Monolith by Monoprice Announces MTM 100 Watt Bluetooth aptX HD Powered Desktop Speakers

[AsRock]

These look more like a gimmick than any thing else.


$500 LMFAO.

 

[Operandi]

Ha-ha! I beg to differ:

I'm sorry I thought we were talking about audio?

Language concepts 101 is best left for separate conversation.

For a $5 earphones, yes.

You don't know what you are talking about. For most music content an F3 of 50-55Hz is pretty good and covers most of it. Klipsch Heresy IVs are full size speakers that have an F3 of 48Hz retail for $3,000 and while they aren't full range you certainly are not expected to add a subwoofer right out of the gate. Headphone frequency response specs are so inaccurate they pretty much meaningless so don't compare them to speakers.

Like everything in life quality over quantity, a bookshelf that that can produce quality bass into the mid to lower 50s will sound far better than a entry level subwoofer that play into 40s.

So you know how there are donkeys and horses and both are equidea? They are alike, and share many things in common, but are not the same. Same concept. But if horse fucks a donkey you get mule? This is kind like a mule.

Not really. Its just a full range active desktop speaker, plenty of them around, nothing weird about it.

These look more like a gimmick than any thing else.


$500 LMFAO.

For quality drivers, quality amp, and a quality DAC in well built enclosure, $500 is about right.

 

[Kaleid]

It's a serious brand, seen them tested by for instance Erin's audio corner... who also measures when he reviews so it's not just subjective viewpoints

 

[bogami]

It does not belong to the $500 class. Maybe if the had active woofer little bigger instead of the passive parts. It looks cheap in the $70 to $100 desktop class .

 

[ymdhis]

It does not belong to the $500 class. Maybe if the had active woofer little bigger instead of the passive parts. It looks cheap in the $70 to $100 desktop class .

Yeah, for $500 you can get hifi class passive speakers.

 

[zlobby]

I wouldnt mind seeing a review on TPU for this set of speakers.

It would require acoustic room that I think TPU does not have.

 

[Chrispy_]

I was going to comment on what a great idea these were. Relatively full sound with a few compromises in order to get extremely simple, flexible desktop audio that could reasonably be considered "jack of all trades" audio for a PC.

Given the limitations of so much going on in a couple of cabinets, these are never going to sound amazing but I figured for a couple of hundred bucks they are going to make a lot of people suitably impressed.

...and then I reached the end of the news article and saw the price.

Just no.

You can do sooooo much better than this for a lot less money. Thinking about all the parts in my desktop setup here, I basically have the same input functionality at the same price, but using actual, pro-grade 8" studio monitors.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

No, PC equipment has been around a lot longer than Michael Bay's Transformer movies. And they still looked like sh!t when they were beige boxes.

Hell, the old mainframes weren't supermodels either.

The local computer museum is full of ugly cabinets and boxes. The replica Babbage difference engine that was temporarily there was neat. And unlike most of the other computers on display, it actually worked. The docents operated it a few times a day.

Most stereo equipment is ugly. I've owned decades of them. Maybe the only non-ugly stereo gear I ever bought were some KEF speakers. Of course, KEF promptly discontinued that design.

PC equipment did have an era of good looking aluminum cases, like Windy Soldam and old Lian Li. Streacom still makes good cases.

Stereo equipment stops getting ugly in the 5-6 figure range but that's insane.

 

[VSG]

It would require acoustic room that I think TPU does not have.

I actually do but I don't have means of measuring speaker frequency responses well unlike headphones and earphones.

 

[zlobby]

I actually do but I don't have means of measuring speaker frequency responses well unlike headphones and earphones.

You mean room that meets or exceeds IEC (and other) standards? Because back in my days of crayon eating, I and some friends foamed a room and we were so proud of its 'acoustics'! We though we achieved the peak!

You already have the capture and analysis gear, get some proper mics and you're good to go if the room is also done right.

