It’s also worth pointing out that the new in wall 300 speaker sound just the same as the on wall MP300s you tested. Using either of these speakers at the front of the room with a fixed acoustically transparent screen covering all three is the quickest, simplest, most cost effective way to achieve the best sound and vision possible I know of.
Rob
Great review. If I won lottery or sold a silicon valley startup I would definitely have a look at these
The only thing I am not too keen on is the 'slope' front of the L/C/R - I would have prefered them to be just flat as, if I had the money to buy these, they would be mounted at ear height directly behind a fixed AT screen - I would never want these below or above ear height and angled up/down like the way they appear to have to be mounted - don't really like that.
Also have the reviewers only ever used these with Odyssey based room correction? I would love to know what Dirac could do with these in a room setup! Would love to join these with something like the Arcam AVR850 and see what Class G/Dirac and these together would sound like...
...and in a large room with perfectly designed acoustic dimensions and then treated with best acoustic correction money can buy in a detached property so volume is no problem
Also This price, £17,000 is just for a 5.2 setup - so you would need another two of the £3,500 surrounds for a 7.2 setup so it's £20,500 is it?
Also then what speakers would match these quality wise for four ceiling Atmos speakers? Does MK not do matching Atmos speakers at all for these?
Hi Geogan
Thanks for your feedback and raising a few real world issues.
Ideally you should stick with the same quality and therefore the same series of speakers all the way around and above you. If you were testing a system you should be looking for sounds to move seamlessly all around and above while the quality of the sound remains identical as it pans.
Assuming you can’t have that many speakers in your room, then I think the next best think is using Tripolar speakers for side and rear surrounds and if you have a dedicated room, ideally on ceiling for Atmos. Installing one Tripolar speakers creates a similar sound field as using three direct radiating speakers without the extra amps, speakers and processing.
The MK 300 Series system I have here uses a 7.4.4 configuration in a truly purpose built listening room and several people from the film industry have said it’s the most convincing demonstration of 3D sound they have ever heard. I’m using 6 x Lyngdorf SDA2400 digital amplifiers to drive the system so what we have here is almost exactly what you are interested in hearing so let me know if you want to come for a blast….
Rob
Thank you Phil for what is nothing short of a brilliant and absolutely bang on review of the MK Sound 300 series speaker system. I could not agree more and have been singing the praises of this system since I first had the pleasure of hearing it two years ago. I can't recommend this system enough.
You're in for a treat Kelvin as they are absolutely amazing! You won't believe how much better they are than the 150s and that's coming from an MK fanboy who thinks the 150s are the best that money can buy at the priceThanks Phil for this great and extremely well timed (for me anyway) review. I've just bought an LCR set of MP300 off the classifieds and haven't even picked them up yet so I'm pleased to read how you feel they compare to my existing MP150 set.
Although I will be cheapening out ( if you can say such a thing) by using my existing S150T for surrounds and then 4 MP150 for Atmos channels. I'm also only using home made 15" sealed subs. Hopefully much of what Phil says will still apply.
Oh and for whoever mentioned it earlier I'll be using Dirac too but via a mini DSP unit and an Arcam P7. I'll certainly be posting back my own findings when I get it all set up (late October most likely ).
I've now been fortunate enough to have two years' hands on experience with these and there's nothing that even remotely comes close to the performance for the price or in most cases even south of £100K in my opinion. They are sheer awesomenessI've heard them before Nigel at the same time as you but couldn't justify the extra cost at new prices. I'm glad I took the chance this time though.
Although I will be cheapening out ( if you can say such a thing) by using my existing S150T for surrounds and then 4 MP150 for Atmos channels.
Hi Phil,
Thank you for the very thorough and balanced review. Just a couple of quick questions if I may:
Apologies if I might have missed detail elsewhere, but what size is the AV room these where reviewed in, is it a treated room? I noted you mention typical listening levels where about -8 from reference level. Did you put them through their paces at full on reference? Any notable loss in composure?
Also did you try them with and without the foam pieces between the tweeter array? I get the impression the foam pieces are not as important as they are for the 150 range?
Cheers and thanks again.
Sean
Yes I tested many times at reference and they do indeed sound fantastic at those levels, but I also value my hearing as I get older, so most long listening sessions are at -8dB, which is still loud enough to create a stunning enveloping soundfield for longer periods of listening. My room is 19ft by 15ft and ceiling height is 8.5ft. I have used the room for 15+ years and know it back to front. I tend to run with no EQ as the room is so well positioned and treated. Hope that helps.Thank you Rich, much appreciated info.
A fabulous review on these speakers. In my room, they create a massive wide, deep sound field with pinpoint clarity of imaging which gets even better as the volume heads north to and past reference in my room. EQ via Dirac, crossed over at 100 Hz to subs.
Cheers
Sean