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Review 1 of 2
Price Paid:
$190.00
from Sound Advice Summary:
I was looking to get a very "size efficient" 5.1 system to put into my newly renovated office. I was trying to stick within a budget of $1,200. Wasn't expecting amazing sound out such a size conscious system, but wanted to be comfortable with the sound.
I did some research online and was fairly sure that I wanted to get the Energy Encore System. Cool looking, small, good reviews... But, trying to find a place to either demo or purchase Energy products proved to be difficult in Southern FL.
I decided to go on the prowl figuring that I'd settle for a less audiophile solution from one of the franchises (Circuit City/Best Buy, etc.)... I made the tour and listened to a lot. Unfortunately, nothing I tried seemed to make the minimum cut; including smaller 5.1 setups from Infinity, Polk Audio, Klipsch, JVL, and others...
Finally, I stopped at the most audiophile outlet in S. FL, SoundAdvice and they just happened to have the new Monitor Audio Radius in. I decided to give them a listen, and couldn't believe what I was hearing. Granted, it was in an acoustically neutral room, but I still had to recheck the speaker selections... Then I also A/B'd the Radius against Yamaha, and Boston Accoustics of similar size--there was not a comparison to be made, the other speakers where not even in the same league!
The Yamaha, and Boston Accoustics sounded just as tinny, small, and inconsequential as the other 5.1 systems... Literally, unacceptable... Prior to listening to the MAs I was trying to think how I could fit bigger speakers into my office setup. Hold the press... Basically the tiniest option I tried, the Radius, sounded ridiculous! They had huge, full, and crystal clear sound. They sounded like speakers 4x as big! The sound stage wasn't quite what one might get from a full size model, but it was 2x what I had come to expect from a speaker as small as the MA Radius. Very enjoyable. I just kept listening to them in the store...
So then I decided to try out the Subwoofer, assuming that I'd just get the matching model to be consistent... Hold your socks... This thing was amazing. I'm not necessarily a Sub fan. But the MA Radius model was sweet. Once again, clear, solid, musical bass.... Extremely well matched to the satellites.
Needless to say my days travels couldn't have come to a better end. 10 minutes before closing, I purchase a full 5.1 set for ~ $1,300... Sure it was over my budget, but I couldn't be happier to have gotten that much performance and only be so slightly over budget... Hell, I might have spent $1,600 if I had to... Strengths:
Larger than speaker - heck, larger than life sound! Crystal Clear, yet full-bodied sound. Sweet looking, excellent craftsmanship, Small... Weaknesses:
Very little
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