Thoughts on XRT-28 Speakers

JosephH

JosephH

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I have a chance to acquire an MX-136 and a pair of XRT-28 speakers. Someone's relative passed away and no one wants this gear. I think the price is reasonable, as I can get both for about half of what the used speakers usually go for. I cannot find much reading about these speakers. Even Mr Russell's site stops with the XRT26s. I have read raves about the XRT-22 and 290 speakers on this site but only passing comments about the 28s. I have a couple questions
- Where do these fall in the McIntosh speaker hierarchy? Were these one of their better efforts?
- Will my MC-452 drive these to their full potential? Their sensitivity is 88dB
- How critical is placement in the room? Especially from back wall.
- I listen to jazz, classic rock and blues, how will the 28's sound with this type of music?

Any other information would be appreciated. I don't have much time to act or I will miss out. TIA!
 
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@twiiii seems to be most familiar with them ... but, it sounds as if you certainly won’t get hurt even id they’re not your cup of tea.
 
JosephH said:
I have a chance to acquire an MX-136 and a pair of XRT-28 speakers. Someone's relative passed away and no one wants this gear. I think the price is reasonable, as I can get both for about half of what the used speakers usually go for. I cannot find much reading about these speakers. Even Mr Russell's site stops with the XRT26s. I have read raves about the XRT-22 and 290 speakers on this site but only passing comments about the 28s. I have a couple questions
- Where do these fall in the McIntosh speaker hierarchy? Were these one of their better efforts?
- Will my MC-452 drive these to their full potential? Their sensitivity is 88dB
- How critical is placement in the room? Especially from back wall.
- I listen to jazz, classic rock and blues, how will the 28's sound with this type of music?

Any other information would be appreciated. I don't have much time to act or I will miss out. TIA!
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I believe some one over at AA just bought a pair in the last six months. I would ask him opinion through his posts. I believe he had MC601s driving his. A new MC462 would be my choice if you do not want monoblocks .
There is more headroom for peaks. But 12 watts is a good listen and plenty loud enough. Unless you do HT with them the 452 will suffice

I think they still have silk domes and twiiii likes them. I trust his ears since I picked up XRT20s and XR290s based on his posts and c_dk’s. Karl designed them and he worked with Roger on his later designs plus patented woofer designs for low distortion.

Once you have a McIntosh line array the speakers disappear and you forget their size. Plus they are great for any music genre. Most people either don’t trade them or regret they did. The one guy I met who sold his XRT20s bought Genesis line arrays.
 
There is an old post here about McIntosh line arrays and one of the audio classic guys ranked his favorite. I believe XRT28 was up near top.
 
Found Ryan's post on that question made back in 2008.

AudioClassics1 said:
ok, Sully sent me a PM to remind me to give my top 5 McIntosh speakers. So here is the list. I do take into account the monetary values in my decision as well.

5. XR7
4. XR19
3. XRT22
2. XRT25
1. XRT1K

Of course you will see that the XRT2k's are not there, considering I would have to purchase a new & larger house to buy those, I didn't add them. They do sound great, but my list is for speakers that I have owned or will own in the future.
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Velocityboat said:
@Bill Ferris has XRT30s and XRT22s. He most likely has heard the 28.
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Nope, never heard them, sold the XRT 22`s on eBay to make room in the living room for the 30`s.

Thought about exchanging my XRT 18`s in my bedroom with the 22`s when acquiring the 30`s, but too big physically for the space, and I don`t have, nor desire to collect unused speaker systems, especially large ones in my house..

The Mac XRT 22`s bass cabinets would have covered a portion of the two bedroom windows, if tried..

The inline Mac XRT 18`s speaker layout placement do very well in there IIMO/E..

Thank you for your interest though, and comment, anyway, Velocityboat.

Take care, and keep up with good informative posts Sir.

Kind regards, OKB
 
Bill Ferris said:
Nope, never heard them, sold the XRT 22`s on eBay to make room in the living room for the 30`s.

Thought about exchanging my XRT 18`s in my bedroom with the 22`s when acquiring the 30`s, but too big physically for the space, and I don`t have, nor desire to collect unused speaker systems, especially large ones in my house..

The Mac XRT 22`s bass cabinets would have covered a portion of the two bedroom windows, if tried..

The inline Mac XRT 18`s speaker layout placement do very well in there IIMO/E..

Thank you for your interest though, and comment, anyway, Velocityboat.

Take care, and keep up with good informative posts Sir.

Kind regards, OKB
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Did you notice any startling differences with the 30s over the 22s? Having a line of mids is one of the biggest changes. Seems tweeters on 28 and 30 are similar.
Was it game changer in detail and resolution?
 
