Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
I ’m always on the hunt for the next great great deal in menage audio . Anytime someone promise me I ’ll be floor by the performance of a piece of gear , especially for its Mary Leontyne Price , I ’m immediately concerned . But when I start take heed things like “ there ’s nothing else like it on the market correctly now , ” well , that ’s when the skepticism Seth in and I feel like I have no choice but to investigate .
That ’s how theMonolith Encore T6andTHX-465Tspeakers end up in my examination lab . They are two very different speaker system that promise to shatter the damage - to - performance barrier . So , do they ? Are they the best - kept secret in home audio and domicile theater ? allow ’s observe out .
Zeke Jones/Digital Trends
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The many brands of Monoprice
I ’ve had my eye on Monoprice ’s audio gear since it started unloose products under its Monolith wedge - brand . This is a popular thing for company to do when they sell a lot of dissimilar kinds of product . Take Anker , for instance . That ’s a company that gained some fame by acquire great roving accessory likeportable charging batteriesand the like . But as Anker resolve to get into making and merchandising projectors and speakers and earbuds , it developed hoagie - brands for those products . For instance , Anker ’s projectors fall under theNebulabrand , and its audio product fall under itsSoundcorebrand . And they are respectable products !
likewise , Monoprice offer loads of products , from TV bulwark mounts andHDMI cablesto coolers and duffel bag to computing machine monitor and keyboards . When you sell such an eclectic compendium of stuff , I opine it makes sense to make subbrands . And so Monoprice puts cipher stuff under theDark Matterbrand , Outdoor Gear under its thoroughgoing Outdoor sword , and audio train under , you guessed it , the Monolith brand .
Design and specs
This brings us to the Monolith Encore T6 and the monstrous THX-465 T , which severally represent some very significant value . Together , they instruct a mini master class in loudspeaker system design and marketing .
The Encore T6 stands about 40 inches tall , just shy of 14 column inch deep , and almost 8 inches wide . It is wrapped in a black faux - Natalie Wood vinyl veneering , save for the top and bottom caps , which have a gloss black finish that helps to class them up a bit . The horizontally braced MDF cabinet house two 6.5 - column inch woofer , a 6.5 - inch midwoofer ( which means it pull forked duty producing midrange and bass ) , and a 1 - inch silk attic tweeter that is adjust in an eye - catching waveguide — which I in person reckon look very coolheaded .
The speaker is ported to the rear , come with feet and story spikes if you want to employ them , and there are dual set of five - means binding posts that will let you to bi - amp or bi - wire if you care , though they come bridge over so you’re able to easily just unite one set of talker wires .
Monoprice Monolith Encore T6Zeke Jones/Digital Trends
With a nominal impedance of 4 ohms and sensitiveness brood just under 90 dB , these speakers devolve squarely into the center of the road in full term of power requirements . You do n’t take a massively powerful amp to drive them , but they will gain from more world power . I ’d just shy aside from trying to drive them with a low - electrical power tube adenosine monophosphate at very high volumes or sound pressure degree .
The Encore T6 retail at Monoprice for $ 400 each , but you could also , presumptively from Monoprice , with free shipping for around $ 300 each – so between $ 600 and $ 800 for a pair depending on where you buy .
The THX-465 T is an wholly unlike monster . It stand 4 - foot , 7 - inches , is wrapped in a textured black vinyl veneer , and each MDF cabinet houses eight driver . A 1 - column inch silk dome tweeter , a 2 - inch silk dome midrange , and four 6.5 - in woofer confront the front . TheAtmoschannel up top include a 5.25- woofer and a 6 - inch inch silk dome tweeter .
Monoprice Monolith Encore T6Zeke Jones/Digital Trends
The THX speakers are port to the front , as oppose to the rear like the T6 . Around the back there are two solidification of five - way bind posts , but in this case , the two sets are n’t for atomic number 83 - wiring or bismuth - amping like the T6 . rather , the lower solidification is for the main speaker and the upper set is for the up - firing Atmos speakers . Oh , and these things weigh about 56 pound each . Each of these loudspeaker runs about $ 1,000 , so you ’re looking at $ 2,000 a dyad .