 

[VSG]

You mean room that meets or exceeds IEC (and other) standards? Because back in my days of crayon eating, I and some friends foamed a room and we were so proud of its 'acoustics'! We though we achieved the peak!

You already have the capture and analysis gear, get some proper mics and you're good to go if the room is also done right.

The anechoic chamber hits 19 dB or lower and I've used it for a while to test fans in particular. Like I said it's the microphones part that's the issue and I can't afford to get them myself.

 

[zlobby]

The anechoic chamber hits 19 dB or lower and I've used it for a while to test fans in particular. Like I said it's the microphones part that's the issue and I can't afford to get them myself.

Hmm, doesn't sound (pun not intended) like a proper anaechotic room to me. I think your mics are the least of your worries in this case.

 

[VSG]

Hmm, doesn't sound (pun not intended) like a proper anaechotic room to me. I think your mics are the least of your worries in this case.

More like that's just the lowest the current mics pick up haha.

 

[zlobby]

More like that's just the lowest the current mics pick up haha.

Well, as you know apart from the attenuation you'd need panels that don't reflect sound waves in the audible spectrum. Then comes the sizing of the room and that's also tricky for some speaker power ratings and port placements. And that's just a scratch on the surface. Real math for this is gnarly.

Bottom line - too expensive for what you'd get out of it.

 

[VSG]

Well, as you know apart from the attenuation you'd need panels that don't reflect sound waves in the audible spectrum. Then comes the sizing of the room and that's also tricky for some speaker power ratings and port placements. And that's just a scratch on the surface. Real math for this is gnarly.

Bottom line - too expensive for what you'd get out of it.

Yup, totally a budget issue. Let me see if we can still get some subjective testing done for this thing though.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Well, as you know apart from the attenuation you'd need panels that don't reflect sound waves in the audible spectrum. Then comes the sizing of the room and that's also tricky for some speaker power ratings and port placements. And that's just a scratch on the surface. Real math for this is gnarly.

Bottom line - too expensive for what you'd get out of it.

Nobody buying 500 buck speakers/monitors has a room that would matter. It's why I gave up the speaker game when I got engaged. In my old 2BR one of them was my "office" and it was pretty well foamed. Not pro level but good enough for what I had. Got engaged moved to another apartment and the second bedroom became our office and there was no way I was going to be allowed to pull that stunt. So I sold it all off and blamo headphone stuff. Still do the studio monitors on both desks though with foam isolation.

 

[thewan]

I do not understand why when manufacturers list USB as an input option for speakers, they do not list some specifications for the USB input. Especially if you are going to advertise something that "sounds good", your speaker should support usb playback that actually enables it to sound good.

 

[zlobby]

I do not understand why when manufacturers list USB as an input option for speakers, they do not list some specifications for the USB input. Especially if you are going to advertise something that "sounds good", your speaker should support usb playback that actually enables it to sound good.

Because id they did nobody would buy their speakers. Tou see, only tell parts of the truth. This way you never lie (well, there are other terms for that in law) directly.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I do not understand why when manufacturers list USB as an input option for speakers, they do not list some specifications for the USB input. Especially if you are going to advertise something that "sounds good", your speaker should support usb playback that actually enables it to sound good.

They also don't really release their bluetooth specs either.

Because id they did nobody would buy their speakers. Tou see, only tell parts of the truth. This way you never lie (well, there are other terms for that in law) directly.

ROFL.

Ultimately the people that really care about this stuff for powered monitors or powered speakers or whatever the hell this is aren't going to use that. I have powered monitors on both my desktops and they are both fed by a DAC and have both RCA and 1/4 TRS inputs.

 

[zlobby]

They also don't really release their bluetooth specs either.

ROFL.

Ultimately the people that really care about this stuff for powered monitors or powered speakers or whatever the hell this is aren't going to use that. I have powered monitors on both my desktops and they are both fed by a DAC and have both RCA and 1/4 TRS inputs.

