McIntosh has brought back the speaker that started it all. The McIntosh ML1 Mk II revives the brand’s very first loudspeaker, originally introduced in 1970 and discontinued in 1977, rebuilding it from the ground up as a thoroughly modern 4-way design while keeping the mid-century look that made the original a favorite among music enthusiasts.
McIntosh ML1 Mk II: From 1970 Original to Modern 4-Way Design
Externally, the McIntosh ML1 Mk II is built to evoke the original: a cabinet crafted from oiled American Walnut solid woods and veneers with a satin finish, paired with a magnetically attached, removable wood grille wrapped in acoustically transparent black knit cloth. McIntosh has dropped the vertical wood slats from the original grille design, so the new cover no longer risks interfering with playback.
Internally, though, almost everything has changed. The ML1 Mk II is a 4-way speaker built around five separate drivers: a 12-inch woofer in a sealed enclosure, two 4-inch lower midrange drivers, a 2-inch soft dome upper midrange, and a 3/4-inch titanium dome tweeter. Unlike the original, the drivers are positioned symmetrically, so there is no dedicated left or right cabinet and no risk of installing a pair the wrong way round.
Built to Handle Serious Power
The McIntosh ML1 Mk II is engineered to handle up to 600 watts from an amplifier, with its five drivers sharing the load so the speaker stays composed when driven hard by amplifiers such as the MC611 or MC462. It is equally happy running from lower-power amplifiers like the MC275, MC1502, MC830 or MC312, and McIntosh says bi-amping with the MC451 can push performance further, thanks to a crossover network that separates high and low frequency circuits for both bi-wiring and bi-amping.
The 12-inch woofer uses McIntosh’s patented Low Distortion High Performance (LD/HP) magnetic circuit design and reaches down to 27Hz, close to the lower limit of human hearing, without needing the external equalizer the original ML1 relied on. A specially milled transition plate places the midrange drivers and tweeter close together to reduce off-axis lobing, while internal bracing keeps the woofer’s sealed sub-enclosure isolated from the rest of the cabinet. The result, McIntosh says, is a wide, even sound stage rather than a narrow sweet spot in front of the speaker. This follows the brand’s recent XRT1.1K loudspeaker launch as another sign McIntosh continues to invest heavily in its speaker lineup alongside its amplifiers and sources.
McIntosh ML1 Mk II: Pricing and Availability
McIntosh has not published a retail price for the new McIntosh ML1 Mk II; as with most of the brand’s products, pricing and ordering run through authorized McIntosh dealers. The speaker ships with a matching stand featuring a die-cast aluminum name badge, with feet for hard floors and spikes for carpet included, and it carries McIntosh’s 5-year limited warranty.
Gold-plated Solid Cinch speaker binding posts on the rear panel are designed to keep speaker cables securely attached and corrosion-free. The ML1 Mk II is also available as part of McIntosh’s SoHo IV Music System. Full specifications and dealer information for the McIntosh ML1 Mk II are available on McIntosh’s official product page.
McIntosh ML1 Mk II: Key Specifications
- Design: 4-way, 5-driver sealed enclosure loudspeaker
- Woofer: 1x 12″ with LD/HP magnetic circuit design
- Midrange: 2x 4″ lower midrange, 1x 2″ soft dome upper midrange
- Tweeter: 1x 3/4″ titanium dome
- Power handling: up to 600 Watts
- Bass response: down to 27Hz
- Cabinet: solid American Walnut with satin finish, magnetically attached grille
- Connections: gold-plated Solid Cinch binding posts, bi-wire/bi-amp capable
- Includes matching speaker stand
- Warranty: 5-year limited