T6 performance: superb imaging
These speakers obviously await dissimilar , they are design to accomplish dissimilar tasks , and they have very unlike price points . But one affair they share in common is that Monoprice has design and built them to bid performance that exceeds arithmetic mean at their respective prices . And they do exactly that . But even inMonoprice ’s own value - loaded batting order , the dispute between these two speaker system are significant . And that just goes to show that you get what you pay for . But it just so find that with these Monolith speaker system , you ’ll by and large pay up less than you will with other make .
But countenance ’s blab performance . What do you get from the Encore T6 utterer ? Foremost , the imaging and soundstage these speakers allow for are just laughably good . They paint a wide of the mark , unseamed stage of sound across your room , with instrument and representative very precisely position in the space across the front of the room . vocal , for example , seem to come from a very specific patch in the center of the way , and it is so convincing that you ’d swear there was a third speaker there .
I daresay a subwoofer is altogether unneeded for listening to euphony .
Monoprice Monolith Encore T6Zeke Jones/Digital Trends
And that soundstage and imaging are casual , too . I got it whether I had the speakers fix up just mightily or not . A little toed - in , or perfectly feather off , get out from the wall a pair of foot or not , it did n’t matter . They just wreak the entire elbow room to life history , and that sound extends beyond the KO’d edges of the loudspeaker , too . Not just in - between them .
The tweeter sounds passing sweet as well . It ’s articulated , agile , poignant , and herculean . It offers excellent attack — the transient sound awesome — and it is an I at radioactive decay , too . So when a drummer ’s peg hits a ride cymbal , everything from the transient pawl of the stick hint on the alloy to the result crash strait to the farsighted tintinnabulation that comes after it is all very well done .
The midrange also is impressive , with instruments and voices coming through with prominent realism andalmostuncongested . But by and large , the midrange fall across as very well executed .
Monoprice Monolith Encore T6Zeke Jones/Digital Trends
Then there ’s the bass , which is prodigious . Shockingly so . I daresay a subwoofer is totally unnecessary for listening to euphony . These talker pop the question unanimous bass and even some sub - basso . It ’s lurid , really . In my testing research lab , they get down to 45Hz with authority . You could add a hoagie for family theater , but for a medicine system , it ’s not necessary .
Overall , they ’re pretty tremendous . But there ’s one thing I have to talk about , and it ’s the only thing that prevents me from say this isthebudget audiophile favourite of the class . And I convey it up in that context of use because , for most tribe , these speakers are simply going to pink you out . But for really fussy attender ? Here ’s the deal :
These utterer ’ cabinets do reveal themselves . There is this — I ’ll call it a clunk . It ’s sort of a boxed - in rapport in the mid - basso that ’s ever - present when mind to any medicine with any real bass or complain drum . It gives the speaker variety of a mid-’70s vibe . Some might just call it lovesome and rich , but really , it ’s a scrap more than just warmth or richness . And I guess all that would be needed to eliminate it would be more bracing and a bit more acoustical dressing . A more set cabinet , essentially .
Monoprice Monolith THX-465TZeke Jones/ Digital Trends
Or , you could clean them of some of their bass artistry . But I think that would be the wrong move .
No , the only thing that would make these speakers easily is if Monoprice added to the cost of making them , thereby total to the Mary Leontyne Price at retail . And I can see why the company did n’t opt to do that . For most phratry , these talker are choke to be extremely satisfying and probably blow them away for the price they give .
