Late last year, high-end audio brand McIntosh revealed a new flagship loudspeaker, the XRT2.1.K. At 7 ft tall and with a total of 81 drivers, you'd expect only well-heeled music lovers would be able to afford such audio luxury... and you'd be right. A pair comes in at US$130,000. Now the company has announced a slightly less powerful version that's also less than half the price.
Standing 14 inches (35 cm) shorter than the flagship XRT2.1K and shaving 173 lb (78 kg) off the scales, each XRT1.1K four-way speaker will still dominate all but the very largest of living rooms. Only 11 drivers have been sacrificed for the new design, so that means four 6.5 inch woofers and two 6.5 inch low frequency mid-range drivers fronted by a line array of 24 2 inch upper frequency mid-range drivers and 40 0.75 inch tweeters. All 70 drivers are of the same design as the flagship model.
McIntosh says the new loudspeakers should treat listeners to an "even and wide sound field, producing exceptional stereo imaging in nearly all listening positions." Power rating lowers to 1,200 W (from 2,000 W) and crossover has been designed to offer an even, distortion-free frequency response across the whole of the audible range. That frequency response is 16 Hz to 45 kHz, nominal impedance is 8 ohms and sound pressure level is given as 89 dB at 1 m.
Also filtering down from the XRT2.1K is the high gloss bass cabinet, brushed/black aluminum touches and eye-catching steel spiders (which McIntosh says were inspired by skyscraper construction). The black knit cloth grille can mask the line array or be removed to show off all those drivers, and the machined aluminum and glass base plate is raised off the floor by four adjustable feet.
You'll likely still need to sit down for the price though, which is $60,000 a pair.
Product page: McIntosh XRT1.1K
