Hi Folks,
Just joined this forum last night.
Apparently I'm 20+ years late to the Monsoon computer speakers party! Found at Goodwill for $8.49 a Monsoon MH-505 speaker system, missing power supply and rear speakers. They looked 'cool' so I decided to take the chance and bought them.
Once home I decided to by-pass the sub (since I didn't have power for it anyway) and cut the RCA plugs off the front speakers and connected them to my FosiAudio BT20A amp. Then, plugged the amp into my old DragonFly Black USB DAC and fired up Spotify. Played an old fav, Holy Cole's "Invitation to the Blues" WOW - imaging and clarity was stunning - totally want to know more about Planar! Spent the next two nights Googling Monsoon.
My main focus is to keep these as computer speakers, focusing on music, NOT games.
Have a few questions, if anyone would be willing to share? Please keep in mind I'm a total noob compared to most folks on this site, sorry... Also, family life forces me to stay under $300 budget. 🙁
1) The 3" cone woofer seems a bit 'weak' - can they upgraded fairly easily and cheaply (ie for less than $100)? Is this complicated by an internal cross-over in the front speakers or just a simple replacement in existing enclosures and circuitry? I found on another forum someone stating they were upgrading them using Peerless PLS-P830985 or Dayton Audio PC83-4. Would this be a big sound improvement.
2) I've read the MH-505 sub is 'okay', but not great. Got power supply for sub today and hooked things up skipping the FosiAudio BT20A amp... sound stage compressed and everything was much 'thinner' sounding... not sure if that's expected or if the amp is bad in the Sub... I've seen a few posts where folks use other subs but most don't allow cross-over above 180Hz, which is still too low for the front speakers.
How about this, (from another forum), use Dayton Audio DSP-408 4x8 DSP and a BESTIAN Powered 6.5" Home subwoofer. I'd still use the FosiAudio BT20A to power fronts.
3) Would a later model 'Monsoon PlanarMedia 14' system (if I could find one in good shape) be better sounding with later planar panels and skip trying to customize the MH-505's
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Just joined this forum last night.
Apparently I'm 20+ years late to the Monsoon computer speakers party! Found at Goodwill for $8.49 a Monsoon MH-505 speaker system, missing power supply and rear speakers. They looked 'cool' so I decided to take the chance and bought them.
Once home I decided to by-pass the sub (since I didn't have power for it anyway) and cut the RCA plugs off the front speakers and connected them to my FosiAudio BT20A amp. Then, plugged the amp into my old DragonFly Black USB DAC and fired up Spotify. Played an old fav, Holy Cole's "Invitation to the Blues" WOW - imaging and clarity was stunning - totally want to know more about Planar! Spent the next two nights Googling Monsoon.
My main focus is to keep these as computer speakers, focusing on music, NOT games.
Have a few questions, if anyone would be willing to share? Please keep in mind I'm a total noob compared to most folks on this site, sorry... Also, family life forces me to stay under $300 budget. 🙁
1) The 3" cone woofer seems a bit 'weak' - can they upgraded fairly easily and cheaply (ie for less than $100)? Is this complicated by an internal cross-over in the front speakers or just a simple replacement in existing enclosures and circuitry? I found on another forum someone stating they were upgrading them using Peerless PLS-P830985 or Dayton Audio PC83-4. Would this be a big sound improvement.
2) I've read the MH-505 sub is 'okay', but not great. Got power supply for sub today and hooked things up skipping the FosiAudio BT20A amp... sound stage compressed and everything was much 'thinner' sounding... not sure if that's expected or if the amp is bad in the Sub... I've seen a few posts where folks use other subs but most don't allow cross-over above 180Hz, which is still too low for the front speakers.
How about this, (from another forum), use Dayton Audio DSP-408 4x8 DSP and a BESTIAN Powered 6.5" Home subwoofer. I'd still use the FosiAudio BT20A to power fronts.
3) Would a later model 'Monsoon PlanarMedia 14' system (if I could find one in good shape) be better sounding with later planar panels and skip trying to customize the MH-505's
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks!