XR100 opinions

[Ankkor]

Hi Guys - a good friend has caught the blue meter flu and is putting together a two channel system. He’s going with the MC462 and the 2600 pre.
They’re showing him the XR100’s. What are your opinions of these speakers?

[jayvis]

The XR100's would work but in my opinion, there are better options in the $10k price point. I've never been a big fan of McIntosh speakers.

[crwilli]

If he is new to the hobby, I would think the all McSystem set up by his dealer would be a great first step - if they sound good to him.

While there may be other speakers in that price range, he may not know what he wants or how to distinguish them.

[jayvis]

Originally Posted by crwilli

If he is new to the hobby, I would think the all McSystem set up by his dealer would be a great first step - if they sound good to him.

While there may be other speakers in that price range, he may not know what he wants or how to distinguish them.

What you say is true, but like the rest of us, getting out there and auditioning other makes of speakers is critical to putting together a serious system that meets our individual tastes. Speakers are the most important component in any audio system and should not be taken for granted, especially when looking to spend that kind of money.

[j3brow]

At $10k list, I would buy (actually I did buy them) the Dynaudio Contour 60 over the $10k XR100.

[o0OBillO0o]

I have the XR100s and they are great!

[crwilli]

My point was if he is a newbie, he will likely be very happy with the XR100’s maybe for years. They will no doubt be a huge step up from anything he has ever heard before.

In time, he may learn of things he would prefer more or not.

[PeterMusic]

Originally Posted by crwilli

My point was if he is a newbie, he will likely be very happy with the XR100’s maybe for years. They will no doubt be a huge step up from anything he has ever heard before.

In time, he may learn of things he would prefer more or not.

Whoa! While the all McIntosh system might be the best thing he's ever heard, don't be so certain that it's somehow not worth your friend's time or it's too difficult to choose among excellent speakers. Even excellent speakers can have significant weaknesses which might be very important to specific listeners and musical choices. Case in point--my casual listener wife was deeply disappointed in bass response from the magnificent Wilson Sabrinas I demoed (and she was right).

It should be a morning of fun. If your dealer disagrees, find a new dealer.

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by PeterMusic

Whoa! While the all McIntosh system might be the best thing he's ever heard, don't be so certain that it's somehow not worth your friend's time or it's too difficult to choose among excellent speakers. Even excellent speakers can have significant weaknesses which might be very important to specific listeners and musical choices. Case in point--my casual listener wife was deeply disappointed in bass response from the magnificent Wilson Sabrinas I demoed (and she was right).

It should be a morning of fun. If your dealer disagrees, find a new dealer.

Whoa what?

[Evitzee]

It's very easy to discount any product if your experience with it is five minutes in some audio showroom or noisy hotel suite during an audio show, and most people don't have a depth of experience with any particular speaker outside of these venues. The truth of the matter is most people don't have the opportunity to listen to many high end speakers anymore, the audiophile market is pretty well dead in large swaths of the country, especially in the $10k and up range. You may be ok on the east/west coasts and a few inland oases, but otherwise most people are out of luck.

Are there better $10k speakers than the XR100's? Of course, but how do you access them? Most people can't. I have a set of XR50 3 way bookshelfs in my study (same family as the XR100) and am very happy with them. Tremendous bass (but low efficiency), huge soundstage and pinpoint accuracy, I would imagine the XR100 would have that in spades, and more. If the potential owner can listen to other speakers in this price range he should, but I suspect he doesn't have the opportunity, or desire, to want to front up to a strange dealer who wants to sell him an expensive speaker through pressure tactics.

The XR100's, and the XR50's, are beautifully finished in the typical McIntosh style. He could do a lot worse if he is getting into the McIntosh experience for the first time. And as someone else commented you do have the opportunity to light the nameplates on the speakers in the same green color. That might appear to be a small detail but when I sit down to listen to music at night with my MA7000 integrated amp, McIntosh SACD player, and XR50 speakers lit up in my darkened room, along with a nice XO Cognac, it is a very pleasant experience.