 "Surround system" | 2009-05-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: AP0BTWYVY3Q6 |
These speakers are well suited for a second set somewhere that is not the primary entertainment focus in your household. While many reviews categorize these as awesome, unbeliveable, etc., I found them far from high performance and miles away from any of the stellar reviews found here and elsewhere.
Pros:
Nice size
Easy installation
Quality design
Attractive
Brackets included
Reasonble size sub-woofer that is well powered
Flexible setup (based on your driver config)
Cons:
Performance is lacking
Sound resolution at various volumes
Do not handle all types of music well
To me, the cons heavily outweigh the pros in this case; and, if I had the chance to audition them before buying, I would have bought another product.
Overall I would say, if you want to use these for a small scale setup in a guest room, or spare AV setup that is for the kids, these are great. If you are any kind of even semi-serious audiophile, or a music fan that knows music and enjoys a wide variety of listening, keep shopping. |
| |
 "The best for my situation" | 2009-05-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A25UDVD6X4IZBD |
I needed a speaker system for my living room. The requirement was to get the best sounding small speakers for a reasonable price, and maximum sound stage.
This particular system is omnidirectional which means that it will create the largest possible "sweet spot" and will completely fill a room <= 300 ft (i.e. my living room).
I've heard the small 5.1 system by Klipsch (Mirage parent company) (synergy quintet III), B&W (M1s), Polk (RM705), and Energy (Mirage sister company) (classic take 5):
Polk RM705: A good system, but not as good as the others. IMHO these speakers don't seem to give as much detail as the other brands.
Klipsch Synergy: I compared this system against the Polk, and it seemed to do better in terms of detail. However, they will usually cost more than the Polks.
B&W M1s: These sound great, but not better than the Klipsch IMHO. They are comparable to the Klipsch, but you will have to pay more for them (many may disagree with me here, but I'm just talking about what my ears perceived). For the price I would have expected these to at least produce a larger sound stage, frequency range, and clarity than the Klipsch. You do get a set of speakers from a name company though (just not superior sound in their class according to my ears).
Energy Take 5: The cheapest of the lot and sound that arguably is better than all of the above. I've heard these speakers in a show room, and both my wife's and my jaw fell. Incredible sound for a system just $300 on sale (including the matching sub!). However, even when the sound stage is good, the sweet spot is still small.
The issue is that my living room is arranged so that the center sofa gets the sweet spot, but the seats at the side don't. Solution:
Mirage nanosats: These sound as good as the Energy Take 5 in my opinion, but the sweet spot is gone. I have sat outside of the left front speaker and sound is phenomenal! These speakers will be about $100 more than the Energy's, but you get an obviously larger sound stage, not possible with any other speaker at comparable size, price and class. And they will play loud enough with minimal distortion in a medium room, believe me. Another bonus is that they are very forgiving in terms of placement (I have all front speakers above the TV and they still sound great! - note this is NOT possible with any of the above speakers as you will notice the sound comes clearly from above the TV).
I've seen reviews about the center speaker not having enough power being that all satellites (including the center) are the same. I disagree, I feel the sound from the center channel very clear. Other center speakers (including the ones from Mirage) may boost the mid frequencies to make speech more clear. There is a trade off, the sound will not blend as well as it moves to the other channels in surround sound effects. I feel that if the sound was encoded in a way, then I prefer enjoying it undisturbed. If I need more power on the mid frequencies for speech, I can always have my receiver do this for me instead of my speakers.
Furthermore, it is relatively easy to purchase extra sats for a 7.1 system. I do not feel the need to do so, but I have seen extra sats for as low as $50 in Vanns! As reference, I bought my system for $450 on a sale. |
| |
| "Now a big Mirage fan" | 2009-02-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2QACNOKSQFZW2 |
I bought the set of 5 sats for 250 and paired them with a 10' velodyne sub which I already owned. I previously had a nice package of speakers (mission fronts, paradigm surounds, JBL center) which indiviually sounded fine but my mistake over the years was not buying a matching speaker set as they just never sounded cohesive. I am amazed on the improvement with these Nano's over my previous and much larger speakers. Very crisp dialogue as it works fine as a center and the soundfield envolopes the entire room. They can't work miracles and go as deep as bigger bookshelfs or floor standers but they sound sweet and much larger than the actual size. For 250...you can't go wrong.
On a side note, I was shopping for a new 7.1 high end system for my basement and based my experience with the nanos, I bought the OMD series of mirage which will be disco'd and are on firesale wherever they are still available. This company makes great sound with great looks. |
| |
| "I am impressed" | 2009-02-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2UMHMXPMVXHCE |
| First, I'm not an audiophile, but I do enjoy excellent sound reproduction. I placed these speakers in a smallish family room (10x20). It's connected to an old Yamaha receiver. I am greatly impressed with the sound from such small speakers. I previously had Ohm speakers that were 8 years old. The difference is wonderful. My wife and I enjoy classical, world and show music and these speakers have added much to our listening pleasure. And in a somewhat cluttered room they don't take up much space at all. |
| |
 "It is what they say it is - omni-directional" | 2009-01-31 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1M4JV039CCPKG |
| I'm a 61 year old guy living in small, round house with a vaulted ceiling with most rooms being open above 7 feet so the ability of a speaker system to spread the sound more or less evenly around the space was of primary importance to me; directional speakers would be a last resort. Based on favorable reviews here I decided to try this with the $500 price, incl shipping, from Crutchfield via Amazon, being the top end of my budget. It has proven to be easy to set up, absolutely very "omni-directional" and fully satisfying my round-room needs, and the sound quality is thrilling and very satisfying to my alert but unsophisticated hearing. The cube-shape (about 12" per side, on feet to make it 13.5" tall) of the powered sub-woofer was a bit difficult to place in a hidden location, but probably any decent sub-woofer would be, even if different cubics. I really enjoy this speaker system. |
| |
| "Great set of speakers for those on a budget." | 2008-09-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2X34LIRHZ7OIN |
These are great speakers for this price range! At first glance, I had no intention of buying these. I was against the small size and didn't think they could get loud enough. This installation was for my parents. I own Klipsch floor standing speakers, but my parents didn't want to spend that kind of cash for their home theater. After reading some reviews and online forums, these speakers were held in high regard. For the price, of course.
After installation, I was pleasantly surprised. The speakers can get fairly loud in volume, although they do lack a bit of mid-range sound. For those who pump up the bass, this may not be the set for you. The powered subwoofer included with this set is not suitable for large rooms or "rumbling" bass. The subwoofer speaker isn't a large unit with a lot of power. Thus, it is satisfactory for "punchy" bass, but not for any extended bass in a large room.
If you are an "audiophile" looking for speakers for this price, you may have to realize that you are not going to find anything to your satisfaction. You'll have to pony up a LOT more cash for superb "reference" level speakers. For the general user, the Mirage Nanosat speakers are great. The performance is beyond other speakers of this price.
|
| |
Expedited Available
