andygood

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.33 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1400.00 from Artistic Sound & Vid

Summary:
I don't want to jinx myself by writing this review but I am fairly certain after several years of trying to find a speaker arrangement to meet my goals, the 150's have been the answer. I have gone many routes trying to find a speakers which offered the best of both worlds for music and video. What I have discovered is that you really can't find an arrangement that does both well on a critically high level. If you are more than 50% in one direction, then lean towards the speakers that meet your preference. Most recently, I bought a pricey Dynaudio Contour center and SE bookshelfs thinking that a quality speaker this musical would certainly be a top notch speaker for home theater as well. I was wrong, the sound was soft and un-involving. Previously before owning the Dynaudios, I had a M&K 750 THX set-up and was really impressed with their home theater ability but thought that I could get a more musical speaker and still have a dynamic home theater sound. As I said, the thinking was wrong. First of all both the 750's and the 150's are both decent with music. Although, if you are into sitting around with a glass of brandy and picking apart the nuances of instruments on 2 channel cd listening, you can certainly do better. But that is not what we are talking about here, if you are looking at M&K, you are at least 70-30 home theater. For the 30% or less that you want to enjoy music, you get a detailed presentation and sound that is at least competitive with your better mid range spekaers that are touted for their musicality. But if home theater is your passion, these speakers make child's play of any similarly priced speakers, especailly those wich are emphasized for music. You'll notice a huge difference in the dynamic peaks, the way sound moves from speaker to speaker and clarity. I have the matching $875 AC center which is only 21 pounds and my $1,400 Dynaudio Contour with the beautiful wood cabinet wasn't in the same league. The M&K's are the closest thing a consumer can get to a professional studio monitor for the home, in fact, these are hybrids of the big time speakers used in professional mixing studios and soundstages for some of the leading studios in the world. There isn't a speaker available to the consumer with the same pedigree as M&K for home theater performance. The tell tale sign for me was the day I brought these home and played the new Resident Evil sequel, I actually jumped from a sound effect coming from the left front speaker. Moreover, these are the first speakers I have owned where I have had to turn the dynamic range control to "reduced" on my processor because even at modest volumes, I was keeping the family up at night. The audio/video industry is full of a lot of hype, if you believe in bi-wiring and are seduced by pretty wood enclosures, the M&K approach will not be as appealing. But look at pictures in recording studios of speakers and you will see industrial looking speakers like M&K. The wood finishes and gimicky bi-wirible fancy binding posts are designed from a marketing perspective. I am not a believer of throwing 5 stars around because I don't think it benefits those of you looking for buying advice, however, if you understand what these are inteded for, you are looking at truly a 5 star product. In terms of quality, the M&K offers a ten year warranty, each speaker is indivually tested and the technician's name is actually on the speaker. I recommend the 150's wholeheartedly to anyone who aspire to have cinema quality sound in there home and in some cases exceed it.

Strengths:
Best available pure home theater speaker at this price point and bests many pricier speakers for home theater. Pedigree, value, performance & warranty.

Weaknesses:
They are not necessarily pretty.

Similar Products Used:
Polk, Energy, Dynaudio, M&K, Boston, Sonus Faber, Revel, JBL, Definitive.

Price Paid:  $6000.00 from Brandsmart

Summary:
Let me start by saying that I don't mix theater with music. So I don't have to debate if it sounds reference like for 2 ch. playback. All I know is that I have compared it with the high end Energy, Boston Acoustic, B&W and others. What I found was that the MK speakers are capable of sounding natural and revealing with great stage for movies. What I mean is that if you have reference DVDs like the Matrix, Gladiator, and others, you can audition real life-like sound effects with direction, natural dialogue and a movie that will blow you away. Again you can judge for yourself. I use the MK S-150THX Ultra with the following: Denon 5800, Toshiba SD 9200, Monster Power HTS 5000, Monster M1000 Digital Cable, MK S-150 center, 200 MK 2 Tripolet-4, MX-350 MK II THX Ultra-2. Sometimes they can be, and at other times they are not a bit bright, but that depends on the system you are using and the cables you are using as well. I will explain. With the Denon, I use the Kimber 4TC, which sound a bit bright but that's because the cables don't have 10 hours yet. I hope it will go away after 100 hrs of burning. I was using Monster XP and it wasn't bright at all, but I lost detail. I also tested my Mcintosh Amp MC 150 with the speakers and the difference in sound was amazing, very close to what reference theater is all about. I know the sound will get there once I change my digital cable and see what Kimber 4TC is all about, or replace it. As a matter a fact in the future I will also change the AV with separates. If you want a good music do what I did, and get a nice stereo. Believe me, you don't need super expensive equipment (30,000 plus) to get reference sound. To conclude, the MK S150 THX are amazing for Movies and they will sound only right if you match them with the correct equipment and the right acoustics. Again you can always buy better but the MK won’t put a hole your pocket. PS. If you have these speakers and know the right combination of speaker cables, please share this information, thanks.

