McINTOSH vintage ML 1C speakers

Mac17GMB

Member
Does anyone know about these speakers... Looking at them in the morning, yet I do not have any knowledge of their quality or value? Can someone help?
 
Respected speakers but need dedicated Mac equalizer to really shine.
Go on Roger Russell's McIntosh website for more info and history.
He was a designer and responsible for number of speakers.
 
here are some photos
Respected speakers but need dedicated Mac equalizer to really shine.
Go on Roger Russell's McIntosh website for more info and history.
He was a designer and responsible for number of speakers.
Thanks...yes I went to his site...his photo is with the same speakers...so maybe that is good news....but I could not find information regarding them.....I might of miss it in the many links there on his site....but thank you.....I wish I could read up on these speakers somewhere.....Ugh.
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    74.3 KB · Views: 82
  • 12.jpg
    12.jpg
    78.9 KB · Views: 78
The pictured speakers are ML1C for Contemporary cabinets.......there were also Mediterrean style cabinets available for the larger ML2M and ML4M.

Voiced to represent a seat in row 25 of the auditorium the issue with the mid domes being damaged by amp clipping must be considered.
 
If you get them and have any questions just email Roger Russell and ask him. He's very friendly and helpful.
 
They do not need a EQ if they are placed near the corners of the listening room......only minor EQ boost needed if placed near the back wall.

The concept of Mac's speaker EQ system is detailed in the Mac speaker white paper in the Mac tech sticky.

Most often these speakers were matched up with the 60 watt MAC1900 receiver or 70 watt MA6100 integrated intially. Obviously if those owners upgraded their electronics their best option was the 100-200 watt separate amps.

Due to their high frequency roll off as expected by their deep in the auditorium voicing many found their sound to be "dull" sounding. Their low bass and midrange distortion was excellent but the rolled off highs left many under whelmed.

Roger's mentioned mid and tweeter driver upgrade continued that sound which we found underwhelming when we completed a upgrade for a local owner.

In my experimental $100 modifaction of a pair I attempted to change the voicing to a more modern expectation of a row 10 seating.
 
Thanks...I went ahead and bought them....it quite good shape.....both woofers need reform...mid's have been reformed recently. I have not opened the tweeter grill yet to look in. Paid $185 delivered to my Jeep. I was amazed how heavy they were for their size when I had to unload them. I can say that McIntosh made these cabinets to last years! I think I did okay...My son might like these ...with a Mac amp and pre amp.....

I'll reach out to Roger in the coming weeks when I am free to jump into this project. I also found the correct links to the specs....I apologize for listing them as MC 1A's ....this was the error of the Estate Sale,,,they are clearly marked ML 1C on the back....LOL
 
Last edited:
I apologize for listing them as MC 1A's ....this was the error of the Estate Sale,,,they are clearly marked ML 1C on the back....LOL
You can edit the title of your thread. Directly above and on the right side of your first post is the thread tools. You can edit from there.
 
The super tweeter was rated around 10 watts and the tweeter around 20. There's a white paper on the speaker some where on this site as I remember. The mids about 40 watts and 80 to 100 watts for the woofer. I believe those are long term continuous values. So short peaks 6 db higher shouldn't be an issue. I drove them with 2105's all the time, 130 watts before clipping, and as long as the amp never clipped no problems. But clipping could take out the super tweeter in a flash. I had friends with 754s and MA 6200's with power guard and they pushed the speakers pretty hard and never had an issue. I used them in multiples with 2300's and the black caps in the early models all failed. After being rebuilt they performed very well.
 
Back
Top Bottom