Detail, detail, detail

No musicality.

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!!

I owned an M&K S-150THX system with a MX 5000THX sub. I thought the system was great/fantastic for movies but it was very one dimensional for stereo playback of music.
During stereo music playback the M&Ks lacked a soundstage and sounded like the music was coming from the speakers. Also, the M&Ks sounded lean and small during the stereo playback of music. A good audiophile speaker will give the audio illusion of a stage with the musicians on it and the speakers will tend to "disappear." The M&Ks are a one-dimensional speaker and audiophile speakers are three dimensional. The soundstage has depth, width, and height in a good audiophile speaker. I think this one dimensional quality may be more a quality of THX speakers in general than just M&K speakers. They are designed to do one job and do it well. If you are just going to use your system for just home theater, the M&Ks are a great choice. They are very detailed. They have very good dynamics as compared to audiophile speakers. That is they play at very loud volumes easily and cleanly. But they are a bit bright.

I Am truly about 50% home theater (DVDs) and 50% stereo playback (CDs). I sold the M&K S-150 right, center, and left speakers and kept the tripole surrounds and the sub. I bought a pair of PSB Stratus Golds and a Stratus C6 center speaker. I think the M&K center was a little better (more forward) for voices, but the Golds cannot compare to the M&Ks for music playback. They are not even in the same ballpark for music playback. The Golds also produce a tremendous amount of base. The M&Ks are bright the Golds are not. Musical passages in movies are better with the Golds. The M&K did sound better for some special effects in movies due in part to their brightness. Some people will mistake brightness for detail but there is a difference. Also the M&Ks are very tight and do not produce a lot of energy or punch in the upper base or lower mid range area where a lot of air needs to be moved. A good example is listing to drums on a music recording-not base drums but just regular drums. The M&Ks do not produce a lot of energy in this area. It is the frequency range between the subwoofer and satellites. I had everything adjusted properly and the frequency response was good, it just lacked energy and/or punch in this upper base/lower midrange area.

I would rate these speakers 4.5 stars for home theater and 2.5 stars for two channel music. Therefore I will give them an overall rating of four stars considering they are designed for home theater use.

Just my thoughts-and my ear leans toward the audiophile side rather than the home theater side.

I entirely agree with the review below. The 150's are great with loud action movies, however, when listening to music, the sound feel entirely one-dimensional, without any sound stage. Went to buy these today and upon final listening to them next to a pair of platinum audio speakers, the lack of space these speakers presented was extremely obvious. Would not recommend them to anyone interested in audio use.

I fully agree with Collin (his review from last April 20)on that M&K 150 THX speakers are killer ones for MOVIE soundtracks reproduction. Yet I disgress when he claims "...but M&K has no competition", at least if he is intending to confer an "absolute" character to such statement.
I have not doubt that in its price category the M&K 150 is a superb contender... but -and this is a big "but"- it is not the epitome of current evolution when it comes to convey the full potential of todays soundtracks reproduction. This is nothing to be ashamed of, though, since speakers that outperform the M&K 150s do belong to a higher, much more costly league. But it has to be clarified: M&Ks -although truly good- do have stronger contenders out there!

Revel Gems, Citation THX Series 7000, Snells and Wilson Cubs are all "T-Rexes" that can easily beat the smaller (however brave) M&K 150 "Allosaurus".

M&K 150s may be a well-endowned Pam Anderson (I mean before her recent, sad sur- gery), but make no mistake: there are Lolo Ferraris out there.

Quick follow-up.You need a sub with these speakers, and if you feel the mid range is missing it's because your sub's roll-off is too low. The sub will give you the bass in everything from drums to guitar, you would be surprised how much actual bass is in every sound you hear. You need a sub to review these speakers fairly. (ok I'm done, thought I'd sneak in another 5 star rating...)

I have been an audio and video enthusiast for many years and this is the best speaker system I have heard with dolby digital formats especially music in AC3. My current system uses a B&K ref 20 pre/processor and adcom GFA555 amp along with an adcom gfa2535 amp and an M&K 350THX sub.If you want a system that is a sure thing I would highly recommend it.

