Till recently a 15? monitor was the standard for a PC. Courtesy the falling prices of display units, a 17? or a 19? monitor is the norm these days and soon you will see that the 22? monitor has become the standard. But the display panels of these proportions also encroach a lot of real estate on already cluttered computer tables. What if you are already suffering with this space shortage and still want to buy a state of d?art speaker system but don?t know where will you be able to place them for true acoustic pleasure?
Bose, one of the world leaders in audio solutions, have come out with just the right product to resolve your dilemma provided you have the ?bursting at the seams? wallet. These midgets of the speaker system (measuring just 4.13/16? H x 2.1/2? W x 4.13/16 D) called ?Computer MusicMonitor? cost a whopping Rs 21,263. But rest-assured they are good enough if not better to the last rupee of their cost.
Until now, it?s been almost a ritual to buy larger 2:1 (three-piece) speakers systems with a heavy bass module eating up lot of premium space. But these pups have no bass module, are small in size and weigh merely half a kilogram each (the right speaker weighs a little more), hence freeing up a lot of space on your computer table and yet filling the room with deep bass and sparkling highs.
Computer MusicMonitor features a sleek and elegant aluminum enclosure with fine grill in metallic silver gray. The on/off and volume buttons are discreetly positioned on the side of the (right) speaker. There are no bass or balance controls. All the input sockets are also on the back of this speaker. Setup is simple, just connect the provided cables and plug in the power supply. It interfaces with the PC through a 3.5mm audio jack. That means you can also connect it to your laptop, iPod, any PMP device, TV or even some cell phones that come with 3.5mm audio socket and rock the world with your music.
There is also a remote control provided with these beauties, but it is very basic and ?un-Bose? like in design . In these power speakers, engineers used two small passive radiators per speaker rather than a larger one. By placing the passive radiators in an opposing fashion, the primary mechanical vibrations created by one are canceled by the other. This preserves the desired audio quality and keeps the small enclosures from moving around. The passive radiators are configured inside the uniquely designed enclosure, and the sound is symmetrically distributed through a small slot that runs side-to-side through the enclosure. They have also used high-performance neodymium transducers. These transducers use neodymium iron boron magnets, which deliver approximately 10 times the magnetic energy density of the conventional magnets.
The electronics in the MusicMonitor system is ?digital signal processing algorithms? that improves instrument detail and definition and Bose?s proprietary switching amplifiers deliver efficient power amplification compared to it?s size.
The aluminum casing not only withstands the high pressure created within the small acoustic powerhouse but also dissipates heat generated by the power amplifier efficiently. I hooked them up with my PC and ran a couple of laps on the ?Ford Racing 2? to test them for gaming, they of course won hands down. They are so unobtrusive the sound appears to come from the car engine and track.
I tried a couple of promo-trailers of the movies and the MusicMonitor did not disappoint me either. They reproduced many western and Hindi film music numbers that I played, faithfully. So much so that even Kunal Ganjewala?s cord-bursting highs in ?Bheege honth tere? could not rattle them. For western classical I tried the Symphonies Bose provided me in a pen-drive. The audio reproduction was good.
But where it disappointed me was Indian classical music. Specially Indian percussion instruments, the heavy ?thapps? (beats) on the tabla sounded like the skin has been pulled a little too tight. Listening to that kind of music, you need a proper audio system, and these little speakers are designed to enhance your listening pleasure while you are sitting at your PC.
