trisweb

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $85.00 from Fry's Electronics

Summary:
I got these as display models from Fry's for cheap after I listened to them and they sounded pretty good (they're in great shape, nothing wrong with them), and I'm currently running them off a T-Amp for my main desk/computer speakers.

They're certainly very good little speakers, nothing at all specific wrong with them necessarily, they just don't have that realism or fullness that you'd expect from the top of the line. They are definitely better than anything you can get for under $100, but at their price I think you can find better. However, disregarding value they are great speakers for this size range.

Strengths:
Balanced, flat, full sound. Accurate highs, a subtly detailed tweeter. Good voice reproduction. Accurate enough to discern the general horrors of low bit rate mp3s. No listening fatigue (I listen to them all day), they treat dynamics very well with no distortion (eg, many speakers will muddy the end of Damien Rice's Eskimo, these do not). Surprising bass fullness coming from such a small package.

Weaknesses:
Of course you won't get the lowest frequencies from a 5" driver, so pairing these with a sub would be ideal. Also, these speakers have a slight "plastic" sheen to them - with a little crackling in the extreme high frequencies on sustained pitches. It's barely noticeable, but the kind of thing you just wouldn't hear with top-of-the line drivers. So, quality is good, but not the best.

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jdawgshox

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $210.00 from CSW

Summary:
I researched these speakers for a long time, not wanting to spend money on a pair of speakers I would regret buying later. The M50's were in my budget already, but when I heard they went on sale I had to grab them. Being a student of music and an overall music enthusiast (not quite yet an audiophile) I was merely looking for a pair of speakers that had good reproduction qualities and would fit in my small room. The M80's were an attractive option, but would be over-powering for the space I wanted to fill. I dropped by the local CSW store for a quick test drive. At first listen I was quite dissapointed. The audio quality which I had become used to coming from the large wooofers during long rides in my car had spawned many poor listening habits. Being a "base-head" myself, I could appreciate the tight highs of the silk tweeters, but the output in the lower frequencies was utterly unimpressive. When I asked to listen to the M50's along with the 8" bass cube, I was stunned. The two together made a perfect combination. Anyone who plans to do serious listening with these speakers is, without a doubt, going to need a subwoofer to cover the lower frequencies. This is due to the comparatively small size of the M50's woofers. For those either shying away from the expense of a nice subwoofer, or anyone looking for bigger sound, the M80s are a better choice. An advantage of the M50's (especially for those on a budget) is that they are relatively easy to power. Even a budget receiver should have enough juice to get these speakers bangin'. However, I decided to go with a more powerful Marantz stereo receiver which has way more than enough power to keep the M50's cranked up without any distortion and maintain a full sound field at lower volumes. Overall, the M50's (to my ears) are wonderful speakers for the money. In fact, I have not heard better speakers for this price anywhere. Just make sure that you position them properly to get the best bass response and add a sub if you're looking to jam with some Bob Marley or just annoy the downstairs neighbors. I highly recommend them for anyone who wants to fill a small den or bedroom with high-quality audio.

Strengths:
Good high and mid frequency response. Lots of power for their size. Clear sound, even at high volumes.

Weaknesses:
Not enough bass.

Similar Products Used:
Bose satelites/bookshelfs

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I bought the M50's along with the Newton 150watt subwoofer for me new computer. I like to build my own computers because I have not found the quality I demand from Dell, Gateway, et al. Anyway, I chose the new Soundblaster Audigy Platinum 2 - a wonderfull soundcard that supports DVD Audio. I bought a few DVD-A's and listened on my system, and the sound quality of this speaker set is outstanding. No matter the style of music, these speakers became "invisible" as I was enveloped in a wonderfull sound stage. I am not big on surround audio, so I listened to the DVD-A's with 2.1 sound. Steely Dan's Gaslighting Abbey (Giant DVD-A) provided a nice snap in the sound. As a drummer, I particularly enjoyed the snap of the snare drum, and tight bass. There was no bleed in the mid-range with any of the sounds. Track 2 - What a Shame About Me - features a ride pattern that sounded to me as if the drumset was in the room with me. It was fantastic. The Telarc DVD-A of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is perhaps one of the most strenous of any music. This Eric Kunzel version feautures a full chorus during the beggining. I could hear very distinctly the separate voices within this chorus. The grand finale with the digital cannons were reproduced without that annoying "speaker pop." The M50's handled it beautifully. The Barenboim DVD-A of Beethoven's 9th is drmatic enough to give you goose bumps for days. I could pick out every single instrument during the infamous Molto Vivace. Finally, the Zephyr Voices Unbound DVD is perhaps the most difficult to reproduce. This vocal only group covers the full range of vocals, and was recorded direct to 24bit 92K. Again, the M50's reproduced the voices accuratly. Just for curiosity, I replaced my main stereo speakers with these M-50's without the sub. Listening to my systems DVD-A player, I played the above disks again on my home system, and was blown away. I could not believe the amount of sound that came out of these puppies. And there was bass too! Granted, the sensitivity is a bit low, so I had to crank up the amp, but the sound was phenominal. I reviewed the comments made below, and can only say that their system perhaps lacked the power to drive these speaker. Some speakers, after all, need more power to drive. When driven with enough power, these babies come alive. I like these so much, I will replace every speaker in my home theater with these, and a sub-woofer. Of course, my current speakers are about 5 times as much, but I don't care.

