Magnat Monitor Supreme 102 speaker (with AIYIMA A07 TPA3255)

[pma]

Magnat Monitor Supreme 102 speaker (with AIYIMA A07 TPA3255)

As I was unable to live with the sound of JBL Control1 Pro in my workshop, I have decided to buy a pair of Magnat Monitor Supreme 102 small speakers, which was available at about $85 in a local electronics shop, at the price lower than was the price of a single JBL.

The speaker is quite nicely built, especially if we consider the budget price, with a box made from MDF.


Specifications according to the manufacturer

Monitor Supreme 102

Principle: 2 way
Equipment: 1 x 110 mm woofer-midrange, 13 mm dome-tweeter
Power Handling (RMS/Max): 60 / 120 Watts
Impedance: 4 - 8 Ohms
Frequency Response: 42 – 36.000 Hz
Crossover Frequencies: 3.400 Hz
Recommended Amplifier Output: 20 - 110 Watts
Sensitivity (2.8V/1m): 89 dB
Dimensions: 149 x 250 x 190 mm
Weight: 2,8 kg

Measurements

I measured the impedance with my Arta box and LIMP software

We can see only one resonance peak at 111 Hz, as this is the closed box, not vented. Impedance magnitude minimum is about 5 ohm and the impedance above 3kHz is mostly about 9 ohm with phase close to 0°, so this speaker will be a light load for a driving amplifier. This was verified with AIYIMA A07, which had the frequency response greatly affected when working with JBL Control1 Pro

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ss-d-amplifiers-measurements.9940/post-647056

However, now with Magnat 102 the frequency response at amplifier output has no issues and is flat enough. This shows importance of pairing of the speaker with 1st generation of class D amplifiers.

Acoustical frequency response

I measured near-field response of the woofer and far-field response of the speaker at 1m distance, on tweeter axis. Both responses were merged at 1680Hz in REW.

We can see that the speaker is usable at frequencies above 80 Hz. Hopefully, as this is the closed box, the rate of decay of frequency response below resonance is approximately -12dB/oct, which is slower compared to vented box designs.
At highs, we can see response elevation above 6kHz. Hopefully, this has mild and even slope and can be quite easily compensated by EQ.

Woofer distortion

measured in near-field at about 2.8V

Conclusion

At $85 for a pair, this is a budget speaker with fine sound in a desktop application.

 

[pavuol]

Wish Amir measured some Magnat speaker(s) in the future (maybe just not these ultra budget..). But I guess the brand is not present in US market..
Here in Europe they seem to be quite popular, given the appealing price/specs ratio.

 

[Doodski]

Wish Amir measured some Magnat speaker(s) in the future (maybe just not these ultra budget..). But I guess the brand is not present in US market..
Here in Europe they seem to be quite popular, given the appealing price/specs ratio.

I used to retail Magnat in Canada. Not sure if there is a dealer network now.

 

[pma]

This is the result of equalization of Magnat frequency response with rePhase. The highs were attenuated to get more flat response. The elevation between 100 and 300Hz is a product of measurement due to near-field baffle step effect of the merged frequency response. The sonic result of equalized response is more neutral than original. I use rePhase to generate impulse response and this response is then used with the Convolve component of Foobar to play music.

 

[JulienV]

Hello, thanks a lot for your review

From the photos I have seen it's a sealed speaker, isn't it?
Also I would like to please ask you which sealed speaker you would advice the most with a maximum price of around 100 USD per unit?

Cheers

Julien

 

[pma]

Hello, thanks a lot for your review

From the photos I have seen it's a sealed speaker, isn't it?
Also I would like to please ask you which sealed speaker you would advice the most with a maximum price of around 100 USD per unit?

Cheers

Julien

Hi Julien,

Yes it is a sealed enclosure.
Regarding your second question, it is difficult to answer from my point of view. I use such small speakers only as a desktop and playing only silent background music when working on my PC. I am unable to have a serious listening with such a small thing that lacks bass and touch of realistic sound, so my recommendation would be to save more money and to buy a bigger speaker.

Regards, Pavel

 

[JulienV]

Hello Pavel, thanks a lot for your prompt answer, I really appreciate

Could you please recommend a bigger speaker that is sealed also?
Or evtl a ported one where sealing the hole with a plug for example won't have a significant effect on the sound quality?

Kind regards

Julien

 

[doanster]

I used to retail Magnat in Canada. Not sure if there is a dealer network now.

London Drugs is now a dealer, surprisingly.

 

[doanster]

Thanks for this. And how would you subjectively describe the sound of this speaker? I am thinking this might make a great budget setup for a home theatre because they can be mounted directly to the wall right out of the box.

 

[pma]

This is the result of equalization of Magnat frequency response with rePhase. ....

I made some more measurements and was surprised by quite good directivity of this little speaker.