Strengths:
Sound, Stage, detail, Warmth.

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
B&W, Boston Accoustic, Klipch, Energy.

Price Paid:  $2100.00 from ebay

Summary:
This is a review of the s-150p. Yes, that''s right, I put the "p" on the end for a reason. The p stands for self-powered. M&K sells a self-amplified speaker that audioreview does not have a specifc entry for. These are THE speakers used in Skywalker sound and other sound mixing studios. They have 180 watt amplifiers built into them, and weigh about 45 lbs each. They retail over $2k, but I got mine off ebay for half that price (and have never seen them there since). They are tremendous speakers. The sound stage is very wide. I hear many details with these speakers I do not hear from others, including the s-150 (unpowered). I don''t happen to like the sound of the unpowered version that most people here are writing about. I think they stink for music listening. The self-powered versions are great with movies and music. One thing I like in particular is their ability to handle high volumes without distortion. I''ve never been able to drive them beyond their limits. They have detachable power cords, and I would like to one day purchase nicer cords to see if that improves sound even more. Since they are self-powered, you use the pre-outs on your receiver, or hook them directly into a preamp through an interconnect. This is also a nice feature. For some reason, self-powered speakers have not picked up in the marketplace (except in the subwoofer category, of course). The key advantage is that the amplifier is designed specifically for the speaker enclosure. It also has a reduced set of wiring between the amp and the speaker cones. I will never go back to the normal speaker configuration with an external amp, after owning these babies a while. Now I can concentrate on purchasing a good preamp to mate with the speakers directly. For those who like performance reviews like Home Theater, I believe these were given a 95 for performance. Write me for more info if you like. I think Downtown audio sells them for $1750 each - which is the lowest price I''ve been able to find outside of ebay

Strengths:
dimensionality detail soundstage how volume play without distortion

Weaknesses:
price

Similar Products Used:
M&K 750 thx-select M&K s-150 (unpowered)

Price Paid:  $700.00 from Audio Video

Summary:
I justed finshed building my theater with a some carpet on the walls with diffusers. Connected by Lexicon MC-1, Rotel amps(RB 990s), and Pioneer Elite disc player to my Klipsch speakers which are KG 5.2 (similar to 5.5) and my theater room rocked. Why am I talking about Klipsch? To compare them with my new M&K S-150 speakers. I loved my horns, Klipsch. So did my wife. But I've been looking for a quality theater speaker and if George Lucas liked them, why not listen to them. What we heard was better seperation in the audio track of movies and music. The voices were clearly defined and well understood. The M&K 150 sub did an excellent job producing the bass needed. I've listend to many speakers, B&W, Martin Logans, Vienna Accoustics, Monitors, and many others but I like M&K. My ears never got fatiqued. These quys didn't play high, meaning that if you listen to bullets hitting a car and it hurts your ears to the point of fatique. But these guys never tired my ears. They are nice warm speakers. I listend to my DTS music collection, WOW!!! I've got chills. I feel the breath of the singers (Boyz to Men). I love these speakers. Klipsch are nice but M&K was much better with movies and music. Detail, Detail, Detail. These are quality speakers, the slight puff of the cigar in Crimson Tide to the rolling thunders of that movie. I'm listening to the Eagles and I heard things with better detail and seperation then my Klipsch. Panning from left to right was smoooooth. No dips in the audio as I listen to a dragon fly in my room as he's talking to Dennis Quaid from DRAGON HEART. No "ssss" at the end of sentece as people talk. Your hearing the audio as it was ment to be heard. A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Strengths:
Seperation, theater playback, soundstage

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
Klipsch

Summary:
Wow I really hate to do this because I really wanted to love these speakers, but here it goes. For a dedicated theater you can't do much better under 5k. If you want to use these as a theater and some music, then it just doesn't cut it. I love M&K products, I own one of their subs, but there was just so much missing during music playback. I don't even listen to much music, probably 70/30 between movies and music, but it still sounded just so hallow and distant during music playback. I ended up getting an Atlantic Technologies system (370 thx ultra). I really do like it. They are fairly musical, not as musical as a good audiophile speaker but quite good. I think the tweeter setup on the M&K just really throws off the music. This is just my opinion and when it really comes down to it, it only maters to myself. But take a listen and make your own decision. While your there pick up a couple of their subs!!

Strengths:
Detail, detail, detail

Weaknesses:
No musicality.