S4 MidiLand 7100M Multichannel Speaker Set
Well, if there is one thing I do like, it is loud music, films etc. When Dave asked me to review these speakers I jumped at the chance because we have a stand alone DVD player in our lounge (Samsung DVD709) and I have been dying to hook it up to something a bit meatier than the standard speakers on my TV. Before I start I’ll let you know some of the tech specs on these babies.
Total Piece: 7 pieces
RMS Power: Total 100W - Satellite 10W+10W+10W+10W+10W - Subwoofer 50W
Shielding: Yes
Frequency: 180Hz - 20kHz+3dB Satellites 20Hz - 180Hz +3dB Subwoofer
Drivers: 2.5" Full range satellite speakers, 6.5" Subwoofer
Controls: Control module includes power button, volume
Dimensions: 3.30" x 3.90" x 4.20" Satellites, 6.5" Subwoofer
Weights: 38 lbs.
S/N Ratio: 55dB
This system comes with Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby AC3 (Digital) support, which means it is a full 5.1 surround sound system, however you do not get a decoder for either of these with the package. With PC DVD and standalone DVD players becoming increasingly more popular many people will want to take advantage of the excellent sound quality or (if you can afford it) digital sound that all DVD movies offer. These speakers will certainly be up to this job, they deliver excellent sound quality, wads and wads of power and give little to no distortion when pumped up to the max. One thing I noticed about the satellite speakers which I thought was a very good feature was the fact that you can adjust the angle at which they lie flat, you can have them lying at 15 degrees or 25 degrees. I was expecting the MK-01 wall mounting kit so I could mount the speakers in better positions around the room but unfortunately I did not receive it, this of course did not affect the performance of the speakers.
The instructions depicting where all the wires should go on the back left a little to be desired as they were not particularly clear, however I figured out where all the wires went in the end. I plugged in the MASSIVE power transformer and gave the sub woofer unit some juice, plugged in the control unit in to the back and turned it on. Unfortunately I do not have a Dolby Pro Logic/Digital decoder so I could not enjoy the full benefits of 5-channel surround sound, so I had to stick with plain old stereo. Another problem I encountered was the length of the wires feeding the satellite speakers, the longest ones provided were 16 foot and my lounge is 15 foot long so there was not enough cable to run around the edge room to hide it from view but I don’t mind having the wires run across the middle of the room for the purpose of this review.
The control module was very easy to use, it allows you to adjust the volume, bass, treble, balance and fade. This module is really designed to fit inside a drive bay on your case but it will sit happily on top of the woofer, I would have liked a remote control so I wouldn’t have to keep getting off the sofa to adjust the volume, but that’s just me. The package comes with a velcro pad which you can attach anywhere you like and then stick the control module to it.
The first DVD I thought I’d try out was The Perfect Storm as I really enjoyed watching this at the cinema because the sound was excellent and you almost felt as if you were there and I wanted to see if these speakers could recreate that effect. I must say I was very impressed with the sound quality produced by the satellite speakers and the bass on the sub woofer was very good also, even though I only had stereo it still felt like I was back at the cinema again, very enjoyable. My dad insisted on playing this one music video that is on the extras section on the ‘Stuart Little’ DVD (he bought it, not me), it was a rock and roll song and it did sound very good coming out of the speakers.
This week I have been mostly playing ‘Project IGI’. So I decided to relocate the set to my bedroom and hook ‘em up to my PC and play some games. I think these speakers were made with both serious movie watchers and PC buffs in mind as the set came with a 35mm to RCA converter so you can plug them in to your sound card. Playing ‘Project IGI’ with these speakers plugged in was an amazing experience. It certainly helped my game play as I could finally figure out who was shooting me and where I was being shot from. I also had a bash on ‘Crimson Skies’, I really enjoyed playing this because you could really feel the bass when firing the machine gun, if you had a force feedback joystick you could almost think you were actually there.
Conclusion
These speakers are of excellent quality and I would recommend them to anyone. They are very versatile and work well with a DVD/Video player, if you have a Surround Sound decoder or a Dolby Digital decoder then you will certainly want to hook them up to you DVD/Video player and enjoy the excellent crisp sound quality. Also they would be an excellent addition to any home pc sound system, any serious gamer would enjoy using these.
Pros
· Extremely clear sound from the satellite speakers
· Very good bass from the sub woofer
· Nice metallic grey colour
· Good value for money
Cons
· Parts of the instruction booklet were a little unclear
· Length of satellite speaker wires could do with being a bit longer
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