Monoprice Monolith Encore 5-series Speakers On Sale (1 Viewer)

[Todd Erwin]

These prices are so low, I'm wondering if these are on super-secret clearance:

Monolith Encore B5 Bookshelf - $49.99 each (reg $149.99)
Monolith Encore T5 Tower - $89.99 each (reg $329.99)
Monolith Encore C5 Center - $99.99 (reg $199.99) *

* I was able to use coupon code BIG30 on the C5 Center, which knocked the price down to $69.99, but the B5 and T5 were not eligible for any further discounts.

 

[JohnRice]

That's quite a deal. I suspect you're right that it's a closeout of some kind. The 6" version of those speakers aren't at a similar price.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I reviewed the 6-series of the Monolith Encores two years ago, and am still crying over the fact that I had to ship them back, so I’m negotiating with the wife this weekend to order the towers in addition to the center. My current Polk Tsi100 bookshelf and CS10 center just don’t sound as good as they did prior to that review.

Monoprice Monolith “Encore” Home Theater Speakers Review • Home Theater Forum

When the opportunity arose to review Monoprice’s new Encore series of home theater speakers, I was extremely eager to give them a try.

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Are they basically ripping/riffing off of the ELAC Debut series a fair deal for these Encore series? Seems like they might be, but w/ better sale prices in some cases, hehheh.

Given the bit lower efficiencies and impedances, probably better off going w/ the ELACs if the modestly higher prices aren't a problem on one's budget -- and other than this kinda clearance-like sale, only the floorstanding tower speakers are quite that much cheaper than the corresponding ELACs anyway.

I am curious about those B5's though or maybe even those T5's perhaps... for my little "home office" plus media/whatever storage space that also doubles as a very small guestroom of sorts. I could probably use a very modest audio setup for that perhaps just powered by my old Yamaha 663 AVR, which had never actually been used to power any speakers before...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

Are they basically ripping/riffing off of the ELAC Debut series a fair deal for these Encore series?

Monoprice's Monolith brand of home theater speakers have been receiving very good reviews across the board from most sites, many calling them best bang for the buck.

Monoprice Monolith “Encore” Home Theater Speakers Review • Home Theater Forum

When the opportunity arose to review Monoprice’s new Encore series of home theater speakers, I was extremely eager to give them a try.

www.hometheaterforum.com

Monolith Audition Line Review

Here, our expert reviewer takes a look at Monoprice's Audition line (especially the T4, B4, and C4), which are all great entry-level options.

www.hometheaterforum.com

Monoprice Monolith Encore T6 Tower Loudspeaker Review

The Monoprice Monolith Encore T6 (MSRP: $800/pr) are audiophile grade speakers with ample bass and output you would have to spend significantly more to rival. Read our review with measurements to see why.

www.audioholics.com

Monoprice Monolith Encore T6 Tower and THX-465T tower review | Digital Trends

Monoprice's Monolith speaker line has some sleeper hits just waiting to be discovered. Find out how the Encore T6 and THX 465-T performed in our tests.

www.digitaltrends.com

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Certainly very tempting, but after checking a little bit, those T5's (and even T6's) are probably (much) too short for what I was thinking (at my PC setup) -- the T6's would likely also be too wide and deep on top.

Of course, unless I elevate some small bookshelf speakers and maybe hang them off the wall(s), bookshelves on my current makeshift table/desk, instead of my old, currently out-of-commission, heftier, dedicated workstation desk, would likely also be much too low I guess...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

Certainly very tempting, but after checking a little bit, those T5's (and even T6's) are probably (much) too short for what I was thinking (at my PC setup) -- the T6's would likely also be too wide and deep on top.

Of course, unless I elevate some small bookshelf speakers and maybe hang them off the wall(s), bookshelves on my current makeshift table/desk, instead of my old, currently out-of-commission, heftier, dedicated workstation desk, would likely also be much too low I guess...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

Ordered a pair of T5 towers and a C5 center, setting me back a mere $250. Should be here before Labor Day.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Hmmm... wonder if something like this (w/out the casters) could serve well enough as inexpensive platform risers for those T5's (w/out noticeably compromising the audio quality), hehheh...

See on Amazon

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

Hmmm... wonder if something like this (w/out the casters) could serve well enough as inexpensive platform risers for those T5's (w/out noticeably compromising the audio quality), hehheh...

See on Amazon

_Man_

Why would I or anyone ever want to put 3 foot tall tower speakers on a printer stand?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Why would I or anyone ever want to put 3 foot tall tower speakers on a printer stand?

Like I said, I, personally, would like something taller/higher for my small "home office" space... w/ ear level being quite a bit higher than typical HT setting at ~44" in my case (instead of ~34" in my HT setup) -- and I most likely won't be far enough from them either to mitigate the fairly significant height diff for good results.

