MAG Theatron S6 Surround Speaker Review

[antcollinet]

Select->Color->Eraser ought to do the trick

In what program?

There is the "remove formatting" in the editor here - don't know if that would do the job.

 

[amirm]

There must be some logic to their design, right? Or no?

If there is, it escapes me. There is little that makes sense about that tweeter.

 

[amirm]

I just wonder what happens when you place several surround speakers in a row, like they do in a theater? There are at least 3, 4 or more surrounds per side. Do we want wide or narrow directivity then, for above 5 kHz?

The directivity you want in that case is what the design angle calls for to get coverage on that wall. Controlled directivity would make the design simpler.

 

[welwynnick]

Step response demonstrates one of the faults with this measurement as it is highly sensitive to high frequency energy which this speaker lacks:

Thanks for the review Amir. That's got to be a "poor" hasn't it?

I'd like to persuade you that step responses are valuable though. Erin, Stereophile and SoundandRecording reviews also do step responses, and I devour them all. The latter two also measure phase or group delay. Companies like Genelec and Neumann and many others are heeding research that shows our sensitivity to group delay, and make DSP active speakers with Extended Phase Linearity, Automatic Monitor Alignment, Compensated Phase Response and Phase Correction. The result is to improve phase linearity. When you have both linear amplitude-freq response and linear phase-freq response, you then get great step response, like the Neumann KH150 and many others.

 

[napfkuchen]

These speakers are really hyped by some commercial installers. But if FR and directivity are this bad why even consider such a design as an option?

 

[TNT]

schooled on my our speaker

yes....?

//

 

[staticV3]

In what program?

Just the text tools in ASR

There is the "remove formatting" in the editor here - don't know if that would do the job.

Let's find out:

Reserved for @RickS to kindly post the specs.

Frequency response (±3 dB), Hz	90 – 20000
Frequency range (-10 dB), Hz	80 – 22000
Max continuous SPL**, dB	115,5
Sensitivity (1W/1m, half-space)*, dB	94
High-frequency driver	0,75-inch (1,5-inch voice coil) titanium dome
Low/Mid-frequency woofer	6-inch (1,75-inch voice coil)
Coverage	60°-90° H / +5 -35° V coverage control HF horn vertical axis tilted 15° down
Nominal impedance, Ohm	4 (versions available)
Power rating***, W	150
Mounting	VESA 100 x 100, 4 x M5 side points for specially designed mounting, removable magnet grill
Connectors	Banana terminals
Dimension (W x H x D), mm	280 x 400 х 125 (w/ grill) 280 x 400 x 100 (w/o grill)
Net weight, kg	6

Yup, worked just fine. Clicking the Color->Eraser button reset color to default, which is perfectly legible in both light and dark mode.

 

[Robbo99999]

Expensive & generally under par, results in less than stellar vote, albeit surprised most people went straight to the worst possible vote.

 

[welwynnick]

Expensive & generally under par, results in less than stellar vote, albeit surprised most people went straight to the worst possible vote.

I think thats because of their cost

 

[Steakhouse]

If there is, it escapes me. There is little that makes sense about that tweeter.

Ar least they angle the tweeter. However the narrow dispersion is still bad for bigger home cinemas with multiple rows. For smaller home cinemas the high output is not really needed. Hm.
Maybe the intention is to use more of them in an array to obtain better coverage. That ways each row would basically only listen to their respective side sorrounds and the ones behind or in front of your row is mostly acoustically invisible. But then again a quick research of other speakers like that from KCS show a wider coverage at least in the spec sheet.

 

[heflys20]

From view and also from hearing?

LOL. Well, I imagine the people who buy these things aren't too concerned about high quality sound anyway; reflecting on measured performance and price. The manufacturer even provides measurements. These are, essentially, in-wall speakers. It's beyond me.

 

[SuicideSquid]

At $100 these might be a defensible choice. At ten times that cost? No chance.

 

[Lars Risbo]

Step response demonstrates one of the faults with this measurement as it is highly sensitive to high frequency energy which this speaker lacks:

The Step response is the integral of the impulse response and therefore emphasises low frequency energy. The LF response is rather hard to see on the IR since it has a low amplitude but extends for a very long time (depending on the bass corner frequency and sharpness). the step response makes it easier to see the LF. At least we can judge the phase response from it which is not possible from the 2034 graphs.

 

[amirm]

The Step response is the integral of the impulse response and therefore emphasises low frequency energy. The LF response is rather hard to see on the IR since it has a low amplitude but extends for a very long time (depending on the bass corner frequency and sharpness). the step response makes it easier to see the LF. At least we can judge the phase response from it which is not possible from the 2034 graphs.

??? I was making a point about high frequency response:

Someone not understanding signal processing might look at this graph and conclude that the tweeter level is nearly four times lower than woofer which would be very wrong. This is what I don't like about tests like this. The value they provide is minimal at best, yet the opportunity to misinterpret them is quite high.

 

[amirm]

I'd like to persuade you that step responses are valuable though. Erin, Stereophile and SoundandRecording reviews also do step responses, and I devour them all. The latter two also measure phase or group delay. Companies like Genelec and Neumann and many others are heeding research that shows our sensitivity to group delay, and make DSP active speakers with Extended Phase Linearity, Automatic Monitor Alignment, Compensated Phase Response and Phase Correction. The result is to improve phase linearity. When you have both linear amplitude-freq response and linear phase-freq response, you then get great step response, like the Neumann KH150 and many others.

Research into phase distortion at best shows that it can be audible in certain situations. But no research exists to show any kind of preference. What I am doing here is writing a review to help people decide if they should or should not buy a speaker. That story is told instantly with frequency response measurements:

Even if the speaker had perfect phase response, it would not matter in the face of above measurement.

As to others posting them, I could bombard you with countless graphs. Klippel generates them all by default. But if they don't help you decide if a speaker is worth buying or not, it only helps to confuse people. And have them just skip over everything. Every measurement I generate including how I show it and present it, is addressing this key goal. Not measurement for the sake of measurements. Or to satisfy people who want an engineering report.

 

[bachatero]

2 door Hatchback with folding seats to make a flat floor shelf.

I also have a hatchback and just used it this way to transport some huge PA speakers. How does a bookshelf make sense here if the tweeter is facing behind you?

 

[welwynnick]

Even if the speaker had perfect phase response, it would not matter in the face of above measurement.

Absolutely. I do think frequency response tells most of the story, but it doesn't tell all of it.
There are speakers like Meyer, Fujitsu or Quad with poor frequency response, but good time domain response. Or Neumann , that get both right.

As to others posting them, I could bombard you with countless graphs. Klippel generates them all by default.

Thank you. Please feel free to bombard away.

 

[RickS]

If there is, it escapes me. There is little that makes sense about that tweeter.

Has a rather odd waveguide. Looks more like a handle and might do a better job as one!

 

[TurtlePaul]

It is usually a hint that the speaker will be bad when a company can’t be bothered to flush mount everything on a product that costs kilo-bucks.

 

[DearSX]

I also have a hatchback and just used it this way to transport some huge PA speakers. How does a bookshelf make sense here if the tweeter is facing behind you?

It's for bumping 80s music in the neighborhood, its a classic car (1984 Toyota Supra). I also have front speakers.