The 2.1 multimedia speaker system that shows the competition how it SHOULD be done
Written: Jun 14 '03 (Updated Jun 19 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good build quality, clear and crisp highs, tight bass, superb imaging, very linear
Cons: Mid-bass slightly weak with certain musical selections
The Bottom Line: If you want a 2.1 system providing almost everything the competition does (and a few things it doesn't in terms of audio quality), audition these.
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| Roj's Full Review: Planar PM-9 |
Let's Begin At The Beginning
I have owned several sets of Monsoon speakers over the years and in fact they are my brand of choice. The reason for that is quite simple:
No other line of multimedia speaker that I have heard has matched their combination of linearity, open spatial characteristics and detail.
I bought the Planar Media 9s (henceforth referred to as the PM9s) to replace my Monsoon MH-505s. “But wait” you say, “you went from a 5.1 system to a 2.1? Why?”. Well, since music is my main interest and I rarely do 5.1 audio on my PC, I decided to move back to a 2.1 configuration. I had heard the PM9s briefly in the store and the noticeably improved sound quality over the 505s decided me. To be sure, there are other systems that offer more bass and volume but let me make something perfectly clear at this point:
Monsoon speakers are not for bassheads (“more bass – More Bass – MORE BASS!!”) or aficionados of the excruciatingly “loud 'n' proud” mindset (“They ROCK, maaaannnnn!!”).
They are for those who appreciate detailed sound, a finely drawn 3D soundstage and tight, punchy bass at loud (but not bone-liquefying) volume levels.
To make it simpler, if you for some reason have an innate need to have people FEEL you coming in your car, the Logitech boom-booth is two doors down and to your left. The rest of you, stick around and keep reading because you're in the right place.
So Of Course Many Will Want To Know The Specifications...
It is my view after long experience that specifications should only be considered a place to start and not a definitive indication of the capabilities (or lack thereof) of a given speaker system. In short, I don't believe in spec-fests. Thus, I'm providing these primarily as a thumbnail overview:
Satellite drivers: Dipole-radiating thin profile satellites, Level 9 PFT100 Series Planar Ribbon Transducers
Satellite enclosure: None
Amplifier power: 76 Wrms - Satellites 2 x 19W / Subwoofer 2 x 19W
Crossover: Active crossover, 200Hz Linkwitz - Riley alignment
Subwoofer driver: 6 1/2" (165mm) diameter dual voice coil cone high excursion driver
Xmax=+/- 1/4" (6 mm). Felted semipress cone
Subwoofer cabinet: 0.4 ft3 (11 liter) vented MDF cabinet, tuned to 55Hz, low compression flared port tube design
Controls on subwoofer: Master Power on/off Switch
Controls on Control Center: Master Volume, Bass Volume, System Mute (Standby), Power LED, Headphone Jack
System frequency response: 40 Hz to 20 kHz in workstation environment
Maximum SPL at .5 meters: 101 dB peak in a typical desktop environment
A key factor to note is that power does NOT necessarily equal sound quality, or even volume for that matter. As an example from the home audio genre, the Myryad MI 120 pushes what on the surface appears to be a scant 60W per channel (it's a two-channel integrated amplifier) until in practice you see that this little gem blows away amplifiers from lesser competitors pushing almost twice that amount of power. In that same light, I'll tell you right up front that the PM9s are plenty loud (and clean) but I'll get to that.
Styling And Build Quality
Now, a couple of things are really apparent when you first liberate these speakers from the box. The first is the severe “Blade Runner” retro styling which I personally find visually appealing. However, not everyone will appreciate what essentially looks like two silver waffle irons sitting on their desk. The second thing you'll notice is that the metal satellites are relatively small when compared to previous Monsoon models and weigh quite a bit for their size - cheaply built they are not. The sub is another solid affair with a reasonable sized heat sink at the rear, twin RCA jacks, the control pod plugin and a rocker On / Off switch. The power supply is internal to the unit.