Anyway, I guess I'll find out what could work well enough as I couldn't resist that deal and just took the plunge on the T5s and threw in the C5 for good measure -- I probably don't actually need the C5 for this specific intended use, but for just $70+tax (after the promo code), why the heck not so I'll have an extremely affordable matching center just in case as that might not be available/doable for too long given how Monoprice's bizz model seems to work (w/ such gear often seemingly going indefinitely or permanently out of stock/production)...

FWIW, I also wondered if it might work to buy a pair of their inexpensive (under $150), entry level subs to be used both as subs and riser stands for the T5s, but probably not w/out impacting the T5s' audio quality I'm guessing... Something for me to consider though...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

My order has shipped! Yay! C5 should arrive on Thurs, T5 on Friday!!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Mine should likely arrive around then as well. I still need to order some speaker wires though as I had forgotten/overlooked that little detail, LOL.

Am thinking to spend a little extra and just get a set of these for ease and simplicity (and not bother dealing w/ unterminated wires) and decent futureproofing (in case I actually eventually need longer lengths than this specific case)...

See on Amazon

I've been using somewhat more expensive stuff from Blue Jeans and others for my main HT+music setup, but pretty sure no need for that in this case. As is, a pair of these terminated wires already cost ~1/2 as much as 1 of those (albeit seemingly clearance priced) T5 speakers, LOL.

I do also happen to have an extra piece of the somewhat more expensive (Canare star-quad) wires from aforementioned that I could use for the C5 though -- don't really recall why I only have 1 unused instead of a pair, heh...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

This order has been something of a nightmare. Friday, one of the T5 towers arrived. Fed Ex Ground had misrouted the other tower to the wrong final Fed Ex facility (Tracy, CA instead of Sparks, NV), and that one arrived today, with a puncture on one side of the box - the side that the speakers were facing. Suffice it to say, that speaker does not work - no sound at all. Tried swapping the left and right speakers, and the issue followed the speaker. So, RMA requested for that one, and it can take up to 3 business days for Monoprice to issue the RMA (that is what the email they auto-generated said).

As for the C5 center, it is MIA. It was last heard from in Battle Mountain, NV, never to be heard from again. I now have to wait 7 days for Fed Ex to officially consider it lost, then wait for Monoprice to decide to ship out a replacement, and once it ships, could take another week in travel time.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

My pair of T5s plus C5 arrived seemingly ok enough a couple days back, but they're still in their boxes since I'm not ready to set them up just yet. Yeah, one of my T5's box also experienced a substantial "puncture" or tear of some sort, but it seemed to be to one side, not front or back, and seemed to happen right where there's pretty good protection between extra layer of cardboard and the big piece of foam on that end.

I haven't been able to set it up so far just yet as I still need to recover my old Yamaha AVR from a different location (not at my place) -- and I don't really wanna try it out temporarily w/ my main HT rig as that's a pain... unless I really can't recover my old AVR all that soon, which I expect to do in next day or so.

But anyway, I still also need to buy some speaker wires that I hadn't gotten around to just yet, LOL, while waiting to recover my old AVR -- I know, I know, I probably shoulda just ordered and not wait at all, LOL, but oh well...

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Just realized last night SVS is running a sale for Labor Day weekend, and their SB-1000 is going for just $350 (or $665 for a pair).

Kinda tempted to just go for a pair to mate w/ the T5's as both subs and riser stands for them, LOL, as they'd probably add just the right height -- I was also looking at Monoprice's SW-12 (not on special sale at $230) earlier, but that one's apparently waaay too tall (and maybe also too deep) to suit (plus won't play nearly as deep nor clean and tight as the SB-1000 anyway).

Yeah, feels like waaay overkill to mate 2 of these w/ the T5's (and maybe C5) even if the T5's would do perfectly fine standing on top of them, especially for such a tiny home office space, but...

I might also consider switching things up later if I make a potential move in several months. I might end up mating them w/ my pair Debut B52 bookshelves (that I currently use as surrounds in my main HT)... or possibly even my UniFi 2.0 towers instead (though that latter is probably least likely).

