Monitors are a key element in any studio, from the bedroom and basement, to high-end facilities alike. But having a set of speakers with Titanium/Kevlar/unicorn hair drivers with infinitely tunable crossovers might be unreasonable for most home studios. Samson’s MediaOne M50 monitors have a quality set that’s not complicated to get up and running and are very reasonably priced.
Coming in as a pair, one speaker has all the business of the power connection, as well as a 1/8” cable to connect to the other speaker. Connections are easy (and somewhat limited) — just a left and right RCA connection and a 1/8” stereo input, and a connection to a subwoofer (not included) or headphones. A bass boost function switch is also located here. The power on/volume control sits on the front lower right side, while an additional 1/8” headphone jack and power indication light resides on the left side. Plugging in headphones to this jack mutes the speakers and sends audio to just the headphones.
The stealthy looking black vinyl coating houses the drivers; a 5.25” polypropylene woofer, and a 3/4” silk dome tweeter. The speakers are also all blacked out, making for a slick appearance. The rear of both enclosures also has the ever-so-needed sound port.
Audio-wise they sound pretty good, regardless of the music being played through them. No issues with bass being to boomy or flubby, nor is there any issue with the highs and mids being spiky or too notched. The audio spread is nice and even and since they’re linked as a pair, it’s a great alternative to having monitors that have individual volume controls and balancing them. The bass boost certainly does boost the bass, and depending on tastes might be a bit much, if these are being used as recording/mixing monitors. A set of these would also be a great upgrade from those tiny desktop speakers, especially if doing any video or audio post production. We didn’t get the associated subwoofer, and it would have been interesting to see how this worked with one of those. Using these as a set of home audio speakers or connected to a turntable, might make the bass boost a little more applicable, but in a production setting we recommend just leaving that function off altogether.
A set of these in a beginner home studio situation would be an excellent idea. The price and size mean a desktop area won’t be cluttered, and your wallet won’t be emptied unnecessarily if you’re setting up a first-time rig. The best way to describe these are perfectly prosumer; consumer price with a high quality sound. Users looking to step into their first set of real monitors will want to check these out.
PROS:
inexpensive, simple, decent sound
CONS:
bass boost function might not be applicable in a production setting
STREET PRICE:
appx $120/pair