John G

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $1295.00 from EBay

Summary:
Super tight and musical on audio. I have tile floors and system is in a big room. No foundation shaking, maybe home construction is the issue there! But all the bass you want and still maintain a sane balance with the rest of the music. Build quality first rate. Don't see how anyone could ever be unhappy with purchase of these. I have my ESS Heil AMT 1D's sitting on top of the MX350 MKII's on each side. Awesome on CD's and very very good on home theater but not awesome.

Strengths:
everything but home theater

Weaknesses:
-solid in theater, just not overkill as I like to have available.

Similar Products Used:
sunfire, velodyne

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I think this is a great sub, however I'm still waiting for the picture rattling, house shaking,chest thumping,vibrations to happen,that I've read so much about.Instead I get a very smooth,rich sound from my system,without the subwoofer calling attention to itself.With music(dvds)it is the best That I have heard. With home theatre,it sounds very deep and with a certain amount of crunch,but far from house shaking.Maybe it still needs to break in.

Strengths:
Very Musical and seamless.

Weaknesses:
Can't shake the walls.

Similar Products Used:
REL,VELODYNE

Price Paid:  $1400.00 from Sound Concept

Summary:
Great, tight sub that goes low and loud without any marked distortion. And the 350 is very accomodating in its room placement. I was happy with its original position but did experiment with several other locations without any noted improvement or failing. My set-up is all M&K, the 750 THX system. I went with the larger sub than the 1250 because I love loud, low bass. 99% of its use is home theatre and I have the sub output (at reference level) set 15db higher than the rest of the speakers. When I do listen to music in that room I modify the sub accordingly but for movies... I wanted my beverage to shake during Jurassic Park. I wanted battle fatigue during the open scene to Saving Private Ryan. I wanted bass that was low, could explode loud and undistorted; the 350 has delivered. Quite possibly the best sub out there for < $2,000.

Strengths:
See above.

Weaknesses:
None so far.

Similar Products Used:
Velodyne

Price Paid:  $1400.00

Summary:
I bought a complete S-150 system but was advised that the MX350 was a better match than the 150. Consequently, I didn’t even try the MX150. This seems to have been very good advice – other professional HC constructors have said the same. I connected this one up in a friend’s house for a while before moving back to the UK with it. He runs his sound system on 230 volts so there wasn’t a problem. It made a big improvement to the sound of his Martin Logans – visitors commented (to Tom’s embarrassment and mine, so after the second set of visitors, we put an end to all that).

When I got to play with it in my own home, I tried it out with my S-150s in anger and just loved it. It needed a bit of taming so that laser-swords and pod races didn’t disturb the neighbourhood, but now that it is properly set up, everyone is amazed at the M&K sound and the huge difference this sub makes to the overall effect of a movie.

Placement was so much easier than I expected. It works really well in every sensible position tried so far – I looked into the harmonics of the room before I started. If there is a G-spot, we don’t seem to have found it - or we have and it’s huge. This is definitely helpful with a wife who is unhappy to see technology taking over one end of the lounge.

When we were having trouble with the M&K wholesale channel, we considered the Bagend Infrasub 18, a nice unit – if somewhat large. From the reaction when my wife first realised the MX35 was in the room, I just know the BagEnd would have given me trouble.

I’ve tried the MX350 in two purpose-built lounges, it works equally well regardless of whether the floors are carpeted or wood with rugs. It always sounds powerful, precise and controlled – big Japanese drums really do sound like they’re in the room. I’m sure that with the right volume you could even recreate the earth-moving effect as well.

I resent the exasperation I experienced in buying this speaker but I’m delighted with the way this box performs and how easy it is to live with.

Other kit includes:
Toshiba SD900e DVD player
Tag McLaren AV32R processor
Bryston 9B PRO amp
M&K S-150 series speakers all round
DWIN Transvision Projector
Stewart Visionary VE100 Greyhawk screen
BetterCables Silver Serpent cables

Strengths:
It isn’t too fussy about placement. It always feels powerful but well controlled

Weaknesses:
The wholesale channel (Sound tech/Primex) has to be the most unhelpful and unprofessional in the business – we put up with months of problems and excuses and ended up paying a premium on shipping a complete M&K set. It all hinged on whether I could buy a 230 volt sub.

Heed the notice – take care when lifting 85lbs (burglars bring a fork-lift or forget it).

Similar Products Used:
REL – and that is a hard act to beat, especially with music.

Summary:
You get what you pay for, both good and bad. This is not a cheap sub, but it performs in line with it's price. The thing blends great with the mains as well as going low and loud and playing clean. There doesn't seem to be any nasty rattles or hisses coming from it either at extreme volumes - though it's hard to tell since everything else in the house is shaking and vibrating loudly enough to cover it up if it were there! Gave it 4 stars for value, but I would imagine another sub in the M&K line might be able to give you a bit more bang for the buck. As for the 350, I like mine just fine.

Strengths:
Loud, low and clean. Great matching with mains.

Weaknesses:
Maybe the price... but Hey, you gotta pay for the good stuff!

Similar Products Used:
Velodyne ULD-15