Introduction - McIntosh XCS200 Owner's Manual

Introduction

McIntosh Acoustic Engineers have achieved in the
design of the XCS200 Loudspeaker System a level
of high performance. The XCS200 provides supe-
rior spaciousness sound reproduction with unusual
sound stage depth in a full range system. It uses a
new acoustic design technology known as Progressive
Inductance Control (PIC). PIC
TM TM
multiple Midrange and Tweeter Loudspeaker Drivers
to increase the Dynamic Range of the Loudspeaker
System, without the otherwise negative Acoustic
Combing Effects present in such a quasi point source
Loudspeaker design.
The XCS200 utilizes multiple three-quarter inch
Titanium Dome Tweeters and two
inch Titanium Inverted Dome
Midrange Drivers. Refer to figures
1 and 2. Since the audio power
is distributed among all the driv-
ers, each driver does not have to
work as hard, resulting in greater
power handling capabil-
ity, dramatic reduction
in distortion and greater
dynamic range.
The Low Frequency
Section of the System
consists of two newly
designed eight inch
Woofers. They have a
large magnet assembly
and long cone excursions
with very low levels of harmonic distortion and fre-
quency response down to 80Hz. Refer to figure 3.
The Woofers incorporate McIntosh's Patented
LD/HP Magnetic Circuit Design. Finite Element
® 1
Analysis and testing resulted in a design concept
1
LD/HP Pat. No 5,151,943
4
permits the use of
which utilizes a pair of aluminum shorting sleeves in
the magnetic circuit. Refer
to figure 4. The sleeves
greatly reduce the negative
influence of the fluctuating
Figure 1
voice coil field on the per-
manent magnet field. This
results in lower distortion
due to more linear mag-
netic flux in the voice coil
gap. Refer to figure 5. Ad-
ditional benefits
are less volume
compression due
to improved heat
transfer through
Figure 2
the sleeves and a
cooler operating
voice coil. Both
measurements,
as well as critical
listening, reveal ten times less distortion than previ-
Figure 3
LD/HP
Conventional
Figure 4
Figure 5
ous designs. A good example of this low distortion is
incredible smoothness and clarity in the reproduction
of the human voice.
The Crossover Network used in the XCS200
Loudspeaker System is designed to ensure an even
frequency response over the entire audible range. The
Second and Third Order Designed Network utilizes
Capacitors and Inductors with high current capacity.
Refer to figure 6. There are two different types of low
loss (DCR) Inductors in the network, each one chosen
not to exhibit any core saturation even at high power
Figure 6
levels. This prevents the addition of distortion to the
music at any frequency. The Capacitors used are the
low loss (ESR) types. The Network also utilizes self
resetting high current PTC Fuses to provide an extra
measure of protection.
The enclosure is an important part of the XCS200
Loudspeaker System. The Loudspeaker System uti-
lizes a trapezoidal shaped, rigid extruded aluminum
enclosure that houses the Loudspeaker Drivers. Refer
to figure 7. The Column's small footprint allows for a
variety of different placements in a room.
Figure 7