Monsoon has thankfully redesigned their remote control pod. The puck that accompanied the MH-500s was functional but annoyingly small and light and the wedge that came with the MH-505s and MM-2000s was better but still not optimal. For example, there were no delimiters indicating when the balance or bass were at a neutral setting. The new pod is in between both previous offerings in size, has neutral notches for the balance and bass and is also dockable on either satellite. It's light but will not skitter across your desk the way the MH-500 puck did and the controls have a smooth feel to them. The headphone jack built into the side of the pod no longer hisses and will drive portable headphones or even a set of Sennheiser HD-497s with no difficulty at all. System operational modes are now indicated by a LED which glows green during normal use and is dark when headphones are plugged in (or of course when the system is powered off). The old Standby state is now thankfully a thing of the past. This all adds up to a high level of build quality.
Setting Them Up
Connecting the system together is very straightforward; just plug each speaker into the matching jack, the pod into the DIN connector provided for it and the cable from the sound card into the input in the sub. As with ALL flat panel speakers (full sized or multimedia), care must be taken in placement. The satellites should be no less than 30 inches (two and a half feet) apart and toed in about 30 degrees. You should also make sure that the hindmost corner of each is about an inch forward of the front of your monitor. The sweet spot of this system is larger than with any previous Monsoon model I've owned but again, as is true with any flat panel speaker, you will lose the imaging when you get up and walk around the room.
The Sound – Take 1
The first time you turn this system on the sound will be harsh, tinny and somewhat striated - there will be a definite demarcation point between the bass and the treble. That being said, do not be dismayed. All speakers need time to break in and flat panels take more than most, a salient point that continues to escape many a PC audio reviewer. Minimum break in time on the PM9s is about 30 hours of continuous play with optimal sound being achieved after double that. At that point, you will end up with crystal clear highs and a smooth and detailed midrange that blends almost seamlessly into fairly deep and tight bass. As an aside, if you are interested in the details on how I break in speakers then have a look at my MH-505 review. Let's just say that playing Rob Zombie at high volume levels is not the way to go. That brings us to...
The Sound – Take 2
So what are the sound characteristics of these speakers in everyday terms? Well, for starters they aren't very forgiving. Flaws in your source will be revealed all too painfully so those 128bit MP3s will NOT sound like the “CD quality” the silly PC media pundits would have readers believe them to be. In fact they'll sound like the poor cousins of a bad cassette tape when compared to their higher bitrate siblings. This is a third generation planar driver and it is much less muddy than the one used in the MH-505s and MM-2000s, which in turn was cleaner and clearer than the one used in the original MH-500s. Some folks will find them bright – that's what happens when the mush commonly fed to a listener by many a set of multimedia speakers on the market is sluiced away and clarity remains. The system is actually quite linear, more so than many in the genre. If the satellites are placed properly, the sound will appear to be coming at you from your monitor and will then open up depending on how the recording was engineered.
Two of my favorite test (and listening) tracks are “Riviera Paradise” by Stevie Ray Vaughan and “Chasing Blue Sky” by Queensryche. In the case of the former, the smooth decay of Stevie's guitar notes is well brought out – this is not an “in-yer-face” rock recording. Similarly, the depth of Geoff Tate's voice on “Chasing Blue Sky” is very apparent. On the flip side of things, the bass on Nine Inch Nail's “Into The Void” will vibrate things off your desk at high volume levels. The dual voice coil 6.5” driver shows its mettle here but bear in mind that it won't be the typical boomy nonsense that many another prominent multimedia vendor will subject you to – it will be tight and punchy while also having reasonable depth. Informal tests with a Radio Shack sound meter (a VERY ad hoc method of testing speaker frequency response that should never be taken as Gospel) indicate that the claimed 40Hz lower end of the speaker specifications is a reasonable statement. Horns are vibrant and acoustic instruments do not blend together or into the background. A track like “Clouds” by Kenny Barron will showcase just how open and airy the soundstage can get on the PM9s and there is no dearth of raw visceral power when playing Rob Zombie's “Superbeast” (you definitely run the risk of having fellow apartment dwellers complain). Enya's voice on “Only Time” does not get swallowed up in the lush background instrumentation (try that with a set of Logitechs and see what happens) and Trance a la Paul van Dyk is brought to an entirely new level of open spaciness.