Strengths:
Don't let the size fool you. These are accurate speakers. The walnut (option) cabinet is will made. There is no emphasis an any one frequency. Very inexpensive.

Weaknesses:
Needs much power to drive these. That is about all.

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I've had some success with more expensive CSW speakers (M80s, MC500, S300s, etc) so I thought I'd give these a shot for use in one room of my house. Unfortunately I found these speakers to be very unimpressive. Let me qualify that by saying I'm not sure it is the speakers' fault per se. For their size they are probably decent quality, but they didn't blow me away as being much better than similarly small sized speakers. And that's basically the crux of the problem: the speakers are just too small to sound very good. I know it is unfair to compare these speakers to the M80s and to full range tower speakers, but the truth is musically they just don't measure up. The best way I can describe it is these sound very squashed in comparison to my other speakers. The treble just isn't as high, the bass isn't as low, and instead everything is just sounds muddled like it's all been smashed together. The articulation just isn't there... I haven't compared these speakers directly to any similarly sized bookshelf speakers, so I don't know how they stack up against the competition. What I do know is these speakers just aren't very impressive. It's probably just because they are small, but my advice is to avoid getting small speakers. Spend the extra $100 on a pair of M80s because they blow these things away and are well worth the extra money. Unless you absolutely can't afford anything better, buying the M50s or other tiny bookshelf speakers is not advisable. As for myself I will be returning these and just going with another pair of M80s. I went for the M50s at first because the room in question is small and I thought the M80s might be "overkill". Unfortunately the inferior sound quality (not just volume) of the M50s proves that is definitely not the case.

Strengths:
Price? ($150 refurbed on Ebay) Ok amount of bass for the size (I guess).

Weaknesses:
Too small to be very good. Muddled/Squashed sound. Not much bass, not much treble nor any sort of articulation.

Similar Products Used:
Polk, CSW, others

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Hifi.com

Summary:
Equipments used with M 50:
Cambridge audio A-500 integrated amplifier.
AMC CD-8 campact disc player.

I was an audiophile who had since 'moved on' to pursue other hobbies. Nevertheless I still enjoy music and read about audio equipments from time to time.

On the whole, the M 50 is a well designed and built pair of speakers. Its construction is amongst the best I have seen for speakers in this price range. In terms of performance, the M 50 is well balance and musically engaging. I would recommend the M 50 to casual listeners. For serious listeners, selecting the M 50 will have to depend on your musical preference. (See comment on performance.)


Construction:

The goods points:

Upon unpacking the M 50 from its box, I was amazed at the weight of these little speakers. The M 50 is quite heavy for its size.

In terms of cosmetics, the M 50 is quite attractive. The wooden exterior is beautifully finished and the construction is nearly perfect. (This is not to imply that the M 50 had construction flaws. I normally hesitate to describe something as being perfect.) The wire terminals are gold plated and leaves the impression that the speakers cost much more than $250.

The M 50 design is simple yet elegant. While most bookshelfs at this price range have the generic 'speaker' look, the M 50's concaved front grilles gives its a subtle style that is distinguishes it from the 'rest of the pile.'

The bad points:

The wire terminals do not allow for use of banana jacks. The fronts grilles, although attractive are somewhat fragile. Cleaning must be done with gentlely least the fabric tear.

Performance:

Being spoiled by Celestion 3 and its bigger SL 12 sibling's sinfully sweet-sounding tweeters, I was initially disappointed by the M 50's treble reproduction. The M 50's silk dome tweeters were not as engaging as the Celestion's metal alloy tweeters. However, I soon took the treble 'shyness' for sign of the M 50's sincerity to a well balanced sound. Perhaps due to their overemphasis of high frequencies, I always remembered the Celestions as being quite poor at reproducing vocals. The M 50 on the other hand, excels in this area. On the M 50, the siren voices of Loreena McKennitt and Karen Matheson (Capercaille)were rich and flavorful. The M 50's strength is by no means limited to vocals. The speaker's well balance tonal qualities also meant that it excels at reproducing musical instruments faithfully. On the M 50, Andres Sergovia's masterful performance of Recuerdos De La Alhambra leaves you yearning for the warmth of the Iberian summer.

In relative terms, the bass reproduction is quite commendable. There is only so much you could expect a 4 1/2 inch woofer could produce and the M 50 definitely 'squeezed' out the very last bass note that is physically possible for its dimunitive size. Unfortunately, in absolute terms, this ultimately falls short of what it takes to reproduce the low notes on demanding music.

To sum up, the M 50 is definitely an above average product in both construction and musical reproduction.

Strengths:
Good value. A handsome pair of speakers with well balanced sound.Good reproduction of vocals.

Weaknesses:
Listeners who prefer 'brignt' sounding speakers may find the M 50 unengaging. Limited bass extension.

Similar Products Used:
Celestion model 3, A/D/S L400