MB Quart PREMIUM PSD 216 Component

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $280.00 from Sound Advice

Strengths:
These speakers are truly audiophile-grade speakers.When set up correctly, these babies will give you sparkling-clean response. The highs are very clear and precise, and every high note is heard. They're not overly bright. Some people accuse MB Quart of making very bright tweeters, but when tuned and placed correctly, they sound great. The woofers are very impressive. They have excellent midbass, and they play everything they're given precisely.

Weaknesses:
This set has to be tuned correctly to sound good at all. If you don't know what you're doing, have someone who does adjust them.

Summary:
Disregard that last review. Seriously... I wrote that before I knew what I was doing with these speakers. Through the proper tuning and adjustments, these things sound like a million bucks. Maybe two. Right now, I am powering the set with a Clarion APA-450. The woofers are getting 50w RMS and the tweeters are getting about 35w RMS (because of their 6-ohm impedance)

Similar Products Used:
Bostons, JL's Focals

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Sound Advice

Year / Model Reviewed:
2004 MB Quart PSD 216

Strengths:
The tweeters on these things are superb. They clearly define every high note. I've heard some complaints about them being too bright, but I think they sound just right. The woofers nicely reproduce the slightly lower notes, and have very good midbass response (not at high levels, though... see below). Although they are getting 30w less than intended, they still perform nicely. They are punchy and hit bass notes well.

Weaknesses:
I would STRONGLY reccomend using a high-pass filter on the woofers (at about 125hz). Although the woofers have nice bass at lower levels, at higher levels they knock and rattle uncontrollably. I don't know if it's just mine or all of them do that. If you turn down the gain, you cannot hear them over your other speakers. This is easily fixed by a high-pass filter, though. Going back to what I said earlier, I think they're way too expensive. They may be handmade in Germany, but they don't sound a whole lot better than speakers that are mass-produced in Japan. They're just not as good of a value.

Summary:
I bought these speakers about 2 weeks ago with high expectations. I was going from cheap-o $23 Sony Xplod's to these German handmade marvels. I was so excited to put these things in my truck and fire them up. I was somewhat impressed, yet somewhat let down. Although the sound on these babies is of excellent quality, the problem is: these are $350 speakers, but they don't sound $325 better than my old Sonys. The sound these things produce just isn't all it's hyped up to be. I've heard so many people talk about how the difference is like that of night and day, but I can't tell that huge of a difference... maybe it's more like dusk and dark to me. I have the woofers (rated to 130w) hooked up to a 100x4 Clarion amp, and the tweeters (rated to ???) hooked up to my Aiwa head unit (an additional 52w).

Similar Products Used:
Higher-end Bostons, MB Quart Q-series (eargasm), Infinity Kappas, Polk Momos. Sony and pioneer are in a lower class...