Thoughts on the McIntosh MQ 101 EQ

[SUPERBEE]

I scored a really nice Mac 1700 yesterday for re-sale and in the lot of stuff I bought was a wood cased MQ-101 along with some water ruined McIntosh ML-1C speakers ( I have parted out the usable pieces)

In running the gear for test I noticed I kinda liked the MQ 101 a bit. I have tried it on the 1700 over some Jensen TF-3s and now on the Scott LK-72 over the Paragon. I have yet to run it on the big system but so far it is getting high marks. Now when I went all Mac tube and big JBL in 1990 I felt I could do away with my over priced 80s black faced EQ with a million red lights on it. I didnt think it made much of a good difference. The cool look and the different spacial sound may be whats sucking me in here but it does seem to add a bit more control.

Anyone else care to weigh in on the MQ 101?

[SUPERBEE]

I droped a line to Roger Russell this morning. He is the designer of the Mcintosh MQ101. I asked about the usage of the MQ 101 on my 2 sets of JBL's and he very kindly answered back. Posted below is his reply.

Kurtis:

I designed the MQ101 to work with the unique characteristics of the ML and XR woofers. The amount of boost could overdrive the JBL speakers and may not complement the response of the JBL. However, if you play them at low levels, it should be safe.

Roger

[JohnK]

I have had one of those for 25+ years & have never tried it. So it sounds good?

[SUPERBEE]

Give it a try. I like the sound of mine so far.






I have had one of those for 25+ years & have never tried it. So it sounds good?

[vettedrummer]

I use the MQ101 with my ML1C's and ML10C's and it does sound better with it then without it. I also once tried it with my Jubals and the L-36's and the sound sucked! I guess it wasn't made for JBL's I run my MC225 and my MX110 through the MQ101 into only Mc-speakers these days.