Without understanding everything about the benefits of using, what really are, professional reference speakers for home use, I dove in with the 150's, MK tripole rears and a MK 350 sub. I agree totally with Collin's review. I have a Denon 5700 with DTS, DD etc. and have to say these speakers, with a sub, recreate DTS, DD and even 5.1 simulated stereo (again thanks to my 5700) with a precision unlike any speaker I heard during my demos. This is the next generation of THEATER and hopefully music but you need all the components to hear it. Just demo the Eagles HFO in DTS on the MK 150's and tell me it isn't a musical speaker. It's all in the master recording. In my opinion, with everything ( HT and hopefully Music) going to 5.1 < I want the best for THAT platform and THIS IS IT!!I do agree that 2 channel stero will probably sound better on other speakers but like Collin said that is not the point. ( At least I think this is what you mean...)
I'm about 60% home theater/DVD and 40% music and am VERY pleased overall. I tried the PSB Golds and Silvers too... and choose M and K.

Before I begin, let me say that I do not work for, or sell M&K speakers. I work in the professional audio industry, and my experience with M&K is both personal (I own a full M&K 5.1 channel system, and professonal (I use M&K on the job and know many others in the industry who do also)People are grazing the issue but missing the point on M&K S-150THX speakers. M&K has been involved in small film screening rooms for years before home theater even became a concept. Their years of experience in audio for pictures for audiences under 100 makes them uniquely qualified to design produce and sell the best speaker systems for this application. M&K's were not designed for stereo audio reproduction, especially the THX series. Miller and Kreisel speakers are the industry standard for multichannel audio reproduction in critical listening applications. Not the Home Theater industry, THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY! Chances are that during production the audio engineer/ producer/ director listened to the audio for the film through a M&K setup and made choices involved in the artistic creation of the film based on the M&K sound system. That is reference quality! Its the same components from the same manufacturer. If you use a set of speakers that make your stereo music sound sweet to your ears, you will compromise your home theater audio. In my opinion you can do no better than M&K for home theater. You can claim to do better, but any other product is a compromise from the sound the filmmakers wanted you to experience. I rate M&K as a six star product, there is no category for that below so I just clicked 5 star , but M&K has no competition, they are the best in class because they are the only ones in the class.

Collin you are absolutely RIGHT. I have owned the entire 150 THX system for more than a year now. I did not but this system to listen to music, I only use it for Home Theater in which it was designed. If you are planning on listening to alot of music then don't buy these, but if you wan't one of the best speakers for movies then you have to check these out. I might add that these are some of the best THX speakers that I have heard music through though. These as with all speakers you must compromise one for the other in some way but please don't try to review a product by using it for something other than it was designed for.These speakers were built for Home Theater FIRST and music second please keep that in mind!

Precision, Detail, THX Certified, the fact that almost every studio uses them. Incredible multi channel music.

I wish they were Bi-wired. After reviewing high end speakers for so long, I have been brain washed to expect it. But this is my weakness, not the speakers. The speakers are phenomenal.

These speakers are incredible! I was originally leaning towards the B&W 603 S2 or Paradigm Reference 60 series speakers. Both are nice speakers, but after listening to all of them side by side, the M&K speakers simply stood out above the rest. I was worried about how they would sound musically after reading some of the reviews below, so I focused on my comparison solely on how they sounded musically. The speakers sounded fine in a two channel mode, the mid and high ranges were precise and clean at every level. They did not have as deep of a base as the other two speakers, but they are not designed to. The beauty of these speakers is that they are designed to use a Subwoofer. (M&K Subs are superb) Using the other two sets of speakers, I found myself always screwing around with the sub or making sure I had the receiver set to only “Stereo”. Personally I want to listen to multi channel music and these are speakers hands down. Now that I was satisfied with the musical comparison, I went back to listening to the same movie soundtrack on all three systems and then it was all over. Nothing compares to the M&K S-150 THX system other than other M&K systems. I wanted to like the Paradigm Reference series system, but it did not compare in localization, precision of sound and as the last reviewer notated, the nuances. M&Ks give you the nuances the other systems did not have. You are hearing exactly what the sound engineer intended you to hear….this is because he/she was using M&Ks to mix the movie soundtrack. If you don’t believe me, look at M&Ks customer list. It’s a who’s who list.

Last thing I learned. Never pay retail. All product pricing is negotiable and speakers systems are not the exception.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 603s2, Paradigm Reference 60