The system has been made in collaboration with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, who designed it with recording engineer John Klett and Belgian artists 2ManyDJs, in an effort to bring the hi-fi sound to the club environment.
First revealed back in 2013, the McIntosh Despacio system comprises eight 11-foot tall McIntosh speaker/amplification towers.
These towers house five amplifiers each: four MC1.2KW monoblocs and one MC452 two-channel 450W amp, and a drive unit array in a custom cabinet.
MORE: McIntosh C2500 review
The array is made up of two 21in 2000W subs, two double 15in custom-vented bass drivers, two double 12in custom vented midrange drivers, a single 1.5in 'throat' driver and a 4in compression driver for the high-frequencies, and four ‘bullet’ drivers for ultra-high-frequencies.
Each stack delivers 5700W of power, and the system as a whole delivers 77,600W. Less than B&W’s 120k watt Sound System, but powerful nonetheless.
McIntosh says a ‘normal’ set-up consists of seven stacks and one DJ station. A second DJ station, and the eighth stack are ‘spares’. The crossover points can be moved depending on the venue
The Despacio system can be heard at Citadel and Lovebox festivals in London in July, and the Electric Picnic festival in Ireland in September. More festivals are planned.
