Edifier MR-5 Description / Stand Question

[psvanasr]

This is my first post on ASR. I'm not sure this is the correct place for this post. If it is not, please direct me to where this post should go. Thanks in advance for your patience.

Due to a problem with the health of my mother, I recently had to move to Hong Kong from Canada. It was supposed to be a couple of months, but so far I have been here for almost a year. Other than my laptop and a a set of headphones, no way to listen to music. Living quarters are quite cramped here so I set about to purchase a set of desktop speakers. I read about the Edifier MR-3 speakers in Erin's Audio Corner and they were the right size and price. I went to purchase them and at the store here, I found that they had introduced a new speaker - MR-5. Even in a casual comparison these seemed to be better than the MR-3, especially in the bass. I purchased those for about USD$180 / pair and set them up so that the tweeters were at ear height - approx 7" high.

I did not have much expectations because of the price. But they sounded very good indeed. In Canada, I have 2 systems - one based on the Golden Ear Triton Reference and the other one based on the Revel Studio and Paradigm subwoofers. The MR-5 seemed to be tonally very similar to the Revels which are many,many times their price. I was very happy with the result except for how I had achieved the correct height. Please see the photos of my setup. I currently have them setup on the boxes shown.I have tried looking for stands that might work but most of the ones I have seen - ISO-Acoustics, Foundation which are sold by the Hi-Fi stores here cost more than the price of the speakers - some far more. Below is a description of the speaker:

Edifier MR52.0 Monitor Speaker – RAMBoxs Technology Ltd

www.ramboxs.com.hk

The speakers are W x H x D - 159 mm x 264 mm x 280 mm and have a weight of 10.4 kg.

Does anybody have a suggestion of a good stand (within a price of less than USD$80 ) that I can try or am I just being unrealistic?

If there is interest in how the speakers sound in more detail or measurements from my listening position, please let me know.

I apologize for the length of the post and look forward to your suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

[Tio]

Wow another new model from the edifier MR family. I'm really interested to see some measurement from your listening position.

 

[somebodyelse]

Welcome to the forum.

The MR5s don't appear to have any specific mounting options - some small monitors have tapped mounting holes in the back or base. A search for 'desktop speaker stands' should give you a lot of options in your price range, available locally. Pick one with a suitable height and footprint. Even the very cheap pressed steel ones should do the job well enough. Height adjustable ones cost a bit more, as do the ones that clamp to the back of the desk which would free some desk space. You can add a layer of foam if the MR5 feet don't isolate the speakers' vibrations sufficiently from the stand or desk - something like these should be available nearer you.

 

[komhst]

Wow another new model from the edifier MR family. I'm really interested to see some measurement from your listening position.

Things are getting serious here. MR5s are really active speakers with active crossover and tri-amplification!!!
Not just powered speakers with passive crossover like the MR4s and MR3s are.

 

[kyuu]

Interesting, MR5 isn't even listed on Edifier's US site.

Oh and welcome to ASR!

 

[munin]

It doesn't seem to be available wordwide yet but I took very promising!

Edifier MR5

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www.edifier.jp

Depending at what price they will be released in the different region of the world and if they measure well (I know there is a lot of "if") It could be a real new banger!

I am impatient to see and hear more about them!

 

[kyuu]

What wha? It's a 3-way with an internal 5-inch woofer? Am I seeing/reading this image right?

Text reads:

1 inch silk dome tweeter
3.75 inch mid-range driver
5 inch long slow woofer (??)

 

[kemmler3D]

Welcome to ASR and thanks for bringing attention to this interesting speaker!

As @somebodyelse says, any stand that seems to fit your desk and doesn't ring excessively (i.e. if you tap on it, it should at least not sound like a bell) should work. You can get creative, it doesn't need to be a "speaker stand" as long as it securely holds your speakers. Between cardboard boxes and overpriced isoacoustics stuff, there are many good options.

As for the MR5... @psvanasr any chance you want to mail one to Amir for testing?

It really does look like it has an internal woofer... could it be a bandpass box, or something even more exotic? The FR plot (even if it's small and on-axis only) looks pretty darn good for the size. And apparently room correction built in.

Unfortunately will probably cost at least $300 in the US but it does look promising.

