Monoprice 5.1 Channel Home Theater Satellite Speakers And Subwoofer - Black

I'll start this by destroying my credibility. I am not an audiophile, and this is my first surround sound system worth the name. I did, however, do a massive amount of research before buying these. This is going to be long, so the TLDR on this is: These are great speakers for the price, and will probably be more than adequate for the needs of anyone who is not an audiophile. They are also better than many $600-$800 sets in terms of frequency response curve and general sound reproduction. They will not have the same build quality or design aesthetic as these premium sets, but look fine, and are made well. You won't regret buying these unless you have much more exacting standards than the average person, and even an audiophile would be satisfied with these as a second room/vacation home setup. So, the rest: I was originally settled on the Energy Take Classic 5.1 set. (which has become the long standing gold standard of affordable 5.1 speaker sets) Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black) But, a price bump on those right when I decided on them led me to do some re-shopping. After reading and watching the CNET review on these, I started looking in to them seriously. I suggest you check out that review. These speakers are actually the replacements to the Monoprice 9774 5.1 system. The reason those were replaced was due to a patent lawsuit because they were exact clones of the Energy Take Classic 5.1 speakers. Nearly identical form factor, Identical internal components, and most interestingly, identical performance and frequency response curve. But over $100 cheaper than the average price of the Energy speakers. So that wasn't going to last, and it didn't. For a while there, they were hands down the best speaker per dollar that could be purchased. These Monoprice speakers are just enough different to dodge another lawsuit. The surprise is that in some respects, they are better than the speakers they replaced. The consensus seems to be that they provide a more satisfying over-all sound than the Energy Take Classic. I can't speak to this because I'm not in a position to directly compare them. But everybody that has seems to agree that these are either equivalent or better. The fact that they're cheaper doesn't hurt one bit. Another advantage is that if you want to add two speakers and make this a 7.1, Monoprice actually sells you two more matching speakers for about $80. Monoprice Premium Home Theater Satellite Speaker - Black (110800) Energy only sells the satellite speakers for their set as a package. And though exactly matched speakers in a 7.1 isn't mandatory, it certainly makes it easier for your receiver to blend. These are a recent purchase, so I can't speak to how long they will last. I can say they sounded great to me right out of the box, and the spring connectors were super easy to use. Important notes: Break in Period: Don't blast these things full volume until you've been using them for quite a good little while. A couple of weeks of regular TV watching should do it. This type of speaker needs time to loosen up and mellow out. Skipping this step is a really good way to permanently damage your sound quality. They're actually supposed to sound even better after being broken in, as well. Subwoofer Cable: if you order these, you need to get a shielded RCA splitter subwoofer cable. (one male connection that splits to two male connections) It will actually run ok off of a single RCA into the white input, but spend the extra $6 and do it right. They're all over amazon. I almost took off a star for them not including this, but I just couldn't make myself do it. The speakers themselves are just too solid. Speaker stands: A lot of people make the obvious (and incorrect) assumption that the Monoprice speaker stands will fit these Monoprice speakers perfectly. (go figure!) They don't. They work, but only if you mount the speakers upside down. I ordered some that are on the way. If those work out, I will edit this review. Edit: They didn't really work out. I'm using them, but they aren't ideal. Anyway, you should just go on and buy these unless the Energy Take Classic set is at one of the periodic low dips to $250 range. At that point they become a serious contender because of a 3 year warranty vs the 1 year that Monoprice offers. (or if you have a fascination with gloss black finishes) But that's about the only things that distinguish them from these. AND they might actually not sound as good. FYI - there are some known problems with the dust covers tending to have the little plastic bits break off inside the speaker when you try to remove them. So, if you want to use these without the dust covers, slow and steady wins the race. I intend to leave mine on, but it is something to be aware of.

