There seems to be no end to the retro wave in hi-fi. Every company that once made a popular product can’t resist making a modern version dressed up in a 70s design.
Sometimes it’s very successful, like JBL’s Classic series, sometimes not.
Now, you might accuse McIntosh’s design language of always being retro, since their amplifiers have looked pretty much the same for 50 years. But the speakers haven’t, until now.
McIntosh has actually been making speakers for almost as long as they’ve been making electronics, and the ML1 MKII is pretty much a faithful copy of the original ML1.
But that’s just on the exterior. Beneath the fabric-covered grill, which like the speakers is made from oiled American walnut, the configuration has been changed with more, and of course modern, speaker drivers.
The five drivers form a four-way system, with a 12-inch polypropylene cone on a woofer working in a closed enclosure.
“While we have been making loudspeakers for over five decades, the ML1 will always be our first and holds a special place in our hearts here at McIntosh,” said McIntosh president Charlie Randall, saying in the press release that, they are very excited to show how far they have come in more than half a century, and hope that many listeners out there will be equally excited.
The ML1 MK II will be available at McIntosh dealers in July this year, priced at an estimated US$12,000 per pair.
