Sum and Substance:

Thumbs Up:

Attractive design, balanced and detailed sound, bass looks punchy, bundled remote control, connected to computer through USB

Thumbs Down:

Expensive, you need to be in the sweet spot for best sound quality, sound is very much detailed and hence MP3 quality sound bad.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

B&W MM-1 has total output of 72 watts, response bandwidth is 57-22000 Hz, driver details are left/right channel speaker : 1 Tweeter driver – 1 inch – Nautilus, Left/right channel speaker : one x Mid/woofer driver – three inch. Connector types are USB 2.0 ( Mini-USB Type B ), Audio line-in ( Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ), Headphones ( Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ). The speakers are 3.9 inches in depth, 3.9 inches in width, 6.7 inches in height and weighs 1.9 lbs. During operation, the power consumption is 12 watts. USB and audio cables are included. Remote control is also bundled along with this unit. For connecting to wall outlet, AC 120/230 V external power adapter is included.

Razzle Dazzle:

B&W MM-1 looks quite slick, they have black cloth grilles and sport stylish metal trim. At 6.7 inches high, 3.9 inches deep, and 2.9 inches wide, this set is quite compact. But there is a lot of bulk in there owing to the presence of three inch subwoofer and one inch tweeter. The right module has 4, 18 watt amplifiers of Class D. Two of those power the left speaker. The weight of the set, with both the speakers, is around 2.1 pounds. The left module is relatively lighter at 1.9 pounds. Both the speakers have aluminum top. The right speaker because of the built in amplifier and aluminum top, got very hot when we were playing it. It won’t warm up your cup of tea but this heat is still a matter of concern. But we were glad to see there were no problems with the quality even after several hours of playback.

Inside Dope:

You might not have heard about B&W, they stand for Bowers & Wilkins and are big wigs in the British hi-fi audio industry. They usually make high end speakers for audiophiles. Before this, we got the Zeppelin iPod speaker systems in our labs for review and the company has now come up with P5 headphones which cost $300 and B&W MM-1, priced at $500. The price is really startling, are you willing to spend so much on computer speakers?

B&W MM-1 is connected to the computer via USB and once you plug it, the drivers get installed automatically on to the computer. Both Windows and Mac are supported. According to B&W, USB connection is fed upon to quality of ‘audiophile’ and there is a digital to analog converter which comes with equalizer in order to increase the woofer’s bass output. On the back of right unit, you have aux input to plug in your iPods or any other music players. You also get a headphone jack here. The USB and power cables are neatly tucked in to the bottom of the speaker and we really liked the neat cable management. The remote control is glossy and hence attracts plenty of fingerprints. The clicker is really small so take good care of it or else you might lose it. The remote can be used volume control or power control. The regular playback controls for next, previous, pause/play for iTunes are all there. If the remote is lost, the right speaker has volume control and power button. Left module has a blue LED light which will flash when the volume is increased or decreased and will turn red when you switch off the speakers.

The company says that B&W MM-1 is so good that you won’t miss the absence of subwoofer. We tested the speakers in our labs and didn’t find it true. If you are willing to let go of compact design, we will recommend you the Altec Lansing’s Expressionist Ultra MX6021 which comes along with a subwoofer and costs about $200. The quantity and quality of bass is much better. On the bright side, the MM-1 is much better than standard speakers that do not have subwoofer.

B&W MM-1 have to be positioned at the sweet spot for optimum sound quality. While testing in labs, we got the best results when we were sat 3 feet away from the system and placed the two modules at a distance of 30-36 inches away from one another. At this position, this set is the best computer speaker set we have ever seen. The quality and clarity is awesome. The clarity is really good and hence MP3 audio had a few hiccups. The company reps told us to check this system with lossless audio.

For comparison, we used the $200 Audioengine 2 speaker set. As compared to that, B&W MM-1 was clearer in terms of audio quality. Sound potency was better and the bass too was a class apart. Had it not been for the high price tag, we would have recommended this set as your computer speakers. Audioengine 2 are less expensive and audio quality for MP3 is better. You can also hear them at any distance; you don’t have to go looking for a sweet spot. Audioengine 5 cost $350 but they don’t belong to this category, because of their huge size. We liked the B&W MM-1 a lot but the high price is a big turn off.

Nitty Gritty:

The sound quality of this set is awesome but we don’t feel one should go as high as $500 on computer speakers.

Random Posts