Intro:
This speaker doesn’t need an introduction on TE. They are very famous here; many members own one and more members recommend one. I joined the MX5021 club recently and my experience with them has been fabulous. I sent my 1yr old ATP3 home to my parents and got the MX for me. Got these speakers in Delta peripherals in Chennai. I should say that shelling out money to buy these speakers was a whole lot easier than carrying the speakers from the shop to Mount road to take a cab. These speakers are real heavy. Looking at the pictures in the internet I dint expect them to be this big and heavy especially when compared to the ATP3.
Lets move on to the next section not boring you more with the intro…
[BREAK=Specs and Package contents]
Specs:
Total Continuous Power – 90 watts RMS
Front speakers – 20 watts RMS per channel
Sub – 50 watts per channel
Sound Pressure level – 103 dB
System Response – 30Hz to 22,000Hz
Satellite speakers – 150Hz to 18,000Hz
Sub – 30Hz to 150Hz
Satellite Drivers – One 1†Horn loaded tweeter, Two 3†full-range drivers
Subwoofer Driver – One 6.5†Long Throw woofer
They specs are very good. Altec Lansing does not bloat the ratings like some manufacturers, quoting in terms of PMPO. 90 watts RMS is more than enough for my room.
Rating – 10/10
Box Contents:
Two MX5021 satellite speakers
MX5021 Subwoofer
Remote pod station w/volume, bass and treble control
Infra-red remote
A Battery for remote
Two Cables for Satellites
Two Wall Mount Brackets
Y-Adapter for RCA input
User manual
Black dust cloth
I am giving a rating of 8 on 10 since I would have liked more information from the company regarding placement of satellites and sub, sample sound in a cd for testing the placement of the speakers, a more detail manual.
Rating – 8/10
[BREAK=Sats, Sub, Control pod and Remote]
Sats:
The Satellite speakers are the greatest strength of the MX5021. Each satellite consists of two 3†midrange drivers and a 1†horn loaded tweeter. They produce fantastic sound. The highs are very crisp and clear and the mids are deep. They reproduce the sounds very well. They are also very good looking. The sats come with piano finish and the sats are covered with a mesh cloth. It is said that the sats look and sound better without the mesh cloth. I haven’t personally removed the mesh cloth since I fear about the damage that could be inflicted if some object hits the drivers.
I give Full rating to the sats.
Rating – 10/10
Sub:
The Subwoofer stands more than a foot tall featuring a 6.5†long throw woofer. The silver colored driver of the woofer in the black backdrop gives perfect looks along with the THX keyword. The sub doesn’t produce earth shattering bass but produces good bass enough to rattle the glasses and the door of the other room in my house which disturbs my roomies
The bass is deep and you would feel your cloths vibrating in resonance in certain tracks. This sub wouldn’t suit people who love loads n loads of bass. The sub gets a rating of 9 since I would have liked a bigger driver with a bit more power.
Rating – 9/10
Remote pod station and Infra red remote:
The remote pod station that comes with the MX is real cute. It has power switch, volume, treble and bass controls. It features and Aux port and a headphone port in the side, an IR port in the front and a remote holder at the back. The remote similar to the pod allows switching off the speakers, adjusting the volume, treble and bass. The remote is very small and handy but the range isn’t that good. I was a little skeptical about how the blue LEDs would look since I hated mobiles with blue keypad light. But the LEDs rather look good.
Rating – 9/10
[BREAK=Experience, Performance and Placement]
Experience, Performance and Placement:
There is only one word to tell my experience with these speakers, it’s fabulous. I just got in love with them from the moment I saw them… For the price that these babies are sold they are a steal, especially for guys in Chennai. The sats are the real strength to the speakers. I was able to hear certain subtle sounds in a lot of tracks that I hadn’t heard before. The highs and mids are real crisp and clear. The low end bass is really deep. The specs tell that they can produce sounds from 30Hz, but I guess it’s more like 35Hz to 20 KHz since the sub struggled to reproduce a track which produced sound of 30Hz.
Many tell that these speakers aren’t for Rock lovers, I haven’t heard much Rock music in other speakers but from the experience from these I should say that they are really good.
I initially placed these speakers adjacent to my monitor but wasn’t really able to appreciate them. Only when I wall mounted the sats some 5-6 feet apart that I was able to hear/feel what these babies were capable of. I have placed the sub near the corner of the room far away from the cabinet. The recommended placement for the sats is on the wall as far as possible from each other. If you place them more than 5-6 feet away better to place the sats at an angle such that they sounds from them meet 1 feet behind you in your normal sitting position.
