Mini Monitor (M&K S150 vs. Forum most talked about) (1 Viewer)

[Clint Roberts]

Okay i've done my reading and most seem to think the Diva's or Axiom's are great speakers for the price. Also, quite a few recommend the B&W. I have a large cabinet that i need to put speakers in so i can not get floorstanding for the fronts. I plan on buying a HSU VT-3 or SVS PC Plus (when they come out). I listen to mostly home theater (70/30) and have a large room. How do you compare say the Diva's Center up front (all 3) $1500 vs. say M&K S150 THX for about $1900. I know it's 4 hunder more and I would need back but really just want to know how these compare. Keep in mind they can't be floorstanders. I have heard good reviews of the S150P but I never hardly hear about them in comparison to the most talked about ones on this forum...is that because they are older or people don't even consider or they suck?

 

[EricN]

Clint, I cannot comment on the other speakers as I have not heard them. However, I LOVE my M&K 150's!
When I was shopping for HT speakers I demoed many of the major brands; B&W, Paradigm, Def Tech, Energy....
After about 3 months of auditioning, I went into a dealer who carried M&K. The demo was Jurassic Park....I was stopped in my tracks!:b
Finally, I heard the sound I was searching for. I brought them home and have enjoyed them for the last 3 years.
I have the 150THX L/C/R and 2 pair of ss-150 surrounds for the 7.1. The 150 sub is a beauty! I also picked up an SVS 16-46PCi for the 50Hz and lower frequencies. The SVS and the M&K pair together wonderfully and the room really rocks.
The Diva reviews have been stellar so I am sure you are going to be pleased with either final choice. Good luck and remember that the search is as much fun as the final results! That is the hobby part we all love.

 

[Saurav]

If you'll be putting the speakers in a cabinet, I think you'll be compromising their performance quite severely. You're probably aware of that, and willing to make the compromises. I would recommend looking for specific information about how the speakers on your shortlist perform in such a situation. You might try to find reviews where the owner had them up close to the wall, for instance. The reason is, different speakers react differently when you start moving them closer to the wall. Speaker A may sound better than B when placed on stands well out into the room, but B might sound better inside your cabinet.
General advice:
* Try and avoid speakers with ports in the back, because it's almost a universal rule that rear-ported speakers become boomy if they don't have room to 'breathe'.
* Look into isolating your speakers from your cabinet by putting soft squishy stuff under them - semi-inflated rubber tubes, soft mousepads or wrist-rests, blu-tak or similar stuff, vibrapods, and so on. The reason is, the speaker's cabinet transmits vibrations into whatever it's sitting on. A good speaker stand is rigid, and is designed to couple the cabinet to the ground so that these vibrations are 'conducted' away. This reduces the cabinet's vibrations a lot, and leaves you with just the speaker cone's vibrations, which is what you want - the cabinet will just add noise and distortion to the music. If you now put the speaker on a bookshelf or something similar, the (usually) wooden bookshelf often acts as a soundboard and amplifies the cabinet's vibrations, which makes things much worse, and everything sounds muddy and imprecise. The best solution in this case is usually to prevent the cabinet's vibrations from reaching the surface under it, which is why you need soft squishy stuff.
Hope that wasn't too long-winded

 

[John A. Casler]

Clint,

If cabinet mounting is your only option, the M&K 150s would probably be the best bet. They are a slightly "forward" moitor and actually have a flush mounted "in wall" version with very few front panel changes.

Additionally, the face of the speaker should be as far forward in the cabinet as possible so that there are no reflective surfaces in front of it.

Also, if you can artistically (esthetically) do so, take a material like "egg crate foam" and place it so it surrounds the face of the speaker so that only the face of the speaker is visible. So that it fills the whole cabinet space and has no hard reflective surfaces (kind of like a mask that the speaker face peaks through)

If the foam is painted all black this can be quite impressive looking. Or it can be covered in a fabric of choice, again so only the speaker face is visible.

This reduces the "early surface" reflections and the boxy sound. This can also be used with "inwalls" quite effectively. (masking about 12" all the way around them)

This way it doesn't sound like you are listening to your speakers through a window.

This foam can also be used for the cabinet vibrations mentione earlier. It is almost like filing all the space around the speaker with a foam mounting.