 

[psvanasr]

Thank you all for your interest. Here are answers to some of your questions about the MR-5:

The speaker is Tri-amplified with a 3 way active xover. I believe it is using Texas Instrutments amp modules
There are 2 x 55w amps built into the main speaker.
DSP is used in the crossover and can be accessed via the Connex App
Amps are used as follows:
1" Dome Tweeter (with wave guide) - 10 W
3.75" Cone Midrange - 15w
5" Bass Driver - 30w

The bass driver is inside the cabinet , fires downward and vents on 2 vents on the bottom left and right of the box.
The bass response of the speaker in my configuration is good down to below 45Hz in my near field listening position and is good to at least 90db with the 2 speakers.

There is DSP built into the unit and the following controls are built in and accessible through the Connex App:

9 band parametric eq from 62Hz - 16KHz
3 music modes - Monitor, Music and Customized (using PEQ)
Low Freq Cutoff from 20Hz - 100Hz and slopes 0db/octave - 24 db/octave
Acoustic Space control - Near Wall, Corner Placement ect.
Desktop Control - which compensates for 100Hz - 300Hz bump in response when speaker is placed flat on desk

The cabinets seem to be quite well damped and passes the knuckle test.

Even with crummy boxes that I am using as stands, with the controls, I have managed to achieve a very good sound.

The factory seems to indicate that Klippel was used in the design of the speaker.

The price of the speaker in Hong Kong (using current exchange rates ) - < USD$180 / pair

Listening impression:

The biggest surprise to me was the linear tonality of the speaker in the Monitor mode, in my setup, I could only get minor improvements using the PEQ.
My main system in Canada has a pair of Revel Studios with Paradigm Sub 1 woofers and from about 50Hz and up, tonally it sounded similar.
Imaging is what you get in near field listening ( don't forget my "stands" ) very good laterally but not with as much depth as you get with other speakers
At reasonably loud levels - 86db of so, the bass is very good (tight, punchy), the mids are well balanced with the rest of the spectrum, and the tweeters are quite good, although obviously not as good as the best ( such as my Revels). They are however, quite smooth and they definitely do not "screech"

Drawbacks:
It is a small speaker and the sound stage is that of looking through a small window into the sound. The window seems to have a very clear view.
In far field listening, level is sufficient for a small sized room ( such as the one I am in ) , I don't think there is enough output for a medium to large room.
On the other hand for less than USD$200 /pair, I have no complaints other than the fact that I have still not found suitable stands.

Thank you all for your attention to this matter.

 

[kemmler3D]

Thank you all for your interest. Here are answers to some of your questions about the MR-5:

The speaker is Tri-amplified with a 3 way active xover. I believe it is using Texas Instrutments amp modules
There are 2 x 55w amps built into the main speaker.
DSP is used in the crossover and can be accessed via the Connex App
Amps are used as follows:
1" Dome Tweeter (with wave guide) - 10 W
3.75" Cone Midrange - 15w
5" Bass Driver - 30w

The bass driver is inside the cabinet , fires downward and vents on 2 vents on the bottom left and right of the box.
The bass response of the speaker in my configuration is good down to below 45Hz in my near field listening position and is good to at least 90db with the 2 speakers.

There is DSP built into the unit and the following controls are built in and accessible through the Connex App:

9 band parametric eq from 62Hz - 16KHz
3 music modes - Monitor, Music and Customized (using PEQ)
Low Freq Cutoff from 20Hz - 100Hz and slopes 0db/octave - 24 db/octave
Acoustic Space control - Near Wall, Corner Placement ect.
Desktop Control - which compensates for 100Hz - 300Hz bump in response when speaker is placed flat on desk

The cabinets seem to be quite well damped and passes the knuckle test.

Even with crummy boxes that I am using as stands, with the controls, I have managed to achieve a very good sound.

The factory seems to indicate that Klippel was used in the design of the speaker.