Mid-bass (otherwise known as upper bass) can be a bit lacking but for the most part it isn't very noticeable at all. In the past I had shied away from using multimedia speakers that were purely flat panel-based since the models available at that time were rather limited in midrange depth and warmth. Hybrid flat panel / cone driver designs greatly alleviated that problem. With the PM9s this is no longer necessary thanks to the new PFT100 driver. There are other multimedia speakers that do a better job with mid-bass but none of them match the Monsoons for clarity, detail or open soundstage (yes, I am talking about the Klipsch Pro Medias, the Altec-Lansing 621s and any member of the MegaWorks lineup). The Monsoons can be brought to the threshold of distortion but it takes a lot to get them there. I've had them up as far as they could go playing Santana's “Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)” and all Carlos' guitar did was wail louder. There was no distortion and full dynamic range was maintained even at those volume levels, something that at least one of the other systems mentioned above has considerable difficulty in achieving.
Gaming
I don't personally game on the PC. However, this doesn't mean that I'm not exposed to PC gaming. I recommended the PM9s to a friend of mine who plays Asheron's Call 2 regularly with them. That is one heck of a demanding game as far as PC audio is concerned because not only does each character have his / her / its own theme but all of these themes interact smoothly in a given scene with that of the activity taking place and then you add in the environmental effects... This is not your average boom-and-bust first person shooter; the sound designer is Geoff Scott, a professional jazz musician with more than a few major musical credentials behind his name and his efforts ensure that AC2 is the worst nightmare of any lesser sound card and speaker combination. Suffice it to say that Turbine client-side issues notwithstanding, my friend was more than a little impressed with the immersive 3D qualities of the sound that the 2.1 PM9s produce.
And Now, A Word Or Ten On The Audio Source
In some of my previous reviews I've commented briefly on the importance of the choice of sound card used to drive the speakers and with the PM9s, that becomes critical. To put it plainly, owners of the Live! and Audigy 1 are at a distinct disadvantage with this system. Why? Because the Monsoons will highlight in painful clarity and detail the audible results of the lesser quality hardware components, resampling algorithms and drivers that the sound card vendor used with those products. In short, those cards sound tinny – VERY tinny – especially since the highs and mids are not those typical of other multimedia speakers which tend to conceal that sort of thing.
I'm happy to say that owners of the Audigy 2 are much less disadvantaged. However all is not rosy for those folks either. Despite having considerably better hardware components used in its construction, the sound from that card has a tendency to be “clinical” as if any shred of real time acoustic decay has been removed from the music. My guess is that this is due at least in part to the same poor resampling algorithms carried over from that card's predecessors as well as Creative Labs' typical driver writing expertise. Owners of cards powered by either the Via Envy24 or Cirrus Logic chipsets (M-Audio, Terratec, Hercules, Turtle Beach) will not experience these issues and will be well served by the PM9s.
The Bottom Line
Can one buy better 2.1 multimedia speakers? Sure - you could spring for a set of Planar Media 14s which have the same satellites as the PM9s but sport more power and have an 8” dual voice coil driver in the sub. However, for the price (and even a fair bit above it – see the competing products iterated earlier in this review), you won't find a multimedia system that has sound characteristics to match these. After all, there is a reason they won best of CES for 2003 - think of them as mini Martin-Logans for the PC.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Roj
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Location: Kanata, Ontario
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
Music lover, appreciates quality audio (but NOT an audiophile), Babylon 5 fan, IT professional
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