JL Audio Fathom

No I would not switch. Doubtful the JL is much different from ML sound wise. I have had 5 (yes 5) failed JL E112s, friends don’t let friends by JL. 

Well I am not from Florida but I am currently in Florida lol. But yes, I am pretty much at a 100% failure rate with JL audio. I wonder how much of an exception it really it. 
 

When they broke the second time my shopped offered me a floor model while I water for mine… we looked at the floor model and the volume knob did not work on it either…. Can’t make this stuff up

The good thing is if you go JL Audio they have great service, as one day you will need it… 

Just use the 2 ohm tap. the autoformers are use to match the load to the amp so it does not need to work as hard. Using the 2 ohm tap should make the highs sound a touch softer, effectively making the bass louder.

if you want a deep dive into how a Mac work the stereophile review of the MC462 is a good read… it also has near perfect measurements.

Make try the 2 ohm tap on the McIntosh. 

The autoformer more or less multiplies the impedance of the speaker making it an easier load.

the minimum impedance of the Sabrina according to Stereophile is 2.44 ohms and the Sabrina X is stated by them at 1.1. Mcintosh states to use the tap below the lowest impedance of the speaker. In this case try the 2 ohm. With that being said you can use any tap you want, it will not hurt the amp.

When you use the lower tap it will reduce the output voltage which will increase the current (current being good for low impedance speakers). It will generate more heat but Macs run so cool it will not matter.

However lower than needed will not improve it more. If you had a true 8 ohm speaker using the 4 ohm for example has no advantage over the 8 ohm as you just give up voltage as the “extra” current will not be pulled.

The down side of the autoformer is cost, size and weight. The other one is running the signal through a big chunk of copper but not sure it matters too much.

what I think you will hear when using the lower tap is a reduction in the highs and an overall smother sound. Try it and let us know what you think.

Yes the correct answers is a high pass which will fix “everything” and take the system to another level. On the 8950 you can pull the bars out of the back that separate the pre-amp and amp to rout wires to the crossover then back into the amp portion. 
 

JL Audio CR-1 $3500 (analogue)

Sublime Acoustics K231 $600 (analogue, probably as good as the JL, new model has balanced inputs) 

Harrison Labs inline highpass  $27 ( single capacitor installed between the preamp and amp). This will be a 12db slope on the Mac’s input impedance.