Nevermind the typos in my previous post. I must have been PUI...

 

[Operandi]

It does not belong to the $500 class. Maybe if the had active woofer little bigger instead of the passive parts. It looks cheap in the $70 to $100 desktop class .

Then they'd need to be significantly bigger than what they are. The passive radiators are there in place of ports. They could use a larger woofer making it a 3-way in a sealed enclosure and use DSP to extend the response but that would make it significantly more expensive and it already gets down to 55Hz which is pretty decent (I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt by assuming that "55Hz" is F3 cause they don't explicitly say it is).

I was going to comment on what a great idea these were. Relatively full sound with a few compromises in order to get extremely simple, flexible desktop audio that could reasonably be considered "jack of all trades" audio for a PC.

Given the limitations of so much going on in a couple of cabinets, these are never going to sound amazing but I figured for a couple of hundred bucks they are going to make a lot of people suitably impressed.

...and then I reached the end of the news article and saw the price.

Just no.

You can do sooooo much better than this for a lot less money. Thinking about all the parts in my desktop setup here, I basically have the same input functionality at the same price, but using actual, pro-grade 8" studio monitors.

It is pretty expensive so they had better be pretty good but you can't say they are over priced based on the size of the drivers they use. My KRK V4 S4s on my desk are $400 each and they use a 4" woofer, and thats nothing compared to what a similarly sized Genlec would go for.

If they can get 55Hz and reasonable output with multiple 4" woofers and passives that allows them to keep a small desktop foot print at the expensive of more parts vs. the much bigger cabinet requirments a a speaker with larger woofer and port would require. I think thats a fair compromise to make considering the target market.

Nobody buying 500 buck speakers/monitors has a room that would matter. It's why I gave up the speaker game when I got engaged. In my old 2BR one of them was my "office" and it was pretty well foamed. Not pro level but good enough for what I had. Got engaged moved to another apartment and the second bedroom became our office and there was no way I was going to be allowed to pull that stunt. So I sold it all off and blamo headphone stuff. Still do the studio monitors on both desks though with foam isolation.

Unless the speakers are broken the room still matters. There are plenty of people with $1,000+ speakers setup poorly in bad sounding rooms and there are plenty of people with $300 speakers that have them setup properly and are getting the most of them. Also you don't need extensive room treatments to get things to sound decent, most of it comes down to placement of the speakers in the room (which is speaker dependent), and you can get good results with normal room furnishings to keep reflections under control.

 

[Kaleid]

It's possible to achieve low bas with one single driver. Guru Audio Junior digs down to 34hz (but it has to be placed correctly or the bas won't be there)
I know this because I own these speakers, and even the Denon AVR recognizes the small speakers as BIG.
But, it comes at a higher cost of course.

 

[Operandi]

It's possible to achieve low bas with one single driver. Guru Audio Junior digs down to 34hz (but it has to be placed correctly or the bas won't be there)
I know this because I own these speakers, and even the Denon AVR recognizes the small speakers as BIG.
But, it comes at a higher cost of course.

Yeah, it can be done, just requires clever design. 4" full range Ti driver in a TL that has an F3 of 49Hz for example.

You get the extension but it comes at the cost of size and of course limited output so nothing is free.

 

[zlobby]

Yeah, it can be done, just requires clever design. 4" full range Ti driver in a TL that has an F3 of 49Hz for example.

You get the extension but it comes at the cost of size and of course limited output so nothing is free.

It seems to me thar you're hell-bent of proving these Monolith speakers are the best thing in the $500 price range. Emphasis on 'seems'.

 

[Kaleid]

It seems to me thar you're hell-bent of proving these Monolith speakers are the best thing in the $500 price range. Emphasis on 'seems'.

I don't expect them to be better than some normal 2 channel speakers, but I'll say again that it's not a Logitech plastic speakers company.