The McIntosh XR200 is a more approachable “real” room speaker that takes it’s cues from big Mac’s flagship XRT towers. With a trio of 8** woofers per side, subsonic bass is and was a bone-crushing no-brainer. Wow. However, it’s the 19 element titanium midrange and tweeter array that takes center stage for this three-way, bass reflex design with the clever top-mounted port. Collectively the twelve 2** inverted dome mids (each with huge 2** voice coils) and seven 1** dome tweeters act like one large concentric transducer for excellent in-room uniformity, wide dispersion and a rich sweet spot. Dynamics were duly impressive, bass response alarmingly deep yet percussion cues had the delicacy and air that has the flavor of symphonic reality. In sum, a 100+ pound tower that can play “small” as effortlessly as it plays “big”. Shipping soon to announced at an estimated $16,000/pr. (pictured with McIntosh’s Product Manager, Ron Cornelius).
Tags: MCINTOSH
By Neil Gader
My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.
More articles from this editorRead Next From Show
See allAXPONA 2024: Jeff Wilson on Music
- Apr 22, 2024
Who Were The Stand-Outs? | AXPONA 2024 Show Report
- Apr 20, 2024
AXPONA 2024: Robert Harley on Electronics
- Apr 19, 2024