High Performance Surround for the Audiophile in You!
Written: May 21 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Separate Control Panel,
Easy Installation,
Powerful, Crisp Sound
Cons: Stands are separate
Desktop stands aren't very sturdy
The Bottom Line: Excellent surround system for a reasonable price. If you're contemplating computer speakers... these are sure to please!
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| brill's Full Review: Level 9 Sound Designs MH-505 5 Speakers |
A little background info... being an extreme audiophile, I am horendously picky about the sounds that come out of any of my systems. I have to admit, when I started my research to find speakers, I was suspicious that I wouldn't find anything that would make my truly happy.
December 2001... I decided it was finally time to disconnect my mini-system from my computer and get myself some dedicated computer audio speakers. I quickly embarked on a massive research trip around the internet, narrowed it down to a few different speaker sets... and finally, hit my local FutureShop for some comparisons.
So... While at the comparison booth, I found only one little set of Monsoon speakers... Not the model number I was looking at, and only a 2 speaker system. Let me tell ya, that little Monsoon system, at 1/4th the price of most of the 5 speaker systems... out-performed every other set in the booth.
My testing extended over a multitude of stores, with several friends whom all also found the monsoon sound quality superior to other systems.
With Monsoon in mind, I zeroed into my price range and found the MH-505 system within my grasp. I ordered it, and a week later it came...
Installation...
Installation was quick and easy. I did run into a small problem when it came to the fact that my sound card didn't have any room for the 5th speaker and sub woofer channel. The manual made a reference on how to resolve this... and I followed the simple instructions.
Power...
Of course the first thing I did with my new subwoofer was to bring on all my heavy bass music... All I can say is I was blown away at the quality of sound these speakers could produce.
I have played my music extremely loud several times over, and the subwoofers and speakers don't seem to be degrading at all due to my rather extensive use of them.
Surround...
The surround sound is absolutely amazing. This is a definate must for any hardcore 3-d gamer such as myself. It's nice to know which side you're getting shot from in counterstrike :)
Control Panel...
These speakers come with a separate control panel which is very very handy. It gives you easy access to bass, fader, mute, volume, and a headphone jack. I went to Wal-Mart and bought some sticky velcro and my control panel is now conveniently mounted on the side of my desk... now all of my junk won't get in the way of instant-mute or volume control!
The Cons...
I must say I had some trouble thinking up some cons for these speakers... but I do recall being disappointed that the monsoon speaker stands were an extra $100 CDN!
My other complaint is the desktop stands for the speakers. Once you bump them, they are rather springy and tend to fall over easily. Sooner or later, I'm going to be looking into mounting at least one of the speakers to my desk... as it's on a high-traffic corner and gets bumped off easily.
I suppose the problem exists for almost anything you place on your desk though, so this con doesn't affect my rating of this product.
My final thoughts on this product are that... While I didn't have faith that they could compare to the sound of my JVC minisystem... they have impressed me so much that I will never go back to a minisystem again :)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
brill
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Location: Vernon, BC, Canada
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 0 members
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