One piece of advice to you guys, please place your sub atleast 2 feet from the cabinet since the sub isn’t magnetically shielded. If you place the sub near the cabinet there is high chances that your HDD would go Kaput in a few months.
Rating – 9/10
My Config:
I have coupled my MX5021 with Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 value. There was a big improvement when compared to my onboard Realtek ALC650. Guys who have the MX and guys who are planning to get one please couple it with atleast an Creative SB live 24 bit to explore the full potential of the MX.
I use iTunes for audio and WMP11 and VLC for movies. The combination of these software’s and the MX has been very good. I am yet to try foobar based on the Greenhorn’s thread.
MX5021 vs ATP3:
ATP3 itself are very good for 2.5k. There aren’t any other speakers in India that beats them for 2.5k. They sound very good and look damn good. There was a huge leap in the sound quality when I jumped from ATP3 to MX5021. It’s not fair to compare them as they both are in different leagues and are the champions in their own league.
There is one instance where I was very clearly able to make out the difference between the MX and the ATP3; it is in the movie Matrix Reloaded in the fight between the guy who protects the Oracle and Neo. There were sounds that were more pronounced, clear in the MX than ATP3 and certain sounds that I dint note at all (meaning they weren’t that clear and distinct as in MX) in the ATP3. There is no clear winner among the MX and ATP3 since they belong to totally different segments and both are the winners in their segment.
[BREAK=Price, Final words and Recomendation]
Price:
I got my MX for Rs. 6900 in Chennai approx 2 months back. So it should be a couple of hundreds cheaper now.
Final words:
From my review it would be clear that MX5021 is a great speaker and one of the best 2.1 speakers available in India.
There isn’t any point in comparing these speakers to book shelf or floor standers which cost > 10k or any Hifi sold for more than 15 -20k…. These speakers are the best in the sub 10k range.
Overall Rating: 10/10
Recommendation: Yes, 100% thumbs up
I would recommend these speakers to everybody who wants good speakers and are ready to shell out 7k. It’s recommended to people who want a 5.1 for 5-8k as these speakers would make the 5.1 available in this range sound like crap in terms of audio quality.
This speaker doesn’t need an introduction on TE. They are very famous here; many members own one and more members recommend one. I joined the MX5021 club recently and my experience with them has been fabulous. I sent my 1yr old ATP3 home to my parents and got the MX for me. Got these speakers in Delta peripherals in Chennai. I should say that shelling out money to buy these speakers was a whole lot easier than carrying the speakers from the shop to Mount road to take a cab. These speakers are real heavy. Looking at the pictures in the internet I dint expect them to be this big and heavy especially when compared to the ATP3.
Lets move on to the next section not boring you more with the intro…
[BREAK=Specs and Package contents]
Specs:
Total Continuous Power – 90 watts RMS
Front speakers – 20 watts RMS per channel
Sub – 50 watts per channel
Sound Pressure level – 103 dB
System Response – 30Hz to 22,000Hz
Satellite speakers – 150Hz to 18,000Hz
Sub – 30Hz to 150Hz
Satellite Drivers – One 1†Horn loaded tweeter, Two 3†full-range drivers
Subwoofer Driver – One 6.5†Long Throw woofer
They specs are very good. Altec Lansing does not bloat the ratings like some manufacturers, quoting in terms of PMPO. 90 watts RMS is more than enough for my room.
Rating – 10/10
Box Contents:
Two MX5021 satellite speakers
MX5021 Subwoofer
Remote pod station w/volume, bass and treble control
Infra-red remote
A Battery for remote
Two Cables for Satellites
Two Wall Mount Brackets
Y-Adapter for RCA input
User manual
Black dust cloth
I am giving a rating of 8 on 10 since I would have liked more information from the company regarding placement of satellites and sub, sample sound in a cd for testing the placement of the speakers, a more detail manual.
Rating – 8/10
[BREAK=Sats, Sub, Control pod and Remote]
Sats:
The Satellite speakers are the greatest strength of the MX5021. Each satellite consists of two 3†midrange drivers and a 1†horn loaded tweeter. They produce fantastic sound. The highs are very crisp and clear and the mids are deep. They reproduce the sounds very well. They are also very good looking. The sats come with piano finish and the sats are covered with a mesh cloth. It is said that the sats look and sound better without the mesh cloth. I haven’t personally removed the mesh cloth since I fear about the damage that could be inflicted if some object hits the drivers.
