Grandinote MACH 8 XL – A Review of Crossover-Free Design Acoustics

The Italian company Grandinote recently made a splash with its series of amplifiers, which successfully combined the advantages of vacuum tube and solid-state technology. The company's new speakers, the Grandinote MACH 8 XL, also have the potential to become a landmark product – combining beloved audiophile designs and offering the highest level of engineering, they could very well become trendsetters in the speaker market using driver arrays.

Design

The Grandinote MACH 8 XL is equipped with eight woofers (unfiltered, unequalized) and one horn compression tweeter. The speakers boast a very high sensitivity of 98 dB @ 1W/1m, and a forgiving impedance (8 Ohms). Therefore, driving these large speakers (each is 174 cm tall) doesn't require super-powerful amplification – the best results will be achieved with both branded amplifiers and vacuum tube (ideally, single-ended Class A) equipment.

The Grandinote MACH 8 XL is available in three finishes (glossy, matte, or black) and is backed by a five-year warranty. The model features a dual-wiring configuration, a purist approach to connectivity. Vibration isolation is provided: the tall enclosures rest on steel plates with high-quality decoupling using spikes.

Technologies

The Grandinote MACH 8 XL uses the S.R.T. (Semi Resonant Tube) acoustic design and is configured using a crossover-free design. SRT delivers very fast and effortless bass with a record-breaking extension down to 19 Hz. The crossoverless design (no capacitors, inductors, or resistors) guarantees advantages in damping and detail – the absence of additional elements in the signal path allows for a higher nominal impedance (8 ohms in our case) and radically eliminates issues with time and phase distortion.

The S.R.T. (Semi Resonant Tube) solution was chosen to compensate for electronic filtering – in our case, mechanical filtering, or "mechanical crossover," is used. The MDF enclosures function as semi-resonant tubes (not too long) and combine the advantages of a resonator and a bass reflex. Down-firing ports allow for very flexible room placement.

It's not always advisable to install the loudspeakers facing the listener. Tuning for maximum speed and airiness and using a wide-dispersion horn tweeter suggests experimenting with a slight toe-in (15-20 degrees) – this may be sufficient to create a precise three-dimensional soundstage.

Test system

We used the Grandinote MACH 8 XL in a proven system featuring CH Precision, TechDAS, and Lampizator electronics, but the powerful transistor amplification proved inadequate for the speakers' performance characteristics. Therefore, the Aries Cerat Concerto 25 tube amplifier took over amplification duties.

Listening

From the very first chords, the Grandinote MACH 8 XL demonstrates a warm and airy performance with a rich, full-bodied timbre. The loudspeakers clearly eschew analytical presentation—there's not a hint of sterility or surgical precision. By painting large-scale musical images and creating a soundscape with real flesh and blood, the model compels you to quickly switch from assessing details or resolution to the overall emotional experience of the recording. It allows you to simply drift along the rhythms of the melodies and enjoy them for hours, literally transporting you to the world of the composer's intent.

The absence of a crossover provides a striking effect in the transparency of the presentation and dynamics—the ease of delivery, the expressiveness of the bursts, all of this is handled without the slightest strain and literally exudes energy. The soundstage is incredibly impressive – it significantly transcends the confines of the auditorium and gracefully transports the listener to the center of the stalls.

Conclusion

This model isn't for those seeking an analytical tool for exploring recordings – the Grandinote MACH 8 XL is aimed at music lovers and audiophiles who are ready to surrender to the spirit and heart of music.