I own XRT-28s as well as XRT-18s ,XRT-22s and XR-290s ,but not just any ole $54,000 XR;290s,I own Roger Russell's personal 1 piece 380 lb cabinet in white finish XR;290s which are a step above mass produced XR-290s with split cabinets & a wider separation between mid & tweeter column ,my 290s are the original design that sounded best before McIntosh forced cabinets to be made with a top & bottom cabinet ,I'm listing only the McIntosh line arrays I own as a comparison with the XRT-28, the XR-290s do everything at world class levels but the XRT-28s do everything just a little better,except for bass extension which is better than the XR-290s and superior to any speaker in the $100,000 price range ,the bad part is that the XRT-28s 4 ohm design cannot perform at world class levels with any McIntosh Autoformer amp,with my Mc-1201s the XR-290s sound like angels singing ,on the 28s the 1201s make the speaker have weak bass response and lackluster highs ,using any high end amplifier that is rated to double down to the 2 ohm range and the XRT-28s come alive to where they are noticably better sounding than any other McIntosh speaker ,even the XR-290s ,driven by the 1,750 4 ohm watts the Emotiva XPR-1 Monoblocks deliever along with a McIntosh C-2500 tube preamp and it's sonic heaven .

Only 1 weakness ,Autoformer amps restrict the speakers response ,drive them with any high quality amps that are rated for 2 ohm use around the 1,500 to 2,000 watt range @4 ohms and a better cost no object speaker cannot be found ,the bass is so deep at 16hz that I must keep my preamps bass output at -9 to -12 DB vs the neutral or zero db setting ,even at -9db the 16hz bass response is chest thumping ,the mids & highs are insanely clear .

Best speaker ever made period . Amazing headroom sound,

None! It’s the best ever made

I have had a pair of these for a few years. I also have other speakers and even other McIntosh speakers. These are expensive, not just to buy, but to power so they can open up. I use two SunFire 600X2 as mono blocks, so that puts 2400 watts to each of them.
These speakers sound very good and sound as large as they are. Placement is not as tricky as with other speakers. The "sweet spot" is large. I have a large sub there, but it is not needed with these when they get the power they deserve.
They are very clear which I prefer in a speaker. I do use a tube preamp and a tube phono amp, and that warms them some.
They are not for a small room, but actually do play extremely well at low levels.
My music tastes are broad, and these have no problem with anything.
As you might expect at this price range - hard to find a problem if hooked to similiar equipment.

Mids are incredible, bass is spot on, foot print is perfect for many, wiring capacity is the best.

High end could be improved for clarity, but certainly not a bright sound at all.

These are imposing speakers by any standards and there is a certain pride factor involved with owning this level of equipment. Having said that, these speakers are not for the faint of heart systems. These take an extremely effective power source with enough punch to make them function, more than most amps on the market can handle. I have owned some very nice speakers previously and speak from experience on this note (pun intended).

Musically, these are simply astounding. The silky smoothness they project is amazing. The mids are a delight and, after breaking in correctly, the bass is excellent. The line array idea is not fully developed here, but it works sufficiently well to be noticeable better than other styles of speakers. The highs are not as clean as I would prefer, but never are bright or harsh. This does equate to the smooth presentation of the many red book discs that can be brash and over bearing.

The cabinets are stout and rigid and appearances are worth the price of admission. The small amount of woodwork works well for most decorators. The footprint is a godsend for most of us.

This is a most usual speaker in that it is so listenable across a broad spectrum of music. Regardless of what you ask them to play, they separate well, punch when asked and never strain. I gave up Genesis speakers to use these and am happy to have done so.

Customer Service

My local dealer is an amazing individual with service to be commended.

Similar Products Used:

Genisis, Paradigm, Bose (come on, we were all there at one point), Polk.