McIntosh XLS 320 / XLS 112 System Review

McIntosh’s loudspeaker line must feel like the ugly duckling in the product catalogue. Every single year it’s the same thing. Dozens of print mag’s and E-zene’s publish reviews on Mac gear year after year, yet hardly a one of these publications give the loudspeakers any attention. Talk about being overlooked, the poor things! It’s time to finally give their underdogs, particularly the XLS 320 monitors and the XLS 112 powered subwoofer, a moment in the light. Make sure your seat belt is plugged in and that your tray table is in an upright and locked position, because this article is going to get turbulent!

The Good:  Solid build quality; Easy to work with; Great clarity and linearity; Exceptional driver integration; Can play every genre of music well; Can deliver copious amounts of low distortion output; Bass on the XLS 112 is extremely quick and integrates perfectly with the XLS 320’s; Absolute top notch ultra near-field performance.

The Bad: The 320’s only dig down to 80Hz on their own. The XLS 112’s -3db point is a surprisingly high 35Hz, The 320’s tend to “beam” the upper midrange at normal listening distances (5-9ft), The system as a whole lacks dynamic “punch” at normal listening distances, Limited soundstage depth, Poor overall value.

The Bottom Line: The McIntosh XLS 320 monitors and XLS 112 subwoofer is a pricey speaker system that will appeal to three different types of consumers; the McIntosh loyalist, wealthy audiophiles seeking a solid sat/sub system, and recording studio engineers. If you are looking to set up a more traditional two-channel stereo system, you’re likely to find a better value elsewhere.

General Information:                    McIntosh XLS 320

Product Type:                                       Two-way monitors

Unit Cost:                                              $5000 / Pair

Product Webpage:                              http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/mcintosh-xls320-2-way-loudspeaker.asp

 

                                                                McIntosh XLS 112

Product Type:                                       Powered subwoofer

Unit Cost:                                              $4000

 

THE REVIEW

After living with the XLS 320 / XLS 112 system for a couple of months, it’s become clear why there has never before been a formal review published on these components. While this system offers great sound from a slim and flexible package, the performance to cost ratio seems off, and not in a good way.

It’s not that the system sucks. Far from it!  It’s more a matter of economics. There is a good reason why you will rarely find a satellite / sub system priced beyond $5,000 - $6,000. That’s because this is usually the threshold where full-range towers and upper tier monitors begin to offer superior performance. The XLS 320 / XLS 112 combination daringly bucks that trend by wedging itself next to some real heavy hitters. To McIntosh’s credit, it takes some serious stones to walk into the ring against competitors that are larger, meaner, quicker, and flat out better than you are. Yet as noble of an effort as it is, we all know how the outcome will be when you step into that kind of situation. Your ass will get KO’d before the end of the first round. Does this make you a horrible fighter? Not necessarily.  It just means that you stepped into a situation that is a bit out of your league, and such is the case with the XLS 320 / 112. So without further delay, let’s take a closer look at the McIntosh XLS 320 / XLS 112 system.

The Guts

One of things I like about McIntosh’s approach to this system is that each component is designed to operate within strict parameters.  The monitors are built to handle only the treble and midrange, while the subwoofer is designed to handle everything from 80Hz on down. This allows each speaker to function within its natural range. The end result is a drastic reduction in distortion and a subsequent increase in clarity and linearity. Having a solid platform to work from, McIntosh then employs a number of exclusive features that really give the XLS system its own unique flare.

When you take the grills off of the XLS 320 monitors, one of the first things you are bound to notice is the unusual tweeter module, which uses five soft dome tweeters lined together in a horizontal array. McIntosh calls this the “Bessel Function Tweeter Array”.  This unique configuration has two major functions. The first is to give the speaker better power handling. Each tweeter by itself can only handle about 30 watts of clean sustained power. However, when you line five tweeters in a row, you suddenly attain greater efficiency and power handling capacity. This enables the speakers to operate comfortably when given copious amounts of high octane solid state or tube fuel.

The second function of using five tweeters has to deal with sound dispersion and off axis distortion. The problem with using multiple tweeters is that they can become directional and load the room in a way to where the sound is good in some spots, and bad in others. To counteract this, McIntosh sets the second and fourth tweeter on the module out of phase. Doing this pulls all of the sound into the third tweeter, which results in a presentation that is non- directional and linear. What you end up with is the power handling of five tweeters and the imaging of one.  Pretty cool eh?

