Audio products maker Sonigistix announced Monday the new Monsoon MM-2000 Flat Panel Surround System, which its says “breaks the performance barrier for full surround-sound speaker systems” for computer users.
The company said the new system offers audio quality that rivals many high-end home theater systems that is part of a 4-channel, 340 watt system using the planar technology found in other Monsoon products.
The 5-piece system consists of four 4″ x 8″ flat panel speakers with adjustable stands, a 6.5″ woofer and two 6.5″ passive radiators in a 10″x 10″x 13″ enclosure. The passive radiators increase the low frequency radiating surface area and result in improved bass output with low distortion levels. A surround-sound control module is included that features master volume, bass volume, a headphone jack, channel fader and mute button.
According to a company spokesperson, the MM-2000 requires a discrete rear-channel speaker output in order to function as a surround sound system — the control module does not provide rear channel separation. Although this feature is lacking on Macs presently, audio card maker Creative Labs is expected to soon introduce a Mac version of their Soundblaster Live audio card, which will support such capabilities.
The MM-2000 System sells for US$299 and will be available “after February, 2001,” the company said.