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Hi, Last months Stereophile had a picture of a loudspeaker on the cover, the McIntosh ML1 MK2 with a large caption; What Was Old Is New Again.I thought Sasha Matson did a great job on covering this loudspeaker.I do wonder why McIntosh went with such an elaborate effort on the speaker grill. Everything I have learned through the years about loudspeakers is how to minimize reflections of the sound or diffraction coming from the drivers.They even show a picture of all the components used in the speaker grill on page 61.
There is also a beautiful picture of the workmanship of the crossover on page 63.I wonder how many of your readers would want an audio signal going thru that many components before seeing the drivers?
I understand you don't have to listen to these speakers with the grills on but also wonder how much added cost there is with grills and the stands.
One speaker system that seems to address my questions is the KEF LS50's,not the powered ones but the ones that came out about 10 years ago.It seems KEF addressed what was old.I understand the bass response will be lower on the McIntosh's because of the 12 inch woofer but the KEF's are 1,500 vs. 13.000 for the Mac's.That might give you some considerable wiggle room for a nice sub woofer that might have a much simpler crossover than the Mac's.Just a thought while reading the review and maybe a nudge to Stereophile to have some (blind) competition to rev up the readers.Your writers could be the panel....no peeking mister,or misses....sincerely Mark Korda
Follow Ups:
McIntosh is justly famous for amplifiers, but its speakers have never gathered much acclaim. I suspect they are sold mainly to those McAmp owners who wish to maintain brand loyalty.
The model under review falls into a current trend toward wide baffle/large woofer vintage style butt-thumper speakers. That design approach has its merits, especially when you want loud, room-filling sound in larger spaces.
There are, however, far better-performing examples of that format available, at lower price, from Klipsch, KLH, Wharfedale, MoFi, Tannoy, JBL, DeVore, Mission UK, etc.
were by Roger Russell who only at the end of his career got the coherency and full range concept with the IDS.
Edits: 07/03/24
+1
Happy Listening
There is another thread that dates back to the early days of McIntosh, when HiFi was built into a home-
In the case of speakers, they were often made to look like furniture.
Think of the Bozak and Brazilay-
The former made speakers in elaborate cabinets with high quality finishes-
the latter a cabinet maker for hifi consols etc.
Happy Listening
Hi 6bq5, way back at New England Muic,a Hifi store in Portland Maine they claimed there was this McIntosh speaker system that was so heavy you could own it if you could carry it out.This was when the Tiger Tanks were the Klipsch corner horn and the JBL Paragon: I never saw an Altec Horn. There were no Brian Shaw's or Eddie Halls yet This was when I had a quadraphonic Realistic 8 track playing Buddy Miles and Carlos Santana Live...-1972 or 1973. What would that Big Mac be 6bq5?...-.take care, Mark Korda
McIntosh speakers were a late addition to the line
There was the F100, which did not sell well (5 pairs?/sets??) and were not in production for very long. [it also used Bozak tweeters!]
As Roger Russell comes onboard a speaker program is developed and becomes a large part of the moniker.
I do agree that McIntosh was not nearly as well respected for its speakers as it was for its amplifiers and tuners, and pre-amps... Not withstanding the adoration of die hard fans.
The F100 could have been that speaker - but more likely it was the XR 7 or something like that-
I did not follow their speakers (my father had McIntosh amp & Pre, Fisher Tuners and Bozak & AR speakers) - so follow the linky to Roger Russell's site for the down-low...
I have lusted after the JBL Paragon,
and played around with a few '80s versions of Kilpsch speakers-
then I moved to CA, and heard VOT corner horns, Beveridge 2 sw2s, Vandersteen, then later ProAc and Quads. There were many others in the mix - Sonus Faber, JM Labs, Focal, Stax, Avalon, Thiel, Ariel, ...
I still own ProAc, Quad '57s, Shahanian elfs, and a few other bookshelf models
but the lure of McIntosh speakers never caught me...
Happy Listening
I have a feeling that omitting the grills and stands wouldn't wouldn't have made much of a difference in the $12K McIntosh wants for these speakers. Sasha did note that they sounded better to him without the grills. Given their size I do think they need stands. Also, McIntosh was going for a certain look. Sasha mentioned that the grills are made from a material that's "tough enough to afford protection from toddlers and cats", so there's that.
I've only heard McIntosh speakers speakers at audio shows. Based on those experiences if I were making a list of speakers to audition in that price range these probably wouldn't be on it. But maybe they're different. I do like the look (without the grills) but something other than walnut would be preferable. If I were willing to spend that much I'd probably be looking at Audio Note, DeVore or Heretic.
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Hi Gary, this is my cat protection. My cat Jack has never touched them.A piece of cardboard with an old deflated football on top.They come right off when your ready to listen...-Mark K.
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