Go get 'em before you regret hesitating! If you don't like them, which is unlikely, you shouldn't have a problem at least getting your money back. If the MX136 doesn't interest you, you could sell it to make the speakers an even better bargain.
 
Velocityboat said:
Did you notice any startling differences with the 30s over the 22s? Having a line of mids is one of the biggest changes. Seems tweeters on 28 and 30 are similar.
Was it game changer in detail and resolution?
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I can`t really say startling differences..
But the sweet spot are did widen quite a bit, with apparent increase in instrument & vocal presence, realism, sound stage depth with the 30-ties., and my 2 400 watt servo 15" Velodyne ULD 15`s could be transferred to my bedroom`s XRT 18`s to shore up the weak bottom end as they were not necessary anymore with the more than ample 30`s (4) 12" woofers

Though carefully time aligning & 1/3rd octave voicing the 22`s after Bi-amplifying was damn accurate sounding, but with one mid per speaker system, there just seemed to be something missing that was important too me.
 
Bill Ferris said:
I can`t really say startling differences..
But the sweet spot are did widen quite a bit, with apparent increase in instrument & vocal presence, realism, sound stage depth with the 30-ties., and my 2 400 watt servo 15" Velodyne ULD 15`s could be transferred to my bedroom`s XRT 18`s to shore up the weak bottom end as they were not necessary anymore with the more than ample 30`s (4) 12" woofers

Though carefully time aligning & 1/3rd octave voicing the 22`s after Bi-amplifying was damn accurate sounding, but with one mid per speaker system, there just seemed to be something missing that was important too me.
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Bill,

Thanks for responses. Nice to hear quite close in sound between arrays. The lower Frequency response of the XRT30 I can see eliminating the sub.

Did you time align electrically with time delays or physically by moving the tweeter towers back by extimating lobe centers and cone depth for woofer and mid?

The separate towers make it easier physically with both these models. But leave one hanging for the mids for alignment.
 
gmc said:
Go get 'em before you regret hesitating! If you don't like them, which is unlikely, you shouldn't have a problem at least getting your money back. If the MX136 doesn't interest you, you could sell it to make the speakers an even better bargain.
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I made a trip to the bank and spoke to the estate's agent, unfortunately I am 2nd in line. I will grab them if I get the opportunity. Details to follow.
 
JosephH said:
I made a trip to the bank and spoke to the estate's agent, unfortunately I am 2nd in line. I will grab them if I get the opportunity. Details to follow.
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Crossed fingers for you. I bought ny XR290s from an estate sale. Lucky for me the other serious bidder was out of state in NY vs TX and the agent did not want liabilities of sight undeen sale to supervise the crating and shipping and favored local pick up.

What amps were originally paired with these XRT28s? I take it they already sold.
 
I was wondering the same thing, I will ask if I get a shot at the gear. As $3.5k for everything I doubt the 1st buyer will walk. If it falls through, there is a really nice Triumph Trophy for sale nearby that is calling to me.........:naughty:
 
JosephH said:
I was wondering the same thing, I will ask if I get a shot at the gear. As $3.5k for everything I doubt the 1st buyer will walk. If it falls through, there is a really nice Triumph Trophy for sale nearby that is calling to me.........:naughty:
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Yes an amazing deal. If they have a pair of MC1201s for that price don’t hesitate.
 
Just for general information, the XRT26 was the final project that Roger Russell had a hand in which is probably why later models aren't covered on his web page. Roger had been critical of some of the models produced around the time of Ron Fone's tenure as McIntosh president which lead to Roger's departure under less than pleasant circumstances. This is covered in detail on the site.
 
62caddy said:
Just for general information, the XRT26 was the final project that Roger Russell had a hand in which is probably why later models aren't covered on his web page. Roger had been critical of some of the models produced around the time of Ron Fone's tenure as McIntosh president which lead to Roger's departure under less than pleasant circumstances. This is covered in detail on the site.
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He seemed most upset on bass cabinet changes for aesthetics over sound that did not address bass reflections given square base and the tapered tweeter array. Roger’s column research showed reflective surface uniform beside each tweeter as best. Apparently MQ-109 was made to address issues the Japanese disliked. He also touts silk domes over metal.

He is definitely an uncompromising engineer, if he knows a better solution he will use it. . That is why his IDS-25 sounds so amazing. A lot can be said for coherence and no passive crossovers. Despite it needing equalization because lack of full range drivers, the sound field depth and tonal balance is striking.

I once ponder a neat line array design would be Tannoy like Concentric full range drivers stacked but spacing for large diameter woofer cone exceeds wavelength for high frequency in line array spacing. . Until a true full range driver is successful, that is 3.5 inches in diameter or smaller mixed drivers is the only way to go for SPL. Back to there is no perfect speaker.
 
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