INTRO

Miller and Kreisel may not mean all that much to local audio enthusiasts, but abroad, the American speaker marque has for years enjoyed a strong reputation for quality, involvement and overall excellence. The M&K 750 THX home theatre speaker system brings those virtues into the AV arena.

VERDICT
Presence, dynamics and a sense of cohesive accuracy are the core attributes of this AV speaker system. Add a delicate sense of detail, smooth tonality and overall approachability to that equation, and you have a winning set-up. Need lots of oomph and a quality source signal to prove their full potential, though

TESTED WITH

Panasonic 'The One' television set, Kenwood KRF-V7772D and Thule Space 250 AV receivers, Sony DV-S525 and Pioneer DV-626D DVD players, Sony XL-V825 stereo VCR, Atlantic Technology 170 speaker system, Pace DStv satellite decoder, XLO speaker cable and interlinks, Eagle Audio custom component stand

RECORDINGS

The Matrix,Eyes Wide Shut,Sixth Sense,Goldeneye,The Flintstones,

PRICE R30 250,00 (Includes Stands )

SUPPLIED BY Extraordinary AV (021) 704-2885

There's probably nothing worse than having to review a set of home theatre speakers - and to be honest, I shudder every time a collection of boxes arrives at my doorstep, heralding the advent of yet another AV speaker evaluation.

It's not so much the process of unpacking boxes containing not only the speakers, but countless little pieces of cardboard or polystyrene padding which appear to be arranged so logically when the boxes are first opened, but just won't fit when you try and put it all back together again a few weeks later.

Once everything has been unpacked, the real challenge is to find the right position for each set of speakers, and then to fine-tune the levels of each individual channel to achieve the seamless surround sound staging so critical to true home theatre enjoyment.

Sure, the location of speakers in my AV room always ends up being similar. But it's never identical, and it's quite amazing just what difference a couple of centimetres of adjustment can make to the final performance.

Which prompts me, even before I start regaling you with my experiences of the Miller & Kreisel 750 THX speaker system, to warn all existing and budding home theatre fans that speaker positioning is an aspect that should neither be rushed nor taken lightly.

Yes, adjusting speaker positions, listening closely, then adjusting again, and listening again - and repeating this modus operandi for what may seem like an infinite number of times - may be a tedious exercise. But when, finally, you get it right, the result is probably better than any average upgrade you may have considered before.

Of course, the alternative is to task the supplying dealer with this arduous job - one that many of the better outfits are quite used to performing with excellent results. But doing it yourself will probably serve as an important learning experience, and allow a level of appreciation of the system and its workings not otherwise achieved.

Which brings me to the M&K 750 THX - a surround sound speaker system that has the distinction of being among the first to be certified according to the THX Select standard. THX Select is a kind of 'junior' THX certification with a set of parameters not quite as strict as those determined under the THX Ultra banner, but still guaranteeing a high degree of adherence to some pretty specific technical requirements.

Whether this dual THX standard is good or bad falls outside the domain of this review. However, it does provide the buyer with a certain quality assurance in the home theatre context.

The M&K system consists of three identical speakers for the front - left, centre and right - accompanied by two slightly more compact surround speakers. The heftiest member of the line-up is the active subwoofer, with its imposing 300 mm sub-bass driver.

The fronts and surrounds are stand-mounted units, and can be ordered with dedicated, hollow MDF stands designed to be filled with bags of sand for acoustic inertness and mounting stability. One such set was supplied with the review pair, and they certainly suit the speakers well, creating the illusion of a tall, slim floorstander.

However, I preferred to mount the M&Ks on my own, Apollo Designs stands, which elevate the speakers a little above ear height (more so in the case of the surrounds than in front) and worked a treat in the case of the M&Ks, too.

The front and rear speakers (including the centre channel unit) share an unusual design trait quite different from the norm. In each case, the tweeter is angled 4,7 degrees to the outside of dead centre. Thus, the tweeters of the left and right speakers, and the rear surrounds, fire outwards, towards the nearside wall.

The centre channel, of course, is located horizontally, and here the tweeter fires upwards where the speaker is placed in the customary position above the monitor.

This tweeter location works in conjunction with the curved metal mesh grille employed on all of the enclosures, and a specially designed crossover network, in what M&K calls its high-frequency prism system. This is claimed to offer a wider dispersion pattern than conventional speaker designs, addressing the narrow 'sweet spot' typical of many speaker designs, and allowing the AV audience to enjoy accurate imaging even when seated off-centre.

All three front LCR-750 THX speakers are identical, and employ a dual array of 130 mm polypropylene mid/bass drivers, linked to a 25 mm soft-dome Peerless tweeter. M&K has arranged these drivers in conventional longitudinal fashion, rather than the more fashionable D'Appolito layout, which locates the tweeter in the centre, with the mid/bass drivers located on either side.

