BK Monolith: the review :)

[Kazman]

Hello all

Had the pleasure of the company of a couple of BK Electronics representatives this evening, it wasn't just a social visit though, but more a home demonstration of their newest product.........the Monolith.

BK are already well known on the forum, in fact many people (including myself) own a BK XLS200 subwoofer, and a mighty fine sub it is too, but, we always wondered why don't BK go up a level and build a 12" model.

Our prayers have been answered, but not in the way we thought they would be. The Monolith is very different in design when compared to the XLS200, where the XLS200 is a sealed box design with either a front firing or down firing driver in a tiny cabinet, the Monolith is a large front firing front ported design.

The flared port is massive, but during the tests there was no evidence of port chuffing. The sub itself is huge! Almost as large as the big SVS box subs It will take two people to lift the 43KG beast if one needs to position it. BK actually fitted this review model with some special feet attachments which will be optional on the product, the spiked feet fit into a flat shoe, which attaches itself to the spike and does not fall off when the sub is lifted, pics of these to follow, as well as pics of the sub itself and its components.

BK also brought along a seperate amp unit and seperate driver unit to demonstrate their build quality, impressive does not really do them justice, especially the MOSFET amp module with its toroidol transformer and large capacitors.

The driver unit is based on a "Lab 12" driver, but the design has been modified and customised to fit BK's needs, it is well constructed with a lot of room for excursion, the drive unit sure can move and this was demonstrated during the tests. The drive unit is also reassuringly heavy.

The build quality of the sub is superb, easily outpointing the SVS PB10 in this respect. The other £400 sub of the moment, the Sony SAWX900, does have a better material quality though, and the finish is a little nicer.

The Monolith has possibly every connection type one would need, including balanced inputs as well as high/low level connections, the back plate is also superbly built and oozes quality, even better than the back plate on the PC Ultra. The cabinet is well screwed together, and the wood finish is of a high quality, it didn't surprise me to learn that BK actually build cabinets for some high end companies, PMC being one of them

Ok, enough of how it looks, what about how it sounds

In a word.............superb!!!! What strikes you first is the refinement, it is unheard of to find such refinement in a £400 subwoofer. The control is also awesome, the gattling gun scene in the first Matrix movie was handled extremely well, much better than the Sony, and an improvement over the PB10 in terms of depth and slam. It never broke a sweat either, and we drove the Monolith hard. Darla was played at near reference, no problems whatsoever!! For a £400 sub to play at near reference levels with no distortion and not bottom out on the Darla scene is a great achievement.

Another jaw dropping experience was the intro to Attack of the Clones, the bass was so clean and the massive explosion so controlled you would swear you were listening to a much more expensive unit.

This sub doesn't half shift some air too, more trouser flapping than the PB10, but also more refined, where the PB10 is agressive, the Monolith is more grown up and gives a much more adult sound, very much like the 20-39 PC+, although it isn't quite as good as that.

The Fellowship Of The Ring intro was also handled very well, no evidence of boom or distortion, the ring drop and explosion handled with finesse, this subwoofer gives an amazingly clean output at its price point.

The BK XLS200 is chewed up and swallowed next to the Monolith, in fact (as the pics will show) you may be able to fit TWO XLS200's inside the Monolith This is the best sub £400 subwoofer I have heard, eclipsing both the Sony SAWX900 and the highly regarded SVS PB10, not only in sound quality, but also connectivity and build (even though the finishing materials of the Sony are of a higher grade), the lack of distortion, and the quality of the sound are truly outstanding for £400. Another massive plus point is the way it hides away and integrates with the rest of the system, it doesn't overpower the soundstage at all and you only notice it when you are supposed to, another trait of a good quality subwoofer, it does this better than the Sony and PB10 too

Another question I wanted answering was how this sub would square up to one of the SVS heavy weights, my PC Ultra............could this be a fairytale ending for the BK Monolith? Well...............no, the PC Ultra proved its quality once again, in the same room, the PCU outclassed the Monolith......but then again, so it should, it costs more than twice the amount of the big BK and has that superb Ultra driver. The BK guys were very impressed with the SVS PC Ultra and agreed that it was the better sub, again, I'll emphasise the fact that this is to be expected considering the price differential.

What BK have done though, is produce a sub to rule its price point, the PB10 and Sony SAWX900 are both class acts, and to say the Monolith is better is some statement, but, to my ears (remember these were also heard in different rooms), the Monolith comes out on top..........even better news is that it is a BRITISH sub, and supporting a British company is even more satisfying when what you get in my opinion is a class leading piece of kit.

Well done BK, you have done it again, the Monolith is a cracker people, enjoy .

Few things to note, turn around time for orders to be fulfilled is about two weeks at the moment, BK are finalising the packaging details so that the subs are well protected during transit. Unfortunately we didn't get time to listen to any music, but I feel this will be handled very well with the BK Monolith, especially considering its refined nature.

Pics to follow very shortly, I'm transferring them now will post them within the next 30 mins .

[eviljohn2]

Good review mate, thanks for the effort. It seems to have gone pretty much as I'd have expected.

[Mroizouk]

Yeah, well written Kaz. I read with interest. As well as sounding better did the monolith dig deeper than the sony to your ears or were they equal? Interesting to know it produced a superior sound whilst being ported, too.

[sonic65]

Excellent review most appreciated, answered many points.

sonic65

[eviljohn2]

Details on the unmodified LAb12 driver here:
http://editweb.iglou.com/eminence/em...ab12/lab12.htm

Edit: Just to point out that the "5-points" at the bottom of the page refer to a horn-loaded design using 2 of these drivers.

[Kazman]

Here are the pics people Some of them really show the quality of the grain too.

[Sunil Banga]

Damn, exactly as I expected. I'm going to be skint very soon.......

[Kazman]

Originally Posted by Mroizouk

Yeah, well written Kaz. I read with interest. As well as sounding better did the monolith dig deeper than the sony to your ears or were they equal? Interesting to know it produced a superior sound whilst being ported, too.

They appeared to be fairly close frequency wise, but the Monolith was definitely cleaner, that is not to say the Sony isn't clean, just that the Monolith is more so.

[sonic65]

Originally Posted by Sunil Banga

Damn, exactly as I expected. I'm going to be skint very soon.......

That makes two of us
sonic 65

[Kazman]

Another point that BK made to me was that in its modified state, the driver in the Monolith is better than the Peerless 12

[Roam]

Nice review!

I'm so tempted to part with my XLS200 for one of these. Did you get any pics with the grill on?

[phillfyspoon]

great review and the sub looks better then I thought it would, I bet it would look nice in a wood finish.

[Kazman]

Originally Posted by Grinder

Nice review!

I'm so tempted to part with my XLS200 for one of these. Did you get any pics with the grill on?

Unfortunately not, but the grill fits snugly on the front and is very secure.

Anyway, time for bed for me, gotta be up by 7.30am for work .

Night people, will answer any more questions in the morning

[Sunil Banga]

I vote for Kazman as star man of the month! First the Sony, now the BK. We should get him to see if our bath water is at the right temperature lol!! Seriously though, cheers mate, I'm set on the BK now.
Awaiting funding................ :-s

[recruit]

Excellent review Kazman