[The News Bot]

Reviewed by Russell Williams
The M7 satellites and especially the M4-T surrounds are the stars of this bundle, never offering less than a truly homogenous surround experience of great precision and clarity, which is exceptional at the price. I should also add that they do so at all volume levels; quiet late night listening being more rewarding than normal. They will work well with most AV receivers upward of £500 in all but the largest of rooms and will do so taking up less floor space than anything near the price.
Read the full review...

[Badger0-0]

Hmm, I can't see how to comment on the actual review, so I'll do it here;

No matter; the previous recipient of this example had done their level best to render the gloss into satin finish anyway

Nice one Russ.

Hmm, I suspect they're not my cup of tea at all and indeed the thought of these and THX added to the mix gives me the shudders

That said, good review mate, which I found interesting

I feel MK have missed a trick in not going with a seperate MTM centre, as the vast majority will be laid on their side, I would have thought

Even though you've recommended them, I'm actually put off by that review.
No worries though, I can't stand MK for music anyway

[recruit]

Another excellent review from Russell and I also think it is a fair one,considering the size of this speaker package they hit well above there weight and make for a discrete package that packs a good punch...I hope you get the chance to review the 750 or even the S150 package Russ, I'm glad M&K are back

[Rob Sinden]

Hi Russell
Rob from the UK's MK distributor Gecko here. Thanks for putting so much time into reviewing the M7 package, I only wish more journalists gave the products they received the time and effort they deserved.
By the way 3 out of 4 of the new owners at MK were all previously working in the company, hence the continuity in design of the products. We'll shortly be launching the new 950 system at a Forum open day. I hope that you'll be able to review this new system when they become available.
Thanks again
Rob
Gecko

[recruit]

Originally Posted by Rob Sinden

Hi Russell
Rob from the UK's MK distributor Gecko here. Thanks for putting so much time into reviewing the M7 package, I only wish more journalists gave the products they received the time and effort they deserved.
By the way 3 out of 4 of the new owners at MK were all previously working in the company, hence the continuity in design of the products. We'll shortly be launching the new 950 system at a Forum open day. I hope that you'll be able to review this new system when they become available.
Thanks again
Rob
Gecko

Rob, please make sure Russ gets the new 950's to review...that would be fantastic to get a review on the forum first

[Rob Sinden]

I will.
I cannot tell you how nice it is to see a reviewer who seems to really give a *hit about what they are doing. Over the years I've had some great products that have been incorrectly set up by reviewers and so had dreadful write ups.

I intend to do the initial lauch of the MK 950's and the new Audyssey Bass Eq device first to Forum members. Both of these events should happen in the next 6 weeks and I hope Russell will be free to write the first reviews of these products.

Rob

[Dav1dF]

Good review Russell. Your reservations about the sub, as you say aren't really an issue with people who neighbours. What we tend to recommend in store is that based on that package, it's only another £100 to have an SB1250, which although is a slightly bigger box, does delve noticably deeper than the size restricted SB12.

As with all packages, they do suit a certain size room, and this is something that should be taken into account when choosing a package. Good to hear you thought the music was pretty good too

[paulst10]

Another great review Russ, thanks

They certainly sound a nice little speaker package (not too sure about that sub though)

[Bald Monkey]

Great review Russ

From my experience with a similar set-up it all seems to fit in with my own experiences... even the technical stuff I don't understand

It still amazes me at times how good the small M&K's can sound and how they seem to effortlessly fill a room

The K series metal grills are a bit fiddly IMO, so I can see that the magnetic locators would be an improvement even if they seem a bit pointless as the grills should remain and there's the rubber pads.. unless these can be removed?

[Dav1dF]

I think the move to the magnetic/runner pad thing was a beter option than using the normal 'plug in' grilles, which get broken, and if people leave the grilles off it leaves unsightly holes.

[Russell.Williams]

The reason I pointed out the weird magnet arrangement is because, whilst I accept it can avoid broken grill pins, the norm is to put the magnet under the veneer/paint and then put the rubber pad on the grill, thus leaving a clean look to the baffle when the grill is removed. This arrangement doesn't look any better than a grill pin & receptacle which when constructed properly, won't break. It also seems unnecessary as the speakers are designed to be used with the grills on anyway.

[Rob Sinden]

Center channels with a MTM layout are a compromise. There's a great article about this on Seymour AV's website where they have measured the compromises made when speakers are designed in this way and placed on their side. Their finding were that in all cases that center speakers designed in this way gave much better results when stood upright.

The best way to avoid this compromise is to put the tweeter above the mid range drive units which is how MK design all their L/C/R that are intended to be laid on their sides.

[Dav1dF]

Everything is a compromise.

The problem is that most people don't have the room to be able to stand a centre speaker (anything up to and over half a metre wide) up on it's side. The reason for the MTM design is because it's a centre speaker, you have to be able to sit anywhere you like in the room and still get good results. If you lay down a TMM design, the treble then ends up on the far left or far right of the speaker, taking it well off centre, and noticable from almost wherever you sit. The other reason is that with a mid/bass on either side of a HF unit gives a similar effect to a dual concentric driver, which is the most ideal speaker for music or home cinema because of their superior off axis response and better imaging.

[Rob Sinden]

Moving a speaker a few inched to one side will remove the problem you’ve mentioned.

The compromised response of a MTM speaker that is on its side can’t be compensated for except by standing it upright which is completely impractical in most installations.

If anyone is interested in measured response I think they’ll find this article of interest.
Vertical vs Horizontal Center Speaker Designs — Reviews and News from Audioholics

[Dav1dF]

But then you get the issue of midrange sounding lopsided. I've been there and done it Rob. A TMM on it's side doesn't work, whereas an MTM does.

[Rob Sinden]

I think the measurements speak for themselves.

Especially when the company involved is so expert and has no interest in selling speakers unlike either of us.

[Dav1dF]

But then the midrange sounds off centre/lopsided.

I've had 750's in my room for example - an average size room, with the speakers in their ideal positions - and the TMM arrangement doesn't work lying it in it's side, whereas MTM does (although I usually end up buying the same speaker that's being used left/right in my system to use as a centre).

I'd rather trust my ears (which is the most important thing). I don't really care how 'expert' they are. There are many self confessed experts out there who are more like 'great pretenders'....

[Rob Sinden]

A lot of the people we deal with are in studios or in the music and film industry where measurements are critical to their assessment of any system. When recording the end result has to be accurate rather than just sounding nice.

[Dav1dF]

But they're not buying M series or 750's are they, so that's a non issue.