McIntosh Labs RS150 Wireless Loudspeaker
The McIntosh RS150 brings controlled bass, smooth detailed treble and unusually broad streaming into a compact, design-led wireless speaker. Gramophone found its long-throw woofer composed rather than muddy, while the airy titanium tweeter stays refined through extended listening. AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Roon Ready and high-resolution Bluetooth make this a polished, room-filling all-in-one.
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Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
84/100
Build Quality
84/100
Value for Money
88/100
Pros
Controlled, fuller-than-expected bass from the long-throw woofer and rear-ported cabinet.
Smooth, airy and detailed treble that avoids sharpness during long listening sessions.
Exceptional streaming versatility, including AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect and Roon Ready.
Performs convincingly even in a large, untreated room.
Cons
Its single-speaker design cannot deliver a true stereo soundstage.
Priced above many competing smart speakers, despite the reviewer considering its performance to justify the premium.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 84/100
Reviewers find the RS150 notably polished for a compact all-in-one speaker, praising its balanced presentation, controlled bass, and smooth but informative treble. Its principal sonic compromise is inherent to its single-speaker format: it cannot provide a true stereo soundstage.
Bass
89/100
Gramophone found the long-throw woofer controlled rather than muddy, even when working hard. The rear port was also said to add useful bass output, giving this compact speaker a fuller foundation than its dimensions might suggest.
Mid
85/100
Direct commentary on vocals, instruments, and midrange timbre is limited. Still, the reviewer describes the overall voicing as nicely balanced, with no reported discontinuity or strain through the central musical range.
Treble
90/100
The titanium tweeter is described as smooth, airy, and detailed. Gramophone particularly praised its ability to reveal high-frequency information without becoming sharp or fatiguing over longer listening sessions.
Soundstage Imaging
75/100
As a single wireless loudspeaker, the RS150 does not create a conventional stereo presentation. Gramophone explicitly identifies the lack of a true stereo experience as the main trade-off, although this is expected for its one-box design.
Dynamics
80/100
The reviews say little specifically about large-scale punch, headroom, or subtle dynamic shading. That Home Theater Dude did report that it sounded very good in a large untreated shop space, suggesting it can fill a room comfortably, but detailed dynamic assessment is limited.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
84/100
The supplied reviews offer little direct assessment of cabinet construction, finish durability, controls, or long-term reliability. The RS150 is presented as a substantial compact unit, but reviewers do not provide enough hands-on construction commentary to make stronger claims.
Value for Money
88/100
At the reviewed $1,200 price, Gramophone calls the RS150 a good deal, while acknowledging that it is not inexpensive. The reviewer considers less costly smart speakers available, but says they are not at the McIntosh's performance level.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
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Specifications
- Power Output
- 120 Watts (30 Watts to Tweeter, 90 Watts to Woofer)
- Number of Channels
- 1
- System Driver Complement
- One 20mm Titanium Dome Fluid-filled TweeterOne 5-1/4" x 6 inch Long Throw Woofer
- Frequency Response
- 48Hz to 20kHz
- Crossover Frequency
- 2,000Hz
- Enclosure Finish
- High Gloss Black
- Grille Finish
- Black Knit Cloth
- Grille Attachment
- Mechanical
- Wireless Input
- Apple AirPlay 2Bluetooth 5.0 A2DP with support for AAC, aptX HD and aptX Low LatencyChromecastRoon ReadySpotify ConnectTIDAL ConnectWi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac 2.4/5GHz
- Wired Input
- 1 Ethernet
- Unit Dimensions (W x H x D)
- 7-3/4" (19.5cm) x 14-1/2" (36.8cm) x 8-5/8" (21.9cm)
- Unit Weight
- 18.5 lbs (8.4 kg)
- Shipping Weight
- 24 lbs (10.9 kg)
Manufacturer's Description — McIntosh Labs
- Easily add streaming music to any room
- Built-in casting: Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, Chromecast, Roon Ready
- Control playback directly from your favorite compatible streaming apps - no dedicated control app needed
- Power output doubled
- New, quick responding LED digital meter
The RS150 Wireless Loudspeaker is an easy-to-use wireless speaker, that while relatively compact, still delivers a larger-than-life home audio sound performance that McIntosh is known for. It is a stand-alone, complete wireless speaker solution that does not require any dedicated control app. Instead, it has a variety of built-in casting technologies such as Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, Chromecast, and Roon Ready, letting you easily stream to the RS150 from your smart devices.