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

All three speakers finally arrived, with the final T5 tower delivered by Fed Ex Ground on Saturday. So far, I am pretty happy with these (even though the whole ordeal was not a pleasant one). For the most part, Monoprice customer service did what they could to rectify the situation. They did overnight a replacement for the C5 center that Fed Ex lost, and had originally planned on overnighting an advanced replacement for the defective T5 tower, but that was shipped FedEx Ground instead, and FedEx for some reason held on to that shipment for two days at their origin facility before placing it on a truck. I did panic when tracking for the T5 replacement stopped for two days afterwards (which is what happened with the lost C5), but was relieved when I awoke Saturday morning to see that it had finally made its way to the Fed Ex Ground facility in Sparks, NV and had been loaded onto a delivery van to be delivered that day. Of course, it was pouring rain when the driver dropped them off and didn't bother to knock on the door or ring the doorbell to let me know there was a package outside. Luckily, I had been busy cleaning the living room at the time and noticed that my cat Bella, who always alerts me when someone has entered the yard by flying down the hall to the back bedroom to hide, so I was able to quickly bring in both the T5 tower and a Chewy order that had arrived.

After hooking them all up, running Audyssey and making my own adjustments, I have noticed a much deeper bass response (Audyssey detected the T5's as large, full-range speakers and the C5 as a small with a 60Hz crossover) and clearer, more directional sound as well as more distinct dialogue. Still tinkering with the settings on my Denon X2400h receiver, but for the most part, very happy, although Bella thinks these are new scratching posts (!). Thankfully, my Chewy order included two cans of Sentry STOP THAT! noise and pheromone spray that makes a loud compressed air sound with a lavender scent that conditions her to stop what she's doing.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Todd,

To what subwoofer do you have them mated?

I broke down last night at the 11th hour of SVS's latest sale and bought my 1st (pair of) subs (SB-1000) from them as I mentioned being tempted earlier -- final cost after their 5% dual discount *plus* 7% PayPal cashback should be a tad below $675 for the pair, inclusive of ~8.9% NY/NYC sales tax.

Hopefully, having each T5 sitting on top of a SB-1000 in my tiny "home office" space will work out perfectly, heh... as I probably really only needed 1, not 2, if at all, if I'm not setting them up that way, LOL. Of course, those SB-1000s will probably be great in some other upgraded/better setup (in a small-to-modest space, especially for music even if not necessarily very deep-bass-heavy movies) too, not just mated w/ the T5's (and C5) for the now-and-near-future.

Unfortunately, OTOH, I still haven't been able to set them up just yet as I'm still having some (moderate) difficulty recovering my old AVR. Otherwise, I would've wanted to give these Monoprice speakers some (burn-in and) listening first before jumping on those SB-1000s... but time waits for no one, so... I'm reasonably confident those SB-1000s at such a great price would serve me plenty well in the long run anyway regardless of how this particular mating/setup pans out, but of course, mating w/ the T5's (and C5) is the primary reason and priority for getting any new sub at all right now... even though I'm definitely a sucker for a (very) good bargain, LOL!

_Man_

 

[tbob22]

I picked up a set. Will be using them in the family room (currently have some Wharfedale Diamond 9.2's in there on TV stand which will move to another room)

First impressions

• Very well packed
• Build quality seems fairly high considering the price - veneer has somewhat sharp edges so any bump will likely damage them
• Gloss top looks quite nice
• Woofers are not the same as the listing - looks exactly like the Encore T6 just smaller
• More narrow than expected

Initial listening impressions

• Much more bass extension than I was expecting, bass seems pretty tight overall. I'm hearing well into the 30hz range at reasonable levels in room - sofa is about 2ft away from back wall and towers are about 1ft off front wall. It's enough to feel it - not bad at all for small towers.
• Treble can get a little peaky
• Midrange is a bit veiled compared to the 9.2's
• Soundstage is smaller compared to the 9.2's but still fairly wide - this may be able to be improved with placement
• Some treble ranges sound quite transparent - I'd say slightly more detail overall compared to the 9.2's on same amp
• The top driver is moving a lot more compared to the lower drivers - going by the graphic the tweeter and top driver may be in their own (sealed?) enclosure while the two bottom drivers are maybe open to the port.
• Overall I'm pretty impressed at the price, they eat up at lot of power from the Carver and don't seem to really be straining too much.

Currently paired with Carver 15CB as I already had one set up. Will try an old Panasonic SA-HE200 and see how the sound changes and if tone controls can help balance the sound a bit more.

Take these measurements with a grain of salt as there is a lot of room influence going on here. At some point I may try them in the theater which is much better for acoustics, I think Dirac could also clean these up nicely.

3ft from speaker - null at ~200hz and again at ~600hz. Otherwise not bad.​

At listening position - a lot of room gain around 45hz​

At listening position with toe in (approx 10 degrees) - slightly improved highs and midrange.
Dip is still there at around 600hz - probably what I was hearing coming from the Diamond 9.2's.​

I tried moving speakers in and out several feet and still getting a huge peak at ~45hz. Room correction could probably easily clean this up.

Next to the nearly 20 year old Wharfedales.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

^RE: the different drivers in their pics, I suspect they simply messed up and showed the Audition series version instead of Encore in those pics.

_Man_