on 16 parameters which can be broadly grouped into product-, support-, and profitability measures. In a sense, vendors are running 16 races simultaneously, and since the spread from 0 (F) to 4.5 (A+) is quite narrow, companies not infrequently, finish within a few hundreds of a grade point of each other on the various parameters.  To reach First Place Overall in a group, a company must perform at a very high level across all 16 parameters.”

Schoell concluded: “Given the extremely challenging economy in 2009, the fact that McIntosh dealers graded the company so well across the board makes this First Pace Overall finish a particularly meaningful achievement.”

About McIntosh Laboratory
Since 1949, McIntosh Laboratory’s unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation and quality continues to define the state-of-the-art in high fidelity and provide discriminating consumers around the world an elevated home entertainment experience. McIntosh luxury audio and video products are designed and manufactured at the company’s Binghamton, New York headquarters. Its products reflect unmatched levels of performance, superlative engineering and hand craftsmanship. Built to last for decades, McIntosh components demand nothing less than an equal level of commitment to customer support and service. McIntosh Laboratory, Inc. is a D&M Holdings company.

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