Monoprice Monolith Audition Series - Real 5.1 Speaker System $1k?!?

As someone who’s always in search of quality products for an amazing price, I’ve consistently turned to Monoprice for everything from speaker cables to subwoofers, amplifiers, and speakers. We’ve done comprehensive testing and reviews on many of these products and have found them to be not just good for the money, but superb products that would easily compete with products twice their price. Audioholics contributing writer James Larson says of the Monoprice Monolith Encore T6 Tower Loudspeaker:

Yes, there are better speakers, but you are going to have to double your budget to get something that can notably surpass these in any one area. They can get loud if you provide sufficient amplification, and they can dig deep enough that subwoofers are not required to enjoy movies or music.

They can give the user a dynamic, balanced sound with excellent bass extension for less than $1k. Buyers would need to spend a lot more to get something that is significantly better.

For their fall lineup, Monoprice has recently added the Audition series to their already bountiful portfolio. The new Audition series will be available in a bookshelf, center-channel, and two tower speaker configurations.

These affordable and powerful Monolith speakers deliver immersive, room-filling sound, accurate midrange, and crisp, natural highs that make your favorite concerts, movies, and sports come to life.

--Monoprice

All six speakers have internally braced MDF cabinet designs with a black wood-grained PVC finish, and all the speakers come with spring-loaded 5-way wire terminals.

Our new Audition Series speakers bring extremely-high quality sound to a new level of affordability. Engineered to exceed our strict standards for performance, these speakers deliver room-filling sound while producing an incredibly flat frequency response curve. As with all Monolith speakers, we packed them with premium components, exhaustively tuned them, and designed them to look great in any room.

--Hobie Sechrest, Monolith business unit manager, Monoprice.

Audition Tower Speakers

The Audition tower speakers will be available in two sizes; the Monolith Audition T5 Tower Speaker (MSRP: $249.99 each) packs two 5.25- inch ported woofers, and 5.25-inch midrange driver, while the Audition T4 Tower Speaker (MSRP: $199.99 each) packs two 4-inch ported woofers, and 4-inch midrange driver.

Both the T5 and T4 feature inset 20mm silk dome tweeter with optimized waveguide. We’re thinking either of these tower speakers would make an impressive set of budget home theater front left and right speakers, or even for 2-Channel stereo use.

If the larger T5 Auditions are built from similar materials and technology as the Encore Series T6 ($800/pair) then you truly are getting a quality speaker for around $500/pair. With two 5.25-inch ported woofers and a single 5.25-inch midrange, there should be enough low end for most people looking to use these as a lower cost stereo pair.

Audition Bookshelf Speakers

The Audition B5 Bookshelf Speaker (MSRP: $124.99 each) packs a powerful 5.25-inch woofer, while the Audition B4 Bookshelf Speaker (MSRP: $99.99 each) boasts a potent 4-inch woofer. Both options feature a rear-facing bass port, inset 20mm silk dome tweeter with optimized wave guide, and unique crossover networks.

Audition Center Channel Speaker

Rounding out the home theater speaker line are Audition Center Channel Speaker options. The Monolith Audition C5 Center Channel Speaker (MSRP: $159.99 each) packs dual 5.25-inch ported woofers, while the Audition C4 Center Channel Speaker (MSRP: $129.99 each) boasts dual 4-inch ported woofers. Both feature a center-mounted inset 20mm silk dome tweeter and optimized waveguide. These center channel speakers feature upgraded crossover networks used to optimize the highs and mids for dialogue in movies and TV.

What we think…

Let’s look at a complete package. You are just starting out and want a matched set of speakers for a 5.1 system. You get the new Audition T4 towers for your front left and right speakers, the B4 Bookshelf speakers for your rears, and the C4 center channel. Total price is $730 or supersize it to the larger flagship models for an additional $180 for more output and BIGGER sound. Add a Monoprice budget subwoofer like their 12” 150 watt special for $140 (on sale for $99) and you get a killer 5.1 speaker system from a company you can trust starting at well under $1k!

With tech borrowed from their high value Encore series speakers, it's hard to imagine Monoprice could come up with an even higher value series with Audition. Just how low can they go in price and still give you respectable performance? This is something we ask ourselves every time Monoprice introduces a new budget-friendly product and they keep hitting the mark often redefining our expectations.

All the speakers are backed by a three-year warranty, a 30-day money-back guarantee, FREE Shipping and Monolith’s proven reputation for excellence.

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