I give Full rating to the sats.
Rating – 10/10
Sub:
The Subwoofer stands more than a foot tall featuring a 6.5†long throw woofer. The silver colored driver of the woofer in the black backdrop gives perfect looks along with the THX keyword. The sub doesn’t produce earth shattering bass but produces good bass enough to rattle the glasses and the door of the other room in my house which disturbs my roomies
The bass is deep and you would feel your cloths vibrating in resonance in certain tracks. This sub wouldn’t suit people who love loads n loads of bass. The sub gets a rating of 9 since I would have liked a bigger driver with a bit more power.
Rating – 9/10
Remote pod station and Infra red remote:
The remote pod station that comes with the MX is real cute. It has power switch, volume, treble and bass controls. It features and Aux port and a headphone port in the side, an IR port in the front and a remote holder at the back. The remote similar to the pod allows switching off the speakers, adjusting the volume, treble and bass. The remote is very small and handy but the range isn’t that good. I was a little skeptical about how the blue LEDs would look since I hated mobiles with blue keypad light. But the LEDs rather look good.
Rating – 9/10
[BREAK=Experience, Performance and Placement]
Experience, Performance and Placement:
There is only one word to tell my experience with these speakers, it’s fabulous. I just got in love with them from the moment I saw them… For the price that these babies are sold they are a steal, especially for guys in Chennai. The sats are the real strength to the speakers. I was able to hear certain subtle sounds in a lot of tracks that I hadn’t heard before. The highs and mids are real crisp and clear. The low end bass is really deep. The specs tell that they can produce sounds from 30Hz, but I guess it’s more like 35Hz to 20 KHz since the sub struggled to reproduce a track which produced sound of 30Hz.
Many tell that these speakers aren’t for Rock lovers, I haven’t heard much Rock music in other speakers but from the experience from these I should say that they are really good.
I initially placed these speakers adjacent to my monitor but wasn’t really able to appreciate them. Only when I wall mounted the sats some 5-6 feet apart that I was able to hear/feel what these babies were capable of. I have placed the sub near the corner of the room far away from the cabinet. The recommended placement for the sats is on the wall as far as possible from each other. If you place them more than 5-6 feet away better to place the sats at an angle such that they sounds from them meet 1 feet behind you in your normal sitting position.
One piece of advice to you guys, please place your sub atleast 2 feet from the cabinet since the sub isn’t magnetically shielded. If you place the sub near the cabinet there is high chances that your HDD would go Kaput in a few months.
Rating – 9/10
My Config:
I have coupled my MX5021 with Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 value. There was a big improvement when compared to my onboard Realtek ALC650. Guys who have the MX and guys who are planning to get one please couple it with atleast an Creative SB live 24 bit to explore the full potential of the MX.
I use iTunes for audio and WMP11 and VLC for movies. The combination of these software’s and the MX has been very good. I am yet to try foobar based on the Greenhorn’s thread.
MX5021 vs ATP3:
ATP3 itself are very good for 2.5k. There aren’t any other speakers in India that beats them for 2.5k. They sound very good and look damn good. There was a huge leap in the sound quality when I jumped from ATP3 to MX5021. It’s not fair to compare them as they both are in different leagues and are the champions in their own league.
There is one instance where I was very clearly able to make out the difference between the MX and the ATP3; it is in the movie Matrix Reloaded in the fight between the guy who protects the Oracle and Neo. There were sounds that were more pronounced, clear in the MX than ATP3 and certain sounds that I dint note at all (meaning they weren’t that clear and distinct as in MX) in the ATP3. There is no clear winner among the MX and ATP3 since they belong to totally different segments and both are the winners in their segment.
[BREAK=Price, Final words and Recomendation]
Price:
I got my MX for Rs. 6900 in Chennai approx 2 months back. So it should be a couple of hundreds cheaper now.
Final words:
From my review it would be clear that MX5021 is a great speaker and one of the best 2.1 speakers available in India.
There isn’t any point in comparing these speakers to book shelf or floor standers which cost > 10k or any Hifi sold for more than 15 -20k…. These speakers are the best in the sub 10k range.
Overall Rating: 10/10
Recommendation: Yes, 100% thumbs up
I would recommend these speakers to everybody who wants good speakers and are ready to shell out 7k. It’s recommended to people who want a 5.1 for 5-8k as these speakers would make the 5.1 available in this range sound like crap in terms of audio quality.
