NEWS: McIntosh announces XCS1.5K Center Channel Loudspeaker

£40K for just the centre speaker. How much for a full 11.2.4 McIntosh setup one wonders. This is not so much a haves and have nots debate but rather more in the realm of can I get matching sets for each of my yacht cinemas?
 
I'd say this is more that the local cinema would spend on a front centre speaker !!
 
Ordered!!!! 😃
 
Absolutely ridiculous setup. Even the mockup "cinema" picture is stupid... can you imagine sitting on the seats beside those two "side" behemoths... there is no reason in world to need that many and size drivers on any speaker never mind the side ones. This is just someone taking very rich people for fools. But isn't that almost all AV industry...
 
Someone would need to explain to me how placing a block with an array of smaller tweeter/speakers, isn't going to distort/shield what the four main drivers sat behind it are supposedly putting out and/or confuse the sound stage?
Well, that, and how else I need to put my lottery win to 'above average' use.
 
This seems to represent that old adage that “just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean that you should”
 
I'd love to hear one in action. I'll wager it is sublime... despite looking a little like an Alessi spaghetti measurer :)
 
I was thinking of adding a centre to our spare room setup. We have 2014 50" plasma in there with a Denon AVR-1910 and fronts are Denon SCM-50.

I note the McIntosh has an 88dB sensitivity, do you think the Denon will drive it ok?
 
Their marketing materials show exactly why this is such a ridiculous range. All those over engineered speakers, totally over specced for their function as well as the room with a load of reflective surfaces for added distraction. What's not to hate?
 
You could have one on the back window sill of your hot pink stretched lamborghini limo firing at the glitterball hanging from the ceiling. Bookayasha!
 
Goodness. You could have a very, very nice 7.2.4 setup for the price of a single centre channel!
 
"6000SUX An American tradition" springs to mind.
 
I was thinking of adding a centre to our spare room setup. We have 2014 50" plasma in there with a Denon AVR-1910 and fronts are Denon SCM-50.

I note the McIntosh has an 88dB sensitivity, do you think the Denon will drive it ok?
No, I think you need something with more power and bigger to pair with the 50” plasma. If it were a 42” LCD with a scart socket that would have worked! It is a shame….
 
"The Dominator X10.. and when you die they can bury you in it!" 🤘
 
Being able to angle the centre upwards justifies the price, it saves you £10 on angled foam from Amazon.
 
My issue is I don't want to see the damn speakers. If I can afford one of those I can damn well afford a dedicated cinema and who would ever want to see amps or speakers in front of their screen?

40k buys you an AWFUL lot of ugly speaker when it's hidden behind the screen and you don't care what it looks like. Undoubtedly an amazing speaker but I just can't see much point. I guess I just don't understand.

I'd probably prefer a DIY speaker to this.
 
I guess at these prices they're no longer looking at enthusiasts and instead are capturing the "playboy" market... It's all about the "quick sell" when trying to show off to the most recent set of acquaintances. No doubt most of them won't see more than a few hundred hours use in their lifetime.
 
Hard to get around the fact that center speaker designs never sound as good as using a bookshelf speaker for the job. Well not in my experience anyway. This screams uber-expensive waste of money but hey it looks cool!
 

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