The RS150 is a great way to introduce yourself or your friends and family to McIntosh’s legendary sound quality and home audio performance standards. Its moderate size allows the RS150 to be placed and easily relocated to just about anywhere in your home.
A replacement for the successful RS100 Wireless Loudspeaker, the RS150 has received a variety of thoughtful updates. Chief among them is the overall improvement in using and controlling the speaker. No longer needing a special control app, the RS150 can conveniently be controlled directly from your favorite streaming apps that use compatible casting technologies.
The power output of the RS150 has been doubled, with the woofer receiving 90 Watts and the tweeter getting 30 Watts. The woofer has also been upgraded from a 4" to a 5-1/4" diameter driver; this along with a larger and reengineered woofer enclosure produces higher output with lower distortion and deeper bass extension. Bass control has also been added; this can be used to help fine tune the low-end performance based on your unique room characteristics and listening preferences. Combined, all these improvements help deliver the legendary McIntosh sound performance.
The RS150 is compatible with TIDAL HiFi Lossless Quality playback (up to 1411 Kbps). It also supports file streaming of up to 24-bit/192kHz high-resolution digital music files. With its built-in high-resolution streaming capabilities, the RS150 is a Roon Ready endpoint device; Roon Ready network devices have Roon’s streaming technology built in, and are certified by Roon Labs to provide the highest level of quality and performance in network streaming. For Bluetooth connections, the RS150 uses Bluetooth 5.0 with support for both the high bitrate Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) standard as well as Qualcomm aptX HD for hi res audio playback. It also includes Qualcomm aptX Low Latency for improved audio transmission speed to deliver sound in sync with applicable visual media.
The RS150 features a new illuminated digital output meter. Exclusive to the RS150 and RS250 Wireless Loudspeaker System, this meter is more than just a simple LED indicator. The fast-responding meter uses the same trusted circuits found in our analog meters to collect and process the audio signals; it then digitizes the results and outputs them into a pulsating, gradated bar that shares the curved shape of our familiar analog meters. The front of the RS150 more closely resembles the traditional McIntosh design aesthetic with a glass front panel on the lower section of the speaker. Above the glass panel is the speaker grille that is easily removable to expose the woofer and tweeter.
To connect the RS150 to your network, it has a wired ethernet port and supports Wi-Fi protocols a, b, g, n, and ac. It is also Google Assistant compatible for voice control. Simply speak to your Google Assistant control device to operate your RS150. Contact your local dealer to learn more.
1) Requires use of a third-party Google Assistant device with voice recognition (sold separately). The RS150 and Google Assistant device must be on the same network.
The RS150 is compatible with AirPlay 2. iOS 11.4 or later is required. To wirelessly stream music to the RS150 via Apple AirPlay 2, a wireless router is required. Router not included. Apple, AirPlay, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPhone, and Lightning are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. The trademark “iPhone” is used in Japan with a license from Aiphone K.K. The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by McIntosh Laboratory, Inc. is under license. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners. Google is a trademark of Google LLC. Qualcomm is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated, registered in the United States and other countries. aptX is a trademark of Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd., registered in the United States and other countries. Qualcomm aptX is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Non-McIntosh-Provided Services: Embedded and/or non-embedded services, e.g. those listed above, are necessary for full functionality, are provided by companies unrelated to McIntosh, and are beyond McIntosh’s control. McIntosh cannot and does not warrant against interruption, discontinuance, unsatisfactory performance, reduced Product functionality, or damages of any kind attributable to such services or their providers. All services may not be available in all regions; certain services may not yet be enabled for all apps; subscriptions may be required.
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Authorized dealers for McIntosh Labs RS150 Wireless Loudspeaker
- Absoulute Audio plus Video — in-store — Aiken, South Carolina, United States (website)
- Holt Hill — online and in-store — Andover, Massachusetts, United States (website)
- Resolution A/V — in-store — New York City, New York, United States (website)
- A Tube High Fidelity — online and in-store — Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands (website)
- Abt Electronics — online and in-store — Glenview, Illinois, United States (website)
- Acoustic Designs Inc. — in-store — Scottsdale, Arizona, United States (website)
- Advance Audio — in-store — Wichita, Kansas, United States (website)
- Ahead Stereo — in-store — Los Angeles, California, United States (website)
- Ajasom — online and in-store — Amadora, Lisboa, Portugal (website)
- Alen Audio — in-store — Extramurs, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain (website)
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