McIntosh XR-100 Speakers $11,000 Per Pair In Red Walnut
(49 13/16h, 11 5/8w, 17d, 69 lbs, 87dB, 8 ohms, Red Walnut, Gloss Black)
We all know Mac has a lot of over the top gear. For the customer who can afford it and delights in Mac world, it’s great fun. XR-100 is a bit of a different animal. Let’s take a look.
Most of our XR-100 buyers do own Mac integrated amps. It’s a perfect synergy, running a Mac integrated like MA-352 with XR-100s.
Mac is quite aware of aesthetics. She has to be happy with the speaker cosmetics to get past the front door. Our XR-100 buyers always tell us THIS is the challenge, more than the price point.
XR-100 isn’t the brontosaurus that its bigger brothers are. It’s physically manageable at 69 pounds and fairly easy to drive. The finish work is flat out gorgeous. And if you have the right Mac electronics you even get a glowing Mac logo on the bottom. It’s OK to have some FUN with your great sound.
XR-100 is a four way design.
*Single .75” Titanium tweeter
*Two 2” inverted dome upper mid drivers
*Eight 2” inverted dome lower mid drivers
*Four 6” Cast Frame polypropylene woofers
The cabinet is ported and features non parallel walled construction. The cabinet has internal bracing to made it solid. The front face is fortified with a 5/8” machined aluminum baffle to add rigidity and control dispersion.
XR-100 has built in speaker protection with its own resetting breakers. It has four height adjustable feet and acoustically invisible grill cloths.
Sage Choice
I give Mac credit for knowing its strengths. XR-100 has outstanding clarity with a beautiful finish that she’ll love in your home. What Mac chose to do with this model is NOT spend crazy on trying to reach subterranean bass performance.
These boys hit hard down to about 35 Hz. That’s likely to be plenty deep for you. Yet Mac knows if you DO want to go lower, you’re going to add a subwoofer. By not trying to extract a few more Hz down low, Mac has allotted smarter money to all of the details delineated above, which make its musical presentation more clear.
The result is a detailed, balanced, ravishing speaker that has plenty of range for most of us. If you need more bass you can always add a sub. The clincher is that XR-100 is a stunner, more so in person than we can ever show you with photos. It’s made in Binghamton, NY and comes with a five year warranty.