FS/A: McIntosh AA2 Acoustical Analyzer - Rare Offering.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.marketplace,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

These are only of interest if you are setting up a vintage solid state
McIntosh system with their ML speakers and MQ Environmental Equalizers.


"If you can afford McIntosh today, you can afford better than McIntosh
today". (Quote from local ex-Mac dealer!)





There are equalizers and equalizers. They aren't all the same. There
are speaker equalizers that work with a speaker system to achieve a
specific acoustic output. There are equalizers that compensate for
different speaker locations in a room. There are equalizers that
compensate for response peaks and dips due to room resonances. There
are also program equalizers (tone controls) that adjust the frequency
balance of program material. Each kind of equalizer is tailored to
accomplish a specific task. Each covers a specific frequency range with
a certain shape and amplitude. A bass control, for example, does not
make a good speaker equalizer. It's too broad and while it may
correct one frequency range, it can also exaggerate another, resulting
in different bass that still doesn't sound good.

The McIntosh MQ101 and MQ102 equalizers were never completely
understood by most sales people or customers. To further complicate
matters, the equalizers were sold separately from the speakers instead
of being included in the price of the system. It was treated as an
optional enhancement instead of an essential part. There were no owner
manuals for the ML systems and the equalizer manuals never explained
how to use the equalizer to achieve specific acoustic results or even
why it was needed with the ML speaker systems at all. As a result, only
one person in three bought an equalizer.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.marketplace,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

I'm not sure I agree with you entirely. The idea behind using
something like the AA2 in conjunction with an MQ-102, MQ-104 or MQ-107
equalizer is by no means limited to McIntosh.

Essentially, you're taking highly detailed measurements of the room
acoustics ('shooting' the room as I remember the expression) as it
applies to your hifi set; irrespective what amp and speakers you have.
You're then applying what you've learned to compensate in just a few
targeted octaves. It's an extremely minimalist approach to EQ that's
perfectly suited to it's application.

I personally use an MQ-107 with a Carver Sunfire amp and Infinity
speakers. It works just as good as it did with my old Mac MC-300.

I do agree with you however, on how this idea was marketed. The
AA2/MQx combo shouldn't be used by the average hifi dealer. They
simply don't know enough about audio engineering to put it to proper
use. And yes, with McIntosh's higher-end XRT speakers, room voicing
should be part of the purchase price.

A_C




On 31 Jul 2005 11:31:39 -0700, "Bret Ludwig" <bretldwig@yahoo.com>
wrote:

> These are only of interest if you are setting up a vintage solid state
>McIntosh system with their ML speakers and MQ Environmental Equalizers.
>
>
> "If you can afford McIntosh today, you can afford better than McIntosh
>today". (Quote from local ex-Mac dealer!)
>
>
>
>
>
> There are equalizers and equalizers. They aren't all the same. There
>are speaker equalizers that work with a speaker system to achieve a
>specific acoustic output. There are equalizers that compensate for
>different speaker locations in a room. There are equalizers that
>compensate for response peaks and dips due to room resonances. There
>are also program equalizers (tone controls) that adjust the frequency
>balance of program material. Each kind of equalizer is tailored to
>accomplish a specific task. Each covers a specific frequency range with
>a certain shape and amplitude. A bass control, for example, does not
>make a good speaker equalizer. It's too broad and while it may
>correct one frequency range, it can also exaggerate another, resulting
>in different bass that still doesn't sound good.
>
>The McIntosh MQ101 and MQ102 equalizers were never completely
>understood by most sales people or customers. To further complicate
>matters, the equalizers were sold separately from the speakers instead
>of being included in the price of the system. It was treated as an
>optional enhancement instead of an essential part. There were no owner
>manuals for the ML systems and the equalizer manuals never explained
>how to use the equalizer to achieve specific acoustic results or even
>why it was needed with the ML speaker systems at all. As a result, only
>one person in three bought an equalizer.