News

• The Good: Wonderful flat-panel satellite speakers, a greatly improved wired remote from previous models.
• The Bad: Subwoofer on Planar Media 7 is underpowered.
• The Verdict: The planar focus technology used in both models' main speakers deliver crisp, clean sound, but the company needs to add more punch to its subwoofers to match the excellence of its flat-panel satellites, especially on the Planar Media 7.

REVIEW:

Three years ago I reviewed one of the first "flat" speakers released under the Monsoon brand, the MM-700, and I was quite frankly blown away by the sound quality. The company has put the intervening years to good use by refining its audio technology and speaker hardware, but the new Monsoon Planar Media 7 and 9 models just didn't make the same impact on me as their predecessor - mostly because of their subwoofers.

The Monsoon line, designed in Vancouver, B.C., employs an interesting technology called Planar Focus that until a few years ago was found only in ultra-high-end audiophile gear. Instead of standard cones fired by a magnet and metal coil, the planar focus satellites use planar ribbon transducers.

A very light and quick-moving diaphragm is sandwiched between a sort of clamshell made up of evenly spaced magnetic bars. The diaphragm is coated with strips that conduct electricity, and when voltage is applied, the diaphragm moves towards or away from the magnetic bars, generating sound waves.

Instead of a boxy speaker enclosure, the clamshell arrangement of magnets is encased in a durable steel mesh. The result is a rectangular satellite that is only a couple of centimeters thick (nicely matching modern LCD flat panel displays).

But the look isn't the important part - as always, it's what these speakers can do for your ears that counts.

The speaker diaphragm can react to input extremely quickly. This means it is a "nimble" speaker, from an audio point of view, that can reproduce sound very accurately. The design also generates a tightly focused sound field that reduces audio reflections or echoes that can muddy a sound field, since it isn't pumping sound from big round, sloping dish the way a traditional speaker does. And the planar ribbon tranducers are "dipole radiating," creating sound from both the front and back of the diaphragm (unlike cone-based speakers that have to be mounted so that a solid box traps the air behind the driver).

This focusing effect is a double-edged sword, though, since it means the audio "sweet spot" is much smaller and less forgiving than traditional cone-based speakers. You have to set up the speakers very carefully on the desktop so that you are sitting in the right place in the sound field.

But the payoff when you get things right is crisp, clear sound that is directionally precise. For example, if you're playing a game with a soundtrack enhanced for stereo 3D directional audio, the location of an approaching helicopter can be pinpointed accurately by the Planar Media satellites.

I've always been greatly impressed by Monsoon's planar ribbon technology, and the latest line is no different. The new four-inch by six-inch satellites are a couple of inches shorter than the MM-700s, but they don't loose anything by being slightly more compact. The highs are clean and clear, and the satellites can handle a lot of power- they can be cranked right up to the limit of the subwoofer's built-in amplifier with virtually no distortion creeping in.

That said, these are desktop speakers and not a replacement for a home audio system. I wouldn't choose them if your main goal is to fill a large room with a wall of sound. But the Monsoon line is among the best desktop satellites you can get today, for both music and gaming, if you want a clean audio signal and you're willing to take the time to position them properly for listening at your desktop.

They lack a bit in the midrange, though, and really need the backup of a solid subwoofer. And this, unfortunately, is where I have mixed feelings about the new Monsoon lineup.

Both the Planar Media 7s and 9s share the same satellites, but differ radically when it comes to their subwoofers.

Although the subwoofers in both models use standard coil-and-cone drivers with an active crossover set to 200 Hz, the Planar Media 7s have a smaller four-inch subwoofer powered by a 35-Watt amplifier. It's a tiny but surprisingly heavy sub, with a plastic enclosure (I've always preferred the resonant properties of wood). The sub, with only a three-litre air volume, is obviously designed with space-saving in mind, but it trades off a lot of performance to keep the footprint down. The sound is fine at normal listening levels, but crank up the volume and bass and the sub will quickly sink into distortion. By the time the amp is maxed out, I found the distortion far beyond what I would consider acceptable.

As a result of the half-hearted bass response, I'd only recommend the Planar Media 7s if you have extreme space concerns, or if you only do your listening and gaming at "reasonable" volume levels. If you really want to feel the music and sound effects inside your rib cage, save your pennies a bit longer and move to the Planar Media 9s, which deliver a lot more bass for relatively little more money.

The Planar Media 9s have a 6.5-inch, front-firing subwoofer in a respectable 11-litre ported (55 Hz) wooden enclosure. The box is physically about three times larger than its less-powerful cousin, and more than twice as powerful with a 76-Watt amplifier. The Planar Media 9s also have an on-off switch on the back, which the 7s lack.

The bass is excellent for deep rumbles such as thunder and explosions. The Planar Media 9 sub is also far superior to the 7s for music - even cranked to "10," the sub exhibits minimal distortion. The amplifier is cooled by a set of external fins for those long, heated gaming sessions, too.

The area where the company has made the greatest progress is the wired remote control. The old MM-700s had a tiny wired remote that the company's designers referred to as a "puck" (appropriate because it slid all over the desktop ...), sporting a mute switch and a slim volume dial that was hard to adjust. The new models share a much-enhanced controller. It features a big mute button, a volume dial you can actually get your fingers around, as well as the addition of a bass-level dial and a headphone jack. The wired controller can be held in the hand or clipped neatly to the base of one of the satellite stands.

All the cables to hook the speakers up to your computer or an audio playback device (with a miniplug connection) are included in the package, and they're colour-coded for easy setup.

I'm a huge fan of the Monsoon planar focus technology. The satellites are among the best you can get for the desktop, delivering crystal clear highs and the ability to handle lots of power. I was really turned off by the subwoofer that comes with the $79 (U.S. suggested retail price) Monsoon Planar Media 7, though. In that price range, there are speaker sets with far better subwoofers and overall sound. I highly recommend spending the extra $20 (U.S.) and moving to the bigger sub of the Planar Media 9s if you're in the market for a set of flat, planar focus speakers.