McIntosh System Gets a Feature in Fred again’s New Mixtape
For fifty hours at the end of July, several million people watched two acts make a record from scratch. Fred again.. and Mexican trio LATIN MAFIA set up at Lago Algo in Bosque de Chapultepec, Mexico City, pointed a camera at themselves and started a YouTube stream titled “making a mixtape with latin mafia and staying here until we finish it”. They did not end the broadcast until the record was done.
The result, 9 months & 50 hours, arrived on 31 July 2026: fourteen tracks across roughly 46 minutes, released through Atlantic Records UK. The night before it landed, the pair debuted it live to a sold-out Palacio de los Deportes.
What caught our attention was the monitoring. Rather than the near-field studio monitors you would expect in a room like that, the artists worked on a bespoke McIntosh reference system built around the XRT2.1K, the largest loudspeaker the company has ever made. It is an unusual choice, and a revealing one.
Fifty hours in public
The groundwork was laid on 26 July with under the fabric (Mexico City, 11th December 2025), a 35-minute film of the one-take session that started the collaboration, shot beneath an installation by Dutch artist Boris Acket. Two days later the livestream began. Fred again.. had announced it on Instagram as a family affair, a reference both to LATIN MAFIA being three brothers and to his own brother Benjy, who co-wrote and co-produced the record.
By 30 July the tape was finished. The stream ran continuously throughout, which meant every playback, every mix decision and every argument about a low end happened in front of an audience. That is the part worth dwelling on. When a mixing decision is made in public and immediately committed to a record that millions will hear, the accuracy of what the room is telling you stops being an abstract concern.
The McIntosh system used at Lago Algo
The following components carried the load:
- McIntosh XRT2.1K Floor Standing Loudspeakers
- McIntosh MC2.1KW Monoblock Power Amplifiers stack (x2)
- McIntosh C12000
Specifications
| Component | Type | Key figures | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| XRT2.1K | 4-way line array floorstander | 81 drivers, 12Hz–45kHz, 90dB, 8Ω, 160kg each | £173,980 |
| C12000 | Pre-amp | Matching Preamplifier | £22,580 |
| MC2.1KW | Monoblock power amplifier | 2,000W into 2/4/8Ω, tri-chassis, Autoformer | £66,990 |
Hearing McIntosh in London
Premium Sound is an authorised UK McIntosh dealer, carrying 77 products across 16 ranges including the full amplifier line.
Auditions are by appointment in our demo room at 12 Abingdon Road, London W8 6AF. If you would like to hear or discuss any part of the McIntosh range, call 020 3952 0950 or email [email protected]. Home trial, trade-in and finance options are available on McIntosh equipment.
