The information below is quoted from a Strata-Gee.com article

 Multiple sources have told us that McIntosh Laboratory, Inc., a brand once deeply committed to the specialty electronics retail channel, has notified dealers by phone that for the first time in its history the company will allow Internet retailers to sell the brand. The list of online dealers that will be authorized to sell McIntosh products includes Amazon.com. The news has sent a shock around their dealer base and we have heard from several very loyal, long-time McIntosh dealers…who are very, very angry. Last week dealers were contacted by their various McIntosh representatives and informed that the company has decided to authorize sales of a selection of McIntosh models through a limited list of Internet retailers. While the list of approved Internet retailers may have been short, the impact on dealers was big, as it includes Amazon.com, the 800 lb. gorilla of Internet retailing.

No Comment from McIntosh

We made several attempts to contact executives at McIntosh for comment on this story, but our calls were not answered by the time this story was posted. And other McIntosh-related sources we did reach, for a variety of reasons would not comment on the matter.

Most of the dealers we spoke with felt completely blindsided by the company’s actions. Although some mentioned that they viewed the move as another deteriorating step after the company authorized sales of McIntosh products at several Best Buy Magnolia departments. None of the dealers that we spoke to said that they had been consulted prior to the decision being made.