McIntosh intros premium XRT2.1K 70-driver line array skyscraper speaker

McIntosh has announced the new XRT1.1K Loudspeaker, a ‘budget’ version of its £137,500 flagship XRT2.1K. Smaller and lighter, it retails for £60,000. Using nanocarbon-driver technology, the loudspeaker is 78kg lighter and 35cm shorter than its stablemate, opening up more install possibilities.

A multi-driver design, the XRT1.1K uses a total of 70 individual drivers consisting of four bass drivers, two low-frequency mid-range drivers, 24 upper-frequency mid-range drivers and 40 tweeters.

The bass driver and low-frequency midrange driver technology from the XRT2.1K has been directly ported from the XRT1.1K, housed in their own dedicated bass enclosure cabinet, located behind the line array.

Hand-made in the brand’s New York factory, it features a seven-layer high-gloss piano black finish. The line array features hints of the classic McIntosh front panel with a black centre section and silver trim. It is suspended in front of the bass cabinet via steel spiders, inspired by skyscraper construction; they are capped with magnetic covers that mimic the look of McIntosh control knobs.

The speaker grilles feature black-knit cloth with high-gloss trim; the grilles are removed via magnetic fasteners to expose the drivers. The base plate is made of machined aluminium and glass.

The line array driver configuration has been designed to give wide and even stereo sound, in nearly all listening positions. The design ensures listeners sitting close to the XRT1.1K will not be overpowered by extremely high volumes, as they will only be on-axis to a portion of the drivers. Listeners farther away will be on-axis to more of the drivers and will be able to listen without any large drop-off in sound level.

Distribution is by Jordan Acoustics