(normalized)

(normalized)

 

[ZolaIII]

Well not bad at all especially for the price. They do good from 130 Hz to 4.5 KHz where is that horrific looking hole and from there they are a bright star which is luckily ease enough to fix with EQ and they do pass near field SPL calibration point. Of course for anything more you will need bigger more serious speakers and with this preferably two sub's in the L & R manner.

 

[ZolaIII]

Hello, thanks a lot for your review

From the photos I have seen it's a sealed speaker, isn't it?
Also I would like to please ask you which sealed speaker you would advice the most with a maximum price of around 100 USD per unit?

Cheers

Julien

Thing is even with bigger woffer sealed speakers you won't have a proper bass response, it will go to 100~120 with 6.5" and 80~100 with 8" one's so subwoofer use is more than advice. For 200$ pair unfortunately I don't know any. This aren't bad for near field 1 to 2 m from them max and with pair of subwoofer's crossed high about 130 Hz but then again we aren't speaking about total cost of about 200$ but much more including a deacent DSP crossover. If you are willing to raise a bar to about two times that much the Elac DBR62 are more than solid choice, they are front ported with really good done cabinet so they exhibit very little cabinet resonance and aren't that hard to menage and will do nicely even at 3 - 4 m distance. On the other end of the prism you have Kali LP 6 V2 actives for about 400 $, they are back ported so you will have to cope with that (no close to back wall placement with port's opened) and they will do up to 2 - 3 m distance.
Best regards and have a nice time.

 

[pma]

Well not bad at all especially for the price. They do good from 130 Hz to 4.5 KHz where is that horrific looking hole and from there they are a bright star which is luckily ease enough to fix with EQ and they do pass near field SPL calibration point. Of course for anything more you will need bigger more serious speakers and with this preferably two sub's in the L & R manner.

Yes, that hole near 4.5kHz is well seen in the vertical directivity (attached) and after some investigation it seems to be a strong interference on mid-woofer between diaphragm and surround. Steeper LF crossover filter is needed.

(normalized)

 

[pma]

As the tonality of this speaker (post #1) is quite on a bright side

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/magnat-100cm_s-png.109171/

it is good to use -6dB/oct EQ from 5kHz, the resulting on-axis response looks like this, baffle step included:

 

[blazen2150]

are these any good for just rear surround duty?

 

[brydon10]

are these any good for just rear surround duty?

Probably not. They seem really inefficient. I got a pair the other day for cheap, took me a few seconds to determine that I didn't like them. Thin and sibilant sounding. I bought them to try on my desk, to see if they would be better than my trusty Klipsch R14M (not the same as the R41M that Amir measured). My Klipsch probably don't measure all that great but they sound leaps and bounds better than the Magnat's, although they are more expensive but it shows in build quality and sound as well.

 

[Mr.Christiee]

I used to retail Magnat in Canada. Not sure if there is a dealer network now.

Are these any good? Never heard of them before. (Also in Canada)

 

[Doodski]

Are these any good? Never heard of them before. (Also in Canada)

Magnat made and makes small and large speakers ranging from a bookshelf speaker to a floor stander speaker. They can hold their own. Usually you see them priced below the premium brands and get a bit of a lower price comparatively. Magnat to me when I handled it was medium-Fi and not Hi-Fi like the expensive stuff was. Magnat has represented good value for decades.

 

[kewvention]

I bought 2 pairs of these today as they are on sale for 68$/pair in CAD. I figure they would good enough for auro3d/Atmos. Is that the case? I don't see value in spending too much for height channels. My fronts are all svs but from the 2000s the scss line.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Wish Amir measured some Magnat speaker(s) in the future (maybe just not these ultra budget..). But I guess the brand is not present in US market..
Here in Europe they seem to be quite popular, given the appealing price/specs ratio.

Indeed! It would be lovely to see more Magnat speakers tested.

I Bought recently a pair of second-hand Magnat Quantum 757 floorstanders. I think they are well built even for the original price (around 1900€/pair including 24% VAT), let alone for the price I paid. The front baffle is about 50mm thick and the enclosure is internally strudded. There's a sealed enclosure for the midwoofer, bass/mids have a cast metal baskests and the overall finish is good including the paintwork etc. Even spare parts seem to be well avaivable at the manufacturer and in my case at the importer aswell (had to replace a blown tweeter, cost was 50€ including shipping).

What comes to the sound - they are pretty bright. It looks like that majority of Magnat speakers are, so it seems to be a conscious choise for the manufacturer. Bass is very well controlled and clearly tuned for near-wall placement even though Quantum 757 is a big three-way design with double 6,5" bass woofers and a rear firing port. Luckily the pronounced brightness was easy to take care of with a bit of tinkering by EQapo.

PS. Sry for the off topic(ish) post. Well, anyway, nice to see measurements of Magnat products!