The price of the speaker in Hong Kong (using current exchange rates ) - < USD$180 / pair

Listening impression:

The biggest surprise to me was the linear tonality of the speaker in the Monitor mode, in my setup, I could only get minor improvements using the PEQ.
My main system in Canada has a pair of Revel Studios with Paradigm Sub 1 woofers and from about 50Hz and up, tonally it sounded similar.
Imaging is what you get in near field listening ( don't forget my "stands" ) very good laterally but not with as much depth as you get with other speakers
At reasonably loud levels - 86db of so, the bass is very good (tight, punchy), the mids are well balanced with the rest of the spectrum, and the tweeters are quite good, although obviously not as good as the best ( such as my Revels). They are however, quite smooth and they definitely do not "screech"

Drawbacks:
It is a small speaker and the sound stage is that of looking through a small window into the sound. The window seems to have a very clear view.
In far field listening, level is sufficient for a small sized room ( such as the one I am in ) , I don't think there is enough output for a medium to large room.
On the other hand for less than USD$200 /pair, I have no complaints other than the fact that I have still not found suitable stands.

Thank you all for your attention to this matter.

Thanks for sharing this.

I hadn't really been thinking of Edifier as a genuine competitor in the budget studio monitor space, but I am having trouble convincing myself this doesn't go up against the entry-level ADAM or Kali stuff at least. What's the catch? Will look forward to seeing spins... if the off-axis is decent (as the waveguide leads us to expect) and it doesn't distort like crazy...

 

[thewas]

What a nice surprise, finally a compact affordable 3-way desktop monitor, the small mid, waveguide and also experience with with the similar 2-way MR3 makes me quite optimistic, hope they have remedied the issues around 500 and 1500 Hz, although even with those they were Erin's favourite choice in that class.

 

[Bleib]

Any audible hissing from the speaker?

 

[munin]

I wanted to but the MR3, I might wait for this one!

Edifier I really hope you did a good job with this one and it wont break the bank!

 

[kemmler3D]

What a nice surprise, finally a compact affordable 3-way desktop monitor, the small mid, waveguide and also experience with with the similar 2-way MR3 makes me quite optimistic, hope they have remedied the issues around 500 and 1500 Hz, although even with those they were Erin's favourite choice in that class.

Looking at the MR3 review again, I am curious what causes those spikes at 500/1500hz but with a DSP crossover I assume they would deal with those first. Distortion should also improve a good bit. I'm slightly less excited about the horizontals, DI does not actually look so nice in the MR3 review, but we'll see...

 

[NotInYourHead]

Looking at the MR3 review again, I am curious what causes those spikes at 500/1500hz but with a DSP crossover I assume they would deal with those first. Distortion should also improve a good bit. I'm slightly less excited about the horizontals, DI does not actually look so nice in the MR3 review, but we'll see...

The 500Hz resonance might be explained by Edifier's proprietary PolyWad(TM) technology, which consists of a thin wad of polyester foam glued to the back of the bass driver. No bracing or cabinet dampening. I've seen it on the MR4 and cheaper offerings from Edifier.
1500Hz might've come from a port resonance? Unfortunately Erin did not measure the port and drivers seperately.

 

[Penelinfi]

Technically, the filling is supposed to be more effective when "in the middle" like that and not stuck on the panels?

 

[obsessive9119]

These look quite interesting. I’ve been really happy with my MR3s - with EQ they perform way better than I’d expected.

 

[heflys20]

Thanks for sharing this.

I hadn't really been thinking of Edifier as a genuine competitor in the budget studio monitor space, but I am having trouble convincing myself this doesn't go up against the entry-level ADAM or Kali stuff at least. What's the catch? Will look forward to seeing spins... if the off-axis is decent (as the waveguide leads us to expect) and it doesn't distort like crazy...

I was in the same boat when I bought the larger r2850db. I had low expectations. They didn't seem all that impressive upfront, and price had me convinced that they would likely be some decent, big-ass multimedia speakers. Man was I wrong, I'm still blown away by how good they sound. They are picky about placement, though. They came with a decent warranty too, and customer service seems to be on point. I'm still trying to figure out what the catch is. Lol. It's somewhat baffling.

 

[Volutrik]

These look quite interesting. I’ve been really happy with my MR3s - with EQ they perform way better than I’d expected.

What other speakers you had before and how does MR3's soundstage compare to them? Thanks.

 

[landco]

Any audible hissing from the speaker?

The most sensible question in this thread. What's the point of a marketing description if this Chinese guy makes noise like all the previous ones