You will also notice that none of the woofers used on the XLS setups can be found on any other branded loudspeaker in the world. That’s because the woofers inside the XLS 320 and the XLS 112 are an in-house recipe and were designed to deliver incredibly low distortion. How low? Well according to McIntosh, most woofers in the market, to include some of the most well regarded out there, create around 10% distortion even at normal output levels. The drivers employed in the McIntosh speakers produce only 3% distortion. Though I won’t claim to understand exactly how this is achieved, the undeniable proof is in the listening. This system can make even the most respectable loudspeakers sound slightly ‘dirty’ by direct comparison. IF you hear distortion through either the XLS 112 or XLS 320, odds are likely that the fault lies either in the recording or somewhere else in the system.

For all the goodies packed into this system, the main appeal resides in its versatility. The XLS 320’s low profile and good power handling will allow you to integrate them into just about any indoor environment you can think of. You can put them on a bookshelf. You can mount them on a wall, in a wall, tuck them away in an entertainment center, or place them on good ole fashioned set of hi-fi speaker stands. The XLS 112 is equally as versatile. Despite weighing a back breaking 95lbs, the subwoofer is actually very compact and easy to position inside a room. When you add everything together, you get a great sounding system that is super easy to work with and is able to integrate into virtually any listening environment.

DETAILED PERFORMANCE SUMMARY

On one hand, the XLS 320 / XLS 112 system offers performance that many audiophiles thirst for. They have a small footprint.  They can play loud enough to remove the wax from your ears. They sound exceptionally detailed and clear.  They sport nearly seamless driver integration, and most importantly, the system stands as one of the rare examples of loudspeakers that manage to remain enjoyable across a wide array of recordings while keeping linear enough to satisfy the “tell it like it is” crowd.

On the other hand, the system lacks the typical earmarks that many audiophiles have come to expect from today’s high end loudspeakers.  The XLS 320 will not deliver a cavernous soundstage that extends many feet beyond or behind the speakers. They also do not have a sound that drips of refinement and sophistication. Those of you who want to ‘feel’ heavy guitar riffs and drum thwacks will be disappointed in the systems inability to produce chest thumping goodness. 

General Character: The entire foundation of this system builds upon the virtues of clarity, linearity, and speed.  Every note played through the XLS system is very distinct and well separated. This great sense of clarity really helps to allow passages that are usually designated as back-round accompaniments to come into full bloom. A byproduct of this clarity is that you also get a great sense of space along the soundstage. This really helps to give the music a proper sense of scale.  Patching the entire presentation together is some of the best driver integration I’ve heard to date.  Cliché adjectives like ‘Seamless’ and ‘fluid’ spring to mind.

The XLS 320 and XLS 112’s voicing tends to vary depending on how they are set up. For example, I found that at listening distances that span 6 feet or greater, the XLS 320’s tend to take on a sound that slants towards the forward side of neutral, giving a more “in your face” listening experience. However, when the speakers are set up only two or three feet from your ears, the sound becomes less forward and hovers a lot closer to the classic ‘mid hall’ denotation. I found this to be particularly interesting because most speakers work in reverse.

Treble:  The tweeter array module on the XLS 320 sounds fantastic.  In my opinion, it’s everything that a good soft dome set-up should be: extended, smooth, detailed, non-fatiguing, and able to capture subtle nuances and tonal shadings of any music. You get nearly the same clarity and air that is normally reserved for metal domes, only with none of the ‘metallic’ inflections that metal domes are so well known to impart into the music. I also noticed a lack of ‘roughness’ and ‘grit’ impurities which can be common across many different types of soft dome tweeters. Overall, the treble of the XLS 320 is quite enjoyable and well balanced. The only time that I ever experienced excessive sounding treble is when I positioned the speakers at regular listening distances. Interestingly enough, the issue went away when set up only a few feet from my ears in my desktop rig.

Midrange:  Clean, quick, and clear, the XLS 320’s lack of midrange color is about as ideal as it gets for listeners who dig on speakers that allow a recording to express itself with minimal electronic influence. Now this is usually bad news for listeners like yours truly, as I admit to enjoying a touch of warmth in my midrange. I’ve found that a bit organic spice tends to breathe life and proper scale into the music, whereas stringent ‘tell it like it is’ presentations often strike my ears being ultimately void of musical color and expression. Surprisingly, the XLS 320 does not fall into the latter group. While it is without question an incredibly uncolored speaker, it still manages to convey the quality of a recording with honesty while at the same time keeping things musical and fun.  The only real issue I came across is that the upper midrange tends to suffer from a ‘beaming’ effect at normal listening volumes and distances. This tendency to ‘propel’ the sound out into space can create listening fatigue over long periods of time, though like the treble, the midrange fell back into balance when used in the ultra near-field.