The company claims that the latter is less than effective in a horizontal, centre-channel speaker layout, and creates serious tonal anomalies.

The result is that the centre channel speaker looks somewhat unbalanced perched on its side, considering it must be one of the very few centre channel designs with this driver configuration - and that the drivers are clearly visible behind that mesh grille.

The M&K Surround-550 THX rear effects speakers are close relations of the three front satellites, and again are unusual in eschewing the more popular dipolar design in favour of a straightforward two-way layout. More compact than their front-channel stablemates, they link the identical tweeter to a single 130 mm polypropylene mid/bass driver.

And yes, here too you'll find the high-frequency prism system in operation, with the offset tweeter and three-dimensional crossover network linked to that curved metal mesh grille.

Providing the real muscle for this system is the quite impressive subwoofer labelled the V-1250 THX. With its massive 300 mm long-excursion bass driver, totally sealed enclosure and an on-board 125 watt power amplifier, the subwoofer looks the bass-pounding part.

In line with its THX Select certification, the V-1250 THX has only line-level inputs. Other switchgear includes phase inversion to allow better integration with the front speakers where required, a bass level setting, and a choice of either fixed 80 Hz/24 dB low-pass filtering, or bypass setting - for use with THX-certified AV amps or receivers that offer built-in low-pass filtering.

While all the M&K enclosures are finished in plain-Jane black vinyl veneer, they look attractive enough and if anything, their fairly neutral styling will allow easier integration with existing home decors. The surrounds can be ordered in white if required - especially useful if they are to be used in a wall-mounted role.

Perhaps more importantly, the enclosures have a reassuringly solid feel about them, and the drive units are clearly high-quality units. Assembly in terms of fit is admirable, too.

Purely because of the unusual tweeter configuration, I expected set-up to be more complex than usual - and was therefore pleasantly surprised when my first, tentative positioning experiments quickly offered some pretty impressive results.

However, it took a while longer to realise that, by limiting the amount of toe-in, an even larger soundstage could be achieved without any sacrifice in imaging or overall focus. Indeed, the fact that an improvement from what I would have usually termed very good was still achieved through some small adjustments only underlines just how important the set-up procedure is that I mentioned earlier.

Eventually, I ended up with the fronts pointing only slightly off straight-ahead, the rears facing each other directly in line with the listening position, and the centre channel firing directly down the centre of the room. The subwoofer was simply tucked away in the right-hand corner, although positioned well away from walls and corners.

M&K provides no indication of efficiency ratings, but interestingly, the three front units have a 4 ohm impedance rating, compared to the 8 ohms quoted for the rears. The fronts and rears both reach down to a claimed 80 Hz, which means they integrate perfectly with the subwoofer.

Regardless, the amplification on offer (courtesy of Thule and Kenwood) was ample to provide good levels of driver efficiency, and there was never even the slightest sign of strain or clipping - even at higher than usual listening levels.

Perhaps more importantly, the staging achieved by the M&K system is truly outstanding. Clearly, the 'prism effect' plays an important part here, and contributes to an inherently transparent and involving delivery - and not just when heard from the theoretically perfect listening position.

This attribute alone makes the M&K system special, and distinguishes it from many a more expensive set-up. To be able to enjoy such well-defined dimensionality in all three dimensions almost regardless of seating position (obviously up to a point) is quite an achievement.

As a result, the listener is able to enjoy the M&K system's other talents with greater than usual verve. Tonally, the progression from that big subwoofer's taut and muscular sub-bass to the sweet but clearly defined upper treble is perfectly balanced, with no obvious dips or rises. The sub is a key contributor to this, and adds just the right amount of authority without dominating the sonic proceedings.

Clarity and detail, always vital in the home theatre application, are well represented, adding to a convincing sense of overall realism. And then there's the system's overall pace, its dynamic capability, and its sonic compliancy, which allows even poor soundtracks to sound more or less acceptable, rather than being punished outright.

For some, the overall approach of the M&Ks may be a little too neutral, with the treble perhaps lacking the bite that many believe adds to the excitement of the home theatre experience. But the M&Ks don't need to resort to aggression or exaggerated attack to impress - their sheer competence is more than ably displayed by their approachability and overall entertainment value

Oh yes, and for those who will also seek to use a home theatre system for stereo audio listening, the good news is that the excellence of the M&Ks extends into the stereo environment as well, where their lucidity, musical honesty and spacious staging are equally valid.

The M&K 750 THX Select system is a class home theatre act that will have little trouble in entertaining both laymen and experts. Whether it's the sheer excitement of a big sound with good slam and attack and realistic effects you're after, or the smooth elegance, tonal integration and overriding sense of accuracy achieved only by the most sophisticated of systems, the M&K won't disappoint.

They are, quite simply, grand home theatre speakers in every respect.

Deon Schoeman

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