3DsoundSurge Reviews: Monsoon MM2000

Monsoon MM2000

Mark Muschett - Last updated August 6, 2001

Important Info:

Speakers By : Monsoon
Price : $299 MSLP
Power Output: (360 watts RMS total)
Subwoofer: 100 watts RMS
Satellites: 60 watts RMS x 4
Frequency Response: 35Hz - 20kHz (workstation environment)

Minimum/Recommended System Requirements

Sound card or other audio device with 4 analog channel outputs

Reviewer PC:

Mark
- Win98
- Celeron 333a o/c 416
- 128MB PC100 ram
- Creative TNT
- Creative Voodoo Blaster 12 M
- 6.1 and 13 GIG EIDE HD
- For headphones comparison testing I used a set of Sennheiser HD525s headphones. For sound card testing I used the following cards. A Sound Blaster Live, Sound Blaster Live 5.1, Hercules Game Theater XP, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, Siren Audio 5.1, Philips Acoustic Edge and Digital Audio Labs Card Deluxe were used for testing. All my testing was done in Windows 98 on a BX motherboard.

Specifications

Satellites: 4 x 8 inch dipole-radiating planar magnetic transducer*

Satellite enclosure: None

Amplifier power: 340 Watts total system power: 4 x 60 Watts, satellite transducers;* 100 Watts, subwoofer

Crossover: 24 dB/oct high-pass @ 200 Hz for satellites; 18 dB/oct low-pass @ 200 Hz for subwoofer

Subwoofer drive unit: 6.5 inch cone, magnetically shielded; Xmax = +/- 6mm

Passive radiator units: 2 x 6.5 inch cone

Subwoofer cabinet: 16-liter, tuned to 45 Hz; 10" H x 14" W x 12" D

Controls on subwoofer: Power on/off

Controls on surround-sound control module: Master volume, bass volume, fader control, headphone jack and mute

System frequency response: 35 Hz to 20kHz (in workstation environment)

Maximum SPL at .5 m: 108 dB using EIA 426B noise

Introduction

Over the past two or three years Monsoon has established a strong foothold in the multimedia audio market with three 2.1 speaker systems. Monsoon multimedia speakers are built with proprietary planar magnetic speaker technology developed by Sonigistix, a privately held developer, manufacturer and marketer of audio products based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Prior to that you might of heard the name Monsoon through by way of the company’s reputation for high quality factory installations. You can find their systems, which typically feature at least eight speakers and in excess of 200 watts continuous power in select vehicles Volkswagen, Buick, AM General, Pontiac, and Chevrolet.

In our review of their first product, the Monsoon MM-1000, we came away very impressed with what the very directional planar magnetic panels were able to do with 2 speaker 3D audio. However until early this year, Monsoon did not have an offering for the growing 4.1 speaker market. With their MM2000 4.1 system Monsoon has done more than enter the market - they have targeted the high performance market with a $300, 340 Watt RMS system. The high RMS specs and the looks of the system alone are sure to turn heads even before the system is actually heard. Monsoon has paid attention the market demand for an amplified headphone output which the placed on a very convenient to use control module. Monsoon is also offering what looks to be a very nice set of rear speaker stands for an additional $100.

At this price point the Monsoon MM2000s are going directly against the only other $300 decoderless 4.1 system - the Klipsch ProMedia 4.1. In this review we will offer many direct comparisons to the ProMedia 4.1. The Altec Lansing ADA890 at $350 is also in the same price range if you factor in the fact that it has an integrated hardware Dolby Digital decoder. In North America the VideoLogic Sirocco Crossfire carried a MSLP of $450 so it’s really in another price bracket in the North American market. Despite that we will also look at how the Monsoon MM2000 fares against its more expensive competitor. We will also compare against a few other 4.1 systems that I have tested in the $200 range to see just what it is that you get for the extra money. While it would be of interest we have not yet tested the Altec Lansing ATP5 or ADA890 so unfortunately can’t offer much in the way of comparisons with those two popular systems.