Competitors
But what do they vie against ? At first , I felt like there was n’t much like the Encore T6 on the market , but there are a few pick . The Polk ES60 , PSB Alpha T20 , Klipsch RP-280F , and Paradigm SE3000F all hail in around the same toll per twosome , and all pop the question very good sound for the terms . I opine the substantial threat here is the Klipsch RP-280F , though , which aggregate two 8 - in equipment driver with a trump - loaded tweeter for a sound that offer a lot of clout and dynamics , plus an impressive soundstage that can match the Encore T6 . I ’ve not get word the Polk ES60 myself , but they are similarly equipped , and I suppose should be considered in the same price - to - performance category .
The 465 - T does more for those looking to outfit a nursing home theater blank space .
But now let ’s equate the Encore T6 to the much magnanimous , more rich , and better - work up THX-465T. No doubt the 465 T is a more open speaker — it offer more classical bass part , and just exudes more presence than the smaller T6 . The 465 - T also does more for those looking to outfit a home theatre space since it offers integrated Dolby Atmos utterer .
Monoprice Monolith THX-465TZeke Jones/ Digital Trends
Take everything I said about the Encore T6 and apply it here , but with a slimly more limpid midrange , better - controlled bass , and oddly , a more laid - back treble . I keep wanting a small more clarity and sparkle from the top end . It ’s almost like there ’s a veil over the speaker system , even though I always listen with the grille transfer .
On the whole , they are definitely a footstep up . They ’re more tasteful speaker and there ’s not a ton of competition for them there justly now . Theis a formidable Dolby Atmos - enabled talker , and it in reality costs a bit less . It ’s also very pretty if you ask me . So I ’d have to regard that one . Other than that , I ’d look to Klipsch , but outside of the , which I ’ve reviewed and roll in the hay very much , but are more expensive , most other Klipsch Dolby Atmos towers , like the R-605FA , are out of stock or on closeout right now . So , the THX-465 T is one of the precious few options of this integrate - Atmos character right now .
Less is more
But here ’s the thing . As I switched between this monolithic THX - manifest speaker unit and the more conservative Encore T6 , what I was really struck by was just how shut the T6 got to this much heavy , more expensive speaker . I stand for , shockingly close . Within Monoprice ’s own Monolith line , I have to bulge questioning the law of diminishing returns . Is this THX 465 - metric ton better ? Yes . Is it more subject ? Yes . Is it $ 600 more per verbaliser or $ 1,200 more per span well ?
For most folks , I intend no . I ’d probably corrupt the T6 and place Dolby Atmos add up - on speaker system atop them to fulfill my Atmos height outcome needs .
Look , the THX-465 T has its lieu — an elaborate family theatre where top - notch performance is in demand but budget is a literal concern . The THX-465 T delivers for that customer , perhaps better than most .
Monoprice Monolith THX-465TZeke Jones/ Digital Trends
But for folks who need all the speech sound they can get — really expectant , convincing , high - quality sound — for a manageable price ? The Encore T6 are just a smarter choice . And I think more people fall down into that camp . And that forces me to look harder at the Encore T6 . I can see how some folk are blow away by what this speaker system is doing .
In the end , I retrieve Monoprice has some passably solid speakers on offer across its Monolith make . There are bookshelf versions of both of these speakers , by the way , which I can only imagine propose incredible time value given they will offer most of the performance for even less . The Encore B6 bookshelf and 365 thyroxine are well deserving a look at half the cost or less than the tower .
But from a enceinte - picture perspective , I think think this is another lesson in the police of diminishing returns for Hawai’i - fi , because even when wait across the card of one brand that has made an entire line out of providing eminent - value , mellow - performance audio products that perforate well above their price , it is still possible to drop a lot more , but not necessarily get a ton more . All of this to say that I opine we ’ve witnessed a moment of a turn in the home audio manufacture . As so many people have transition to wireless speaker unit and soundbar organisation , more conventional loudspeakers have to offer more for less to vie . And if that is the unexampled bar , then Monoprice is reasonably much setting it .
Monoprice Monolith THX-465TZeke Jones/ Digital Trends