Bass:  Since the XLS 320’s produce almost zero bass on their own, the low end duties are left to the mighty XLS 112. As expected, the signature of the XLS 112 remains true to the clean and linear presentation of the 320’s. One of the most salient attributes of the XLS 112 is its speed and detail. Getting a compact sub that uses a 12” woofer to sound as clean and quick at 80 to 90Hz as it does at 40Hz is not an easy task. Getting it to integrate with a quick speaker like the XLS 320 is even more difficult. McIntosh did a great job acing both hurdles. Not only does the XLS 112 blend seamlessly into the 320’s, but it also easily meshes well with every speaker that I have on hand, and it didn’t take a week’s worth of experimenting or EQ software to get the job done.

That said, do not expect the XLS 112 to produce the kind of gob smacking output that could cause a rift in the foundation of your home. Though it can get plenty loud and hit hard when it needs to, it’s not a powerhouse. If you want to annoy your neighbors with subsonic blasts, I would advise you to look elsewhere. Because the XLS 112 drops off at 35Hz, it can hardly be called a subwoofer in a literal sense, though to its credit, what it does give you within its range is top notch performance. If you can overlook its limited extension and high price, it is actually quite the enjoyable piece.  

Imaging:  As mentioned earlier in this review, the imaging of the XLS system is not what most would expect from loudspeakers in the $8,000 to $10,000 range. Sure, you get good image depth, but it’s not the sort of cavernous image depth that reaches to your back wall (and beyond). You could say that everything the system does in this department is merely good. You get good off axis performance, good soundstage width, and good instrument placement within that soundstage, but nothing is particularly excellent. About the only area where the XLS system would get high marks in is left/right channel separation, which helps the center stage to sound clear and uncluttered.

Dynamics:  The dynamic range of this system is a bit ‘flat’.  While it is good at transitioning from soft to loud musical passages well, you just don’t get the physical transference of energy that makes a crescendo so emotionally impactful.  Don’t expect this system to have enough gusto to “punch” you in the chest, be it with orchestras, electric guitars, drums, or what have you.  Although listening in near field helps to reduce the lack of a physical connection, the system will still lack dynamic density.

The Caveat

Fundamentally, the XLS 320 and the XLS 112 deliver good sound. The problem is that the performance of the system is not entirely proportional to its price tag. For the same amount of cash, you can step into a set of Martin Logan Spire’s, Reference 3A Grand Veena’s, Verity Audio Rienzi’s, and a whole host of other arguably superior loudspeakers. The McIntosh system would be far more competitive if it were actually a few thousand dollars less.

THE WRAP UP

When you approach the $10,000 loudspeaker category, you better bring your A game.  While the XLS 320 and the XLS 112 make for a good sounding system, the question is, is their price justifiable? Are they a good value? I believe it’s an answer that hinges on what you intend on using the speakers for. If you plan on using the speakers in a more a traditional two-channel stereo application, a better value can be had elsewhere. On the flip side, if you are looking to build an exceptional near field system for recreational PC use or for professional monitoring, than the XLS 320 and the XLS 112 are very viable and worthwhile options to consider.

At the end of the day, I appreciate the XLS 320’s clean midrange, balanced treble, superb driver integration, along with the XLS 112’s speed, clarity, and ability to easily integrate with a wide variety of speakers. Unfortunately though, it’s tough to recommend a $4000 powered woofer that can’t even dig beyond 35Hz, let alone a set of $5000 monitors that drop off at 80Hz. Although I enjoy this system when it’s routed through my PC, I simply cannot call it a great value. Ultimately, the XLS 320 and XLS 112 are good speakers that are priced out of competition.

 

Associated Equipment

 

Source: Lector CDP 0.6 MK III, E-Mu 1212M, McIntosh MCD-500, Naim CD5 XS

Integrated Amplifiers:  Karan Acoustics KA I-180, McIntosh MA 7000, Naim Nait XS

Cabling:  Morrow Audio MA3, Morrow Audio SP3, MIT Cable CVT Terminator2,

Other Speakers Used:  Martin Logan Vantage; Lenehan Audio ML1; Totem Acoustic The One; Wilson Audio Watt Puppy ; Mark and Daniel Maximus Mini; Snell B7 Reference