A little story: A very nice set! My previous set was an RCA box set of receiver with 5.1 speakers purchased in the 90s. Speakers still work to this day but the receiver is starting to die. I purchased a Sony STR-DH750 with 7.2 capabilities to bring the speakers to life, but realized that my old subwoofer was powered by my old receiver. Rather than invest in an amp for 20-year-old speakers decided to invest in a new system. After extensive research, reading many reviews, feedback and ratings, I decided that Monoprice was the best bang for the buck. It was between the 108247 and this set, the 10565. While I'm a cheapo who tries to get the best for as little as possible, I made the decision that spending nearly double for the next step up was best, especially after the lroce dropped 40 bucks! The one downside to this transaction that it was backordered. What was to be a month's wait ended up being 10 weeks or so. I wasn't in a rush, amazon wasn't pulling my leg and even asked if I wanted to cancel my order, but I was hoping that the speakers would be worth the wait- especially since I wasn't yet finished making my entertainment center (that's a discussion for yet another forum). Shipment I finally received a ship date, and it arrived 3 days earlier! I was a bit disappointed because the box had visible damage. I took pictures to document it. Upon unboxing, it was only the outer box that had damage- fault of the carrier, not amazon or Monoprice. In fact, kudos to them because that outer box was essential protection! Unboxing The speakers have a nice, sleek, modern feel to them. Nothing extravagant, clear simple design; less is more, in my book. The sub is slightly bigger than what I thought; a little taller than expected due to the small legs. Setup I've hooked up several systems before, so as a man, decided not look at the directions. I do love the wire attachements on the back! Very simple: push, insert wire, release! No screwing or turning like the back of my receiver. Indeed, no mounting holes, just the speaker which is perfect for my setup as I have them sitting on wall-mounted shelves and a mantle around the tv. Setup took about an hour because I tried using old, used wire and realized I didn't have enough so had to use a new spool so that all the wires would look the same. Otherwise, should have taken 15 minutes or so. I added an old pair of bose dual cubes to these speakers and set them up for rear surround. The set does come with red/white combo RCA cable. Many reviewers have problems with this not working on their receiver so had to order an adapter or different cable. Both the sub and my receiver have stereo inputs so this worked perfect. I use the included the mic and run the auto setup. Piece of cake. However, afterpowering up my ps3, my screen would flicker every few seconds. I swapped out the included RCA cable to use a heavier duty set I picked up from RadioShack a few years ago. The flickering stopped! I pop in Iron Man on bluray to give the speakers a run. The surround worked beautifully! Bullets wizzing by startled my two cats. Yet... no real boom. I felt like the bass was missing. I unplug the front speakers and put my ear to the sub, and notice nothing. Is the sub THAT bad?? I hook up the receiver to my phone via Bluetooth and play a 10 minute video of the THX intro. Nothing impressive. I look at the back and crank the bass all the way up. Still nothing. I google my problem and find a small suggestion. I dive into the receiver's on-screen speaker setup to go to Speaker Configuration which was set to "3/4". No idea what that fraction stands for. The online diagnosis said to ensure the configuration number ended in ".1". So I scrolled through the setup options and 3/4.1 was an option, so I selected it. BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! A deep, heavy, bass sweeped across the house, rattled some wood shelving, sent my cats running and scared the crap out of my dog. Yup. Subwoofer works. Perhaps a little too well. After several movies, I finally adjusted the bass to my liking. It is VERY powerful, perhaps a bit too much. Even my neighbor thinks so. Conclusion: An easy setup that may require some fiddling and fine-tuning. The subwoofer may take some fenangling, but it is definitely worth it. If you're the kind of person to decide to purchase your own set of speakers, you're likely knowledgeable enough to figure all of this out like I was. End of the matter: just buy this, already. Look no further, don't waste your time reading anymore reviews. You won't be disappointed. These ARE the speakers you're looking for.

These are a great inexpensive set of speakers - I was more interested in their bigger brother, but Monoprice doesn't sell them through Amazon.ca just yet and their final cost otherwise would have ended up being more than $300. I don't even want to say that for the price these ones sound great, because they put out some deceptively great sound. The build quality is more than decent and extras like wall mounts are a nice touch. I bought some banana plugs to use with my amp but the pin type plugs you can get probably would not work with these speakers unless you're wall or stand mounting them (as there is no clearance underneath if placed directly on a flat surface). I also don't fully understand the situation where someone would need a left and right connection to a subwoofer, so I simply have my single subwoofer out on my amp running to the right input on the sub and it seems to work fine. I may replace it with a Y connector eventually. My only complaint is minor, and that's with the subwoofer - it puts out an audible hum when there's no sound. It seems to be linked when switching inputs with the amp, but thankfully it's not a constant thing (thankfully!). The auto on feature works well and while it won't fill a big room it's got a decent punch to it.

Es necesario tener un amplificador para poderlas conectar, tienen una muy buena calidad de sonido, el woofer responde excelente y el precio es muy accesible.

It's a wonderful product,

Mi Monoprice 10565 Premium lo acompaño con Sony STRDN1080 y la calidad del sonido es increíble OMG! XD

Using these for my home theater. Added a pair of Andrew Jones bookshelfs as my L and R fronts and the whole setup sounds like a million bucks. Did get these for less than they seem to be currently but would honestly still say they are worth it. Edit: After some more time and upgrades I'll say they're good but not out of this world. If I were to set up a home theater again, knowing what I know now, I would go straight to higher quality and just do a 2.1 setup. That can be done for the same price with amazing sounding stuff. So if you're on a budget, add the other speakers later. Once I put in an Andrew Jones center channel for a hundred bucks, I was blown away. I've felt the sub is the best element of this by far but unfortunately, the ring around where the air blows through is starting to rattle a bit in really low end, heavy bass scenes. I'm not running it crazy loud either. So in the end, I feel like I'll be phasing this system out entirely. Not that it's terrible, but for a home theater, it's just... okay.