Excellent Sound in an Excellent Package
Written: Jan 02 '01 (Updated Jan 02 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent sound and good looks at a good price.
Cons: None of any note.
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| w9design's Full Review: Level 9 Sound Designs MM-700 2 Speakers |
I’ll admit that the purchase of these was really more of an impulse buy than a premeditated acquisition. In the past, I had read several rave reviews, but had not given them much thought. I had a few gift certificates to spend, and these caught my eye. And I was pleasantly surprised by the performance these speakers offer.
If you’re reading this opinion, you’re probably somewhat familiar with the theory behind these speakers from other reviews, but I’ll briefly rehash them. Standard speakers radiate sound waves haphazardly in a general direction, producing comparatively dull and one-dimensional sound. These speakers, manufactured by Sonigistix for Monsoon, use a technology dubbed “Planar Focus” to generate sound. The speakers use a thin Mylar sheet to radiate sound only to the front and back. As such, sound waves do not diffuse as they would in a conventional speaker. To the listener, the sound appears remarkably crisp and almost appears to be ambient sound, coming from all directions. As a side effect, once the listener leaves the “sweet spot” of the speakers, the sound dulls somewhat due to the technology.
These speakers truly excel in music. The midtones are crisp. The highs are crisper. The bass is punchy. The listener is immersed in the music – it seems to emanate from all directions, creating a 3D effect from only two speakers. The bass is really, really good. Not phenomenal, but this is also a $150 speakers system. They employ a standard analog audio connection. Digital speakers are overrated, in my opinion. The quality gains are few and far between, especially with the use of a high-quality sound card like Creative’s SoundBlaster Live series.
DVDs are amazing, provided that you’re in the sweet spot. Everything is immersive with these speakers. (And yes, I’m really overusing that word, but it really does describe these speakers). Surprisingly, the speakers don’t sound all that horrible when you’re several feet away. They don’t have that crispness that’s in the sweet spot; they sound more like conventional speakers.
I’m not an avid gamer, so I can’t really say much about gaming prowess, but I can say that they sounded great. You feel like you’re really in the game. Yep, that immersiveness again. Unlike conventional “simulated surround,” this really does work.
Another indisputable fact is that these things look truly awesome. They’d look phenomenal with an LCD monitor. I mean, let’s face it, if you’re even thinking about purchasing one of these, you are at least intrigued by the looks of these things. The coolness factor on these is unquestionably high on the scale.
If you’re at all interested in audio, you need to take a close look at the Monsoon MM-700s. They’re far better than the low-end MH-500 system, and the high-end MM-1000s don’t offer enough of an improvement to warrant the extra cost. I’ve rarely been as pleased with anything, let alone a speaker system. The quality level these offer is, in a word, amazing.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
w9design
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Member: Nate LaFerle
Location: Royal Oak, MI
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 7 members
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