When I reviewed the MC Audiotech Forty-10 loudspeaker arrays a couple of year ago, I ultimate felt they were too much transducer for my smallish room back in Portland. I wanted to give Mark Conti and Paul Paddock another chance, and in the meantime they came up with a smaller–but still large–speaker called the TL-12 ($27,000/pair). These were much more to my liking, although I never had a chance to test them. Another year has passed, and now we have the MC Audiotech TL-8 ($15,000/pr), their smallest offering yet.
Words and Photos by Marc Phillips
At the 2024 Florida International Audio Expo, the MC Audiotech TL-8s made a huge impression on both the attendees and the industry. They’re compact without being diminutive, stocky and still coming in at around 50 pounds per side. The TL-8 uses an 8″ woofer, as opposed to the TL-12’s 12″ woofer, but I still heard plenty of deep bass, not to mention incredible imaging.
The MC Audiotech TL-8 was surrounded by a truly fine system–Pass Labs XP-22 preamp ($9,975), Pass Labs XA60.8 amplifier ($14,250), Audience Front Row cabling, a VPI Prime Signature turntable ($8,999) with Shyla cartridge ($2,000), plus a Weiss DAC 501, a Wolf Audio Alpha 3 music server and a Luminous Audio Arion Mk II phono pre.
I want to recognize VPI for a moment–how many turntables did Mat Weisfeld bring to the show? They were everywhere. And if you had a VPI in your system at FLAX, chances are I really liked your room.
As far as the MC Audiotech TL-8 is concerned, I’m certainly game for another round with these distinctive speakers. I’ve enjoyed watching Mark Conti and Paul Paddock develop their product line into something truly notable, and they’re super nice people, too. Will there be an MC Audiotech TL-6 bookshelf monitor in the near future that really knocks my socks off? I wouldn’t be surprised. My listening room is much larger now, and I expect great things.
