MK Sound 950F Floorstanding Speaker Preview

If you spend any time on the forums, you'll, eventually, hear someone say that they wish they could have identical speakers for the front three speakers. Ask, and you'll get a diatribe about how important timbre matching is and that, no matter how hard manufacturers try to voice match their center channels to their mains, they never sound exactly the same. This means that your center channel, the one that handles most of the voices in movie playback, will sound different than the rest. Pans of sounds across the front three speakers won't be as convincing, music coming from all the speakers simultaneously may sound slightly different, and more.

Not everyone buys into this belief, the the theory is sound. If you have all three front speakers exactly the same, timbre matching won't be the problem if they sound slightly different.

One way around this is the use of LCR speakers. As the name suggests, these speakers may be used for Left, Center, or Right speakers. They are often smaller, can be wall mounted, and can be placed either vertically or horizontally. MK Sound has had an LCR for years. The LCR-950 is a high performance two-way bookshelf sized loudspeaker. All the drivers are magnetically shielded and the speaker is designed for small to medium sized rooms.

But sometimes small speakers aren't practical. Sure, they are fine for wall mounting, but what if you don't have a wall or a piece of furniture to put them on? Stands are always an option but, often, people are concerned about kids or pets knocking them over. MK Sound has heard these complaints and has responded with the 950F - a full sized 950 speaker in a 48" tall enclosure with a wide plinth for added stability.

The 950F features the same satin black finish as the LCR-950 and many of the same specs. Essentially, an LCR-950 with an integrated stand, the 950F retails for $1000 each. This is a $400 premium over the MSRP of the LCR-950. The enclosure is sealed making placement a bit easier and is rated, like the LCR-950, down to 80Hz at -3dB.

The MK Sound 950F floorstanding speakers are 4 ohm nominal but with a 90.5dB sensitivity. While you should be able to use these speakers with most mid-range receivers, a dedicated amp wouldn't hurt (this is the same specification as the LCR-950s). We emailed MK Sound and asked them for more details on the 950K. This is what they had to say:

The 950F is basically a LCR-950 with an integrated stand (floorstanding cabinet). However, the 950F has lower 2nd and 3rd order distortions than the LCR-950, due to the cabinet build quality and design. Thus it is a bit more revealing and accurate.

Like the LCR-950, the 950F sports a coated silk dome tweeter with a lightweight, copper-clad aluminum wiring for low mass and high sensitivity. The tweeter has a calibrated waveguide for controlled directivity and smooth integration with the other drivers. The two woofers have mineral filled polypropylene cones. All of the drivers are shielded for easy placement next to magnetically-sensitive equipment.

The LCR-950 speakers are getting a bit long in the tooth (released in 2010) so we're wondering if this is a missed opportunity for MK Sound. Rather than take an established speaker (albeit a popular one) and stick it in a floorstanding enclosure with little performance increase, why not release a brand new floorstanding speaker? Sure, they may be meeting an expressed desire by their consumers, but wouldn't a brand new, full range (or fuller, 80Hz isn't exactly impressive for a floorstanding speaker) tower also be well received?

Conclusion

For $400 you could get your own stand for the MK Sound LCR-950s. They are already regarded as a great home theater speaker for small to medium-sized room. But if you are looking for a (small) performance boost plus an integrated stand, the MK Sound 950F speakers might be for you. With a -3dB point down to 80Hz (and probably lower in room), they should have no problem blending with a sub though they won't shake the room with bass. The wide plinth means you won't have to worry about it tipping over and the fact that the stand is built into the speaker means you don't have to worry about it falling off. That alone may justify the price increase to some.

For more information, please visit www.mksoundsystem.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.