doctj
01-10-2001, 01:05 PM
Are they any good? And recommendations on decent ones would be nice. Mainly for listening to music and watching movies. I don't game. Thanks.
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Keegan
01-10-2001, 01:58 PM
The best flat panel speakers are made by Monsoon. However, there is a company called Cyber Acoustics that offers speakers that look like flat panels, but actually have small 2" regular drivers in the satellites and a high-excursion 4" subwoofer. But those aren't actually flat-panel speakers.
crunchyriff
01-12-2001, 01:55 AM
Doctj-
I recently purchased a set of Monsoon MH700's. Being somewhat of a traditionalist,
I was a little skeptical, But I bought a pair anyway, (not hearing them, EVEN!)knowing I had a few weeks in which I could return them. I must say, I am very impressed.
They are a bit pricey,($149) but they are worth it.
They will NOT be leaving my desktop. Keep in mind, the subwoofer is a regular round cone, but the flat panels on these have NO cone. The imaging is awesome, and the sound- very sweet. The lower priced MH500's have a combination of cone and flat-panel drivers in the satellites, wheras the MH700's sport true flat-panel satellites.
I considered the Altec-Lansing 56S set, but I really like these Monsoons. It may depend on your ears, too, what you want to hear, and what works best with you particular soundcard.
I've been a pro musician for 26 years, and my ears are pretty picky. ( and not thrashed!)
If you are looking for surround or 5.1 sound, check out the Klipsh(sp?)line. You get alot of speaker for $250 US.
I think the Flat-panel idea (like Monsoon)is quite a giant step foreward, and not a fad or snake-oil at all.
I love every note out of these Monsoons, and you will hear things that were "hidden", listening to the same program material with other speakers. They mask nothing.
I recently purchased a set of Monsoon MH700's. Being somewhat of a traditionalist,
I was a little skeptical, But I bought a pair anyway, (not hearing them, EVEN!)knowing I had a few weeks in which I could return them. I must say, I am very impressed.
They are a bit pricey,($149) but they are worth it.
They will NOT be leaving my desktop. Keep in mind, the subwoofer is a regular round cone, but the flat panels on these have NO cone. The imaging is awesome, and the sound- very sweet. The lower priced MH500's have a combination of cone and flat-panel drivers in the satellites, wheras the MH700's sport true flat-panel satellites.
I considered the Altec-Lansing 56S set, but I really like these Monsoons. It may depend on your ears, too, what you want to hear, and what works best with you particular soundcard.
I've been a pro musician for 26 years, and my ears are pretty picky. ( and not thrashed!)
If you are looking for surround or 5.1 sound, check out the Klipsh(sp?)line. You get alot of speaker for $250 US.
I think the Flat-panel idea (like Monsoon)is quite a giant step foreward, and not a fad or snake-oil at all.
I love every note out of these Monsoons, and you will hear things that were "hidden", listening to the same program material with other speakers. They mask nothing.
seti
01-12-2001, 02:14 AM
Panel speakers are notoriously directional. Meaning you have to be pointed right at you for proper sound reproduction. So if you plan on using them in any circumstance in which you're not sitting at you're computer, you'd be better served with more traditional technology. Otherwise, they're worth concideration.
crunchyriff
01-12-2001, 02:34 AM
Seti mentioned flat-panels being directional.
Some of them may be.
MaximumPC's review of the Monsoon's mentioned "...a narrow sweet spot, but we'd still take them over 90% of the speakers on the market", upon submitting their test results;
but I will tell you this- that THESE particular flat-panels project sound from the front and rear of the satellites in a
"figure-8" pattern. They are VERY 3 dimensional, unlike the Benwin ( I think that's the brand...) that only radiate towards you.
Actually, these things really filled up my 24'x26'x8' den with pure, clean sound. My wife and I were pleasantly shocked at how well they perform.
Monsoon says in their literature to "prepare to be bathed in sound...", and I'd have to find their claim far more than hype. It's a pretty fair analogy, IMHO.
I personally didn't find the "sweet-spot" narrow at all.
Put it this way- right now I currently own a pretty satisfying Home Theatre system with conventional speakers. The next speakers I buy for fronts will be flat-panels....
Give them a listen for yourself, and see what you think. Hell, go listen to a lot of speakers while you're at it! ;> )
And remember- this is coming from a staunch traditionalist, who is pretty set in his ways. ( I guess that means there's hope for me yet...)
Some of them may be.
MaximumPC's review of the Monsoon's mentioned "...a narrow sweet spot, but we'd still take them over 90% of the speakers on the market", upon submitting their test results;
but I will tell you this- that THESE particular flat-panels project sound from the front and rear of the satellites in a
"figure-8" pattern. They are VERY 3 dimensional, unlike the Benwin ( I think that's the brand...) that only radiate towards you.
Actually, these things really filled up my 24'x26'x8' den with pure, clean sound. My wife and I were pleasantly shocked at how well they perform.
Monsoon says in their literature to "prepare to be bathed in sound...", and I'd have to find their claim far more than hype. It's a pretty fair analogy, IMHO.
I personally didn't find the "sweet-spot" narrow at all.
Put it this way- right now I currently own a pretty satisfying Home Theatre system with conventional speakers. The next speakers I buy for fronts will be flat-panels....
Give them a listen for yourself, and see what you think. Hell, go listen to a lot of speakers while you're at it! ;> )
And remember- this is coming from a staunch traditionalist, who is pretty set in his ways. ( I guess that means there's hope for me yet...)
doctj
01-15-2001, 08:12 PM
Being on a tight budget I decided to try out the cyber acoustics 4.1 speaker set. Agreed they're not truly flat panel but the sound is awesome and for $55 shipped I think they're tremendous value. I can hear every little sound on my cd's, mp3's and dvd's. Definitely recommend them to anyone. Thanks for the advice guys
mike511
01-15-2001, 09:12 PM
I bought a pair of Benwin Gx-6 flat panel system. Its the highest in there product line. They are sweet speakers, but you can't play them really really loud or else your going to get bad distortion, but the Sub kicks ****, it shacks my room. I've had them for 6 months and i enjoyed them. But know i have more room, so i brought in my stereo. Now i have my computer hooked to a 100 watt amp which connects to a pair of speakers that has 2 8" woofers, 1 6" woofer and 3 tweeters each. Needless to say. You can never get any computer speaker close to reproduction of your own stereo. I don't care what anyone says.
HEres the link to Benwin.
http://www.benwin.com/49gx6spec.htm
Mike
HEres the link to Benwin.
http://www.benwin.com/49gx6spec.htm
Mike
Warthog
01-16-2001, 06:29 AM
Maximum PC had a review of the latest Monsoon and Boston Acoustics flat panel speakers. They said the BA model was inferior. I would rather listen to them myself. Although, if I was going to spend that much on pc speakers, I'd say screw the flat **** and get the Klipsch Pro Media. Those are supposed to kick bootay.
Warthog
Warthog
SysOpt.com
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