New Mac Flagship Speaker

[Mr Peabody]

OK, Joe, start making room

http://robbreport.com/gear/audio/mcintosh-new-six-figure-flagship-speakers-2768221/

McIntosh has a new flagship speaker, and it has been reworked from top to bottom to ensure it surpasses the high bar set by its predecessor. Rather than relying on a few large drivers, the XRT2.1K utilizes an array of many smaller drivers, a configuration that yields especially even sound distribution—meaning it will sound just as good whether you are standing right next to it or on the other side of the room. In all, each speaker features 81 drivers: six long-throw woofers, two low-frequency midranges, 28 high-frequency midranges, and a whopping 45 tweeters.







A special crossover network—which ensures the four classes of drivers play nicely together across their full 12 Hz to 45 kHz range—was engineered section by section to deliver maximum linearity, thereby helping to minimize distortion. The XRT2.1K has an impedance of 8 ohms, a sensitivity of 90 dB, and a power rating of 2,000 watts, meaning you will need a pretty beefy amp or three (it supports tri-amping as well as tri-wiring) to pair with it.

 

[joeinid]

Wow! I’d love to hear them. I went to Audio Classics a few years ago and listened to their MC2KW amps driving the 1K? Speakers. It was an impressive presentation. It felt like the whole room was the sweet spot. A massive sound stage. It was wonderful.

 

[Audiophilehi]

Maybe a dumb question but why are the smaller midrange and tweeters mounted in front of the bass cabinet? :weird:

 

[Mechnutt]

So Mr P., when are you going to buy a pair?

 

[Phishphan]

They’d overpower most listening rooms. It’s a statement and I’d assume the don’t sell many pairs.


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[Mr Peabody]

As soon as I become independently wealthy. I figure a set of those, a set of 2kw amps for bass and four 1kw amps for mids/highs, should do it. Unless I decide on HT, Hmmmmm.....

So Mr P., when are you going to buy a pair?

 

[Mr Peabody]

Not sure, I wonder if it's similar to what KEF does with their driver arrangement where the tweeter is in the middle of the larger driver.

Maybe a dumb question but why are the smaller midrange and tweeters mounted in front of the bass cabinet? :weird:

 

[Mechnutt]

As soon as I become independently wealthy. I figure a set of those, a set of 2kw amps for bass and four 1kw amps for mids/highs, should do it. Unless I decide on HT, Hmmmmm.....

I'll fly in to St. Louis for a listen when you do.

 

[Phishphan]

Not sure, I wonder if it's similar to what KEF does with their driver arrangement where the tweeter is in the middle of the larger driver.

KEF uses a tweeter in the midrange driver to create synergy across the frequency bands they produce. It also creates a wider sound dispersion.

Putting large bass producing speakers directly behind smaller speakers isn’t the same as KEF. KEF puts bass drivers above and below on the Reference line and on the side of the cabinet with the Blades.

It seems like the the Mcintosh design could cause issues with the mid/tweeters. Wouldn’t the vibration from the subs cause the smaller drivers to flex/distort? That’s a hell of an array of subs that will move a lot of air, and I’d think vibrate the front speaker array no matter how good they attempt to isolate it.


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