A simpler but less effective solution is placing a very thick fabric in the same configuration. The idea is to reduce back reflections and the ringing and bouncing all around the cabinet walls.

But anyhow, I would go with the 150s

John Casler

 

[elMalloc]

i dont understand how people that say "its 4 hunder more" have that much money.
:star:
-ELmO

 

[KeithR]

An M&K theater is an awesome experience...the 150s is the way I would go. In fact, I will have an entire set by the end of the year after I move to the west coast.

 

[Chris Rein]

I've got a full S-150 system and I too will say they are amazing. Incredible detail and very smooth sounding. You can't go wrong with M&K.

Chris

 

[SavoyR]

I'm looking to get the s150 also how do they sound with music?

 

[David W Collier]

Clint, I am also interested in purchasing the M&K S150's also for my LCR. Have you found a $1900 price for three speakers? In the Dallas area?

 

[DavidMich]

Another M&K owner here.....
And I still think I made the right choice.....!!
I heard other brands, including the Divas, B&W, Paradigm, Definitive Technology, and several others. I found the M&Ks to have the "truest" sound.
I want to note that several people seem to think that M&K speakers are only good for home theater, not music.
This is BS (in my opinion).
I wanted a speaker that would accurately reproduce WHATEVER SOUND WENT INTO IT. (You know, garbage in-garbage out......sweetness in-sweetness out)
I believe that a truly accurate, uncoloring speaker will sound great with both. It just depends on the source.
Because of this, I have had many people sit amazed when they heard music through my M&Ks. They just had NO IDEA!!

And I have to admit, it feels pretty good to watch a DVD, and know that the sound engineers were using M&Ks to do the track!!! Heck, most of the studios I know of are using them!!
But, as always, trust your ears, and you be the judge, and remember, advice is only worth what you paid for it!!

 

[Larry B]

Clint:

I agree completely with Saurav.

Larry

 

[Bordeaux]

I have owned M&K speakers for 20 years and have always loved them. It then came time to upgrade,I listened to the 150 system and loved it for ht but, music was not as good as I thought it could be. I went to the ces show in vegas and was totally disappointed with the M&K presentation yet I still like there product. I then listened to many speakers and ended up with B&W cdm9nt, anyway, in my opinion M&K makes one of the best ht speakers and you can't go wrong with this product. Keep in mind that for music it does lack a little. Try these two sites for M&K,Allhometheater or Amsound. I think the whole system with the 350 sub was $4200. Anyway, good luck

 

[PhilA]

The comments about cabinets caught my eye. My front L and R have to be placed in built-in cabinets with cloth grilles. I can't afford the M&K 150s but was considering their S-85s or something lower (750THX, LCR-55, even K-7 or K-17). Do the comments about M&K 150s being "forward" apply to the speakers I am considering as well? Is placement in a cabinet so damaging that it's not even worth getting speakers of this quality?

 

[John A. Casler]

Is placement in a cabinet so damaging that it's not even worth getting speakers of this quality?

Hi Phil,

A loudspeaker recreates its sonic hologram in many ways. The M&K 150s are designed for nearfield listening. That is they are not designed to require or benefit from any "reflected" sound. They will sound best if you can limit or reduce the amount of reflected sound from other surfaces.

That said, most all speakers are subject to these reflections (unless they rely on them like the Bose) so a better speaker will not be affected to any more of a degree than any other.

My suggestions were just to make others aware that they can improve the sound by trying a few "reflective reductions".

Placing the speaker in a cabinet is not the end of the world, but by making a few placement adjustments or even adding a sound absorbative or blocking mask as I suggested can make a big difference.

Regards,

John

 

[Larry B]

Phil:

Having the speakers in a cabinet will severely diminish the sound they are capable of producing. As such, cabinets should be avoided whenever possible. If they absolutely have to be in a cabinet, then try to pull them as far forward as possible, such that at least the front surface of the speaker sticks out beyond the walls of the cabinet - - - thats will help quite a bit.

Larry

 

[Brian Corr]

Clint,
I have a 150 system powered by an ATI1505 and 5000 mkII sub in Plano. If you'd like to come here them, shoot me an email. [email protected]