MKSound Loudspeakers are Back in Black!

[admin]

MKSound is back in full force with the relaunch of the brand incorporating legendary loudspeaker and subwoofer designs and new products as well. They have always been on the pinnacle of well engineered driver design and crossover implementation on all of their products which earned them prestige in the recording studio and upscale home theater installations as well. Their website is currently being updated and we look forward to reviewing their new products and watching this great company regain traction in the industry.


Discuss "MKSound Loudspeakers are Back in Black!" here. Read the article.

[kevon27]

Any change of Audioholics getting one of these in for a review?

[cschang]

But the current M&K is entirely different than the M&K of old...the M&K that built that prestige. My understanding is that none of the personnel is the same. None of the principals involved in the development of the mention MK150 system are still with the company.

If the old products are still the same, that will be great. New products will be interesting.

[ski2xblack]

But the current M&K is entirely different than the M&K of old...the M&K that built that prestige. My understanding is that none of the personnel is the same. None of the principals involved in the development of the mention MK150 system are still with the company.

If the old products are still the same, that will be great. New products will be interesting.

I believe the 'new' MK is their old european distributor that is reviving the brand, so they are somewhat related. Lots of heritage/marketing value there, I suppose. Their offerings are still kind of boring looking, still kinda pricey, but if they haven't changed the formula, should sound pretty darn good. I'm unsure if the drivers are the same manufacture as before.

Ken Kreissel has a new site up, but no product:

http://www.kkprofessionalsound.com/index2.htm

[cschang]

I believe the 'new' MK is their old european distributor that is reviving the brand, so they are somewhat related. Lots of heritage/marketing value there, I suppose. Their offerings are still kind of boring looking, still kinda pricey, but if they haven't changed the formula, should sound pretty darn good. I'm unsure if the drivers are the same manufacture as before.[/url]

They don't have any of the engineers or management as before. This old european distributor did not design or engineer product. So hopefully old product has not changed, and new product will be interesting.

[InTheIndustry]

After CEDIA I've had several discussions with MK because we we're curious about bringing them in as a line. Talks were encouraging and I think we can all expect some very solid, focused, products from them moving forward. I'm bringing in their 150 system & new subs (when they ship in DEC.) as an alternative to A/B for our clients to our reference BG LA-600 Line Array Planar system that costs roughly 4x as much. The MK 150 speakers all make up a system that I think would offer a great alternative while fitting into that $12,000 - $20,000 complete theater price range. I’ve always preferred it over the Atlantic Tech and Klipsch THX Ultra systems as we’ve also brought that product in over the years to evaluate as well.

NOTE: Only a few weeks before they closed up (3 and some odd years ago) I had been in talks with M&K. Their sales manager (forget the name) couldn’t have been nicer. I was told that their issues weren’t product related from a quality stand point…. it was fulfillment and overall company structure. I’m confident that moving forward, those problems have now left the company.
I'll try to answer your concerns as best I can. The info below is gotten from my conversations with the MK management at CEDIA……

But the current M&K is entirely different than the M&K of old...the M&K that built that prestige. My understanding is that none of the personnel is the same. None of the principals involved in the development of the mention MK150 system are still with the company.

If the old products are still the same, that will be great. New products will be interesting.

Not entirely different. The "New" company is owned by a partnership that includes (or is working closely with) one of the company's key officers from before things went sour. The M&K speakers were all made using Peerless drivers. The company still works with Peerless for these parts and I was told have now developed better drivers than previous models used. These components are now specifically made to M&K’s spec, not just off the shelf as was previously done. How much that matters, I won’t waste brain power speculating on. What does come out through speaker with them is that they genuinely care and want to continue on the MK product with the same quality ideals. And YES, when the company reformed all of their models and engineering stayed intact and carried over. Meaning: The 150 is still the 150 as are most of the other models. The only thing it seems that MKSound will be doing as time progresses is updating and improving drivers while introducing new pieces to compliment the line.

One of the things I was glad to hear was the continuation and improvement of the M&K MX subwoofers which, IMO, are of reference quality.

I believe the 'new' MK is their old European distributor that is reviving the brand, so they are somewhat related. Lots of heritage/marketing value there, I suppose. Their offerings are still kind of boring looking, still kinda pricey, but if they haven't changed the formula, should sound pretty darn good. I'm unsure if the drivers are the same manufacture as before.

Ken Kreissel has a new site up, but no product:

http://www.kkprofessionalsound.com/index2.htm

I don’t feel comfortable getting into who was who and from where, but one thing that was a big point communicated from them is that they are NOT trying to just make a quick buck on the M&K name. They are vested in the brand and have great expectations to continue to not just offer their current home run hitters (like the MK 150) but also continue to improve product as the times change.

These speakers are NOT meant to be beauty queens (nor are they priced like it). They’re meant to perform. I love them because they conceal perfectly behind screens and in cabinetry. A new floor stander (available in any color you want, as long as it’s BLACK) is shipping in Dec. and is made to be more of an in-room product. Similar looking to the Atlantic Technology 4400e on its stand, only the M&K is one continuous tower.

Price wise, these are high performing speakers and are going to be priced like it. I think at $1500/ea the 150 is at a great price point.

They don't have any of the engineers or management as before. This old European distributor did not design or engineer product. So hopefully old product has not changed, and new product will be interesting.

Product has NOT changed (at least not negatively). There are people on board who were with the company previously who were decision makers and worked with engineering. From what I had heard years ago… it’s a good thing that the higher ups on the M&K mountain tops left as they were why the company crashed to the ground.

Hope some of this helped or furthers discussion on the new MKSound (notice how it’s not M&K?).

[ski2xblack]

...I was told that their issues weren’t product related from a quality stand point…. it was fulfillment and overall company structure. I’m confident that moving forward, those problems have now left the company.

...that they are NOT trying to just make a quick buck on the M&K name.

Thanks for the informative post. While it would be a shame if the established value of the M&K heritage were not capitalized on by someone, it's nice to know the new owner's intentions reflect a devotion to the heritage and quality of sound previously shown.

In addition to the conterfeiting problem, their relatively expensive QA and ten year warranty were uncompetitive. The quality assurance they previously demonstrated is something I hope they can maintain.

Unabashed M&K fan here, I admit. Still have some MPS 1510's rockin' downstairs. Great little speaker. They don't offer a current equivalent, but they should.

[cschang]

InTheIndustry...I appreciate the feedback.

Unless I read your post wrong, there is only one employee that is with MKSound that was with M&K. Correct?

I really just hope that what you were told wasn't "lip service". Certainly sounds like you were told the right things. I just wonder about their talent pool.

[InTheIndustry]

InTheIndustry...I appreciate the feedback.

Unless I read your post wrong, there is only one employee that is with MKSound that was with M&K. Correct?

I really just hope that what you were told wasn't "lip service". Certainly sounds like you were told the right things. I just wonder about their talent pool.

I didn't get into all of that as far as their current corporate make up is concerned. So I'm not sure how many carryovers there are from an employee stand point. Since it's been a few years, I would doubt there are many. However, one really important person (not M or K, BTW) is still linked to the company. He is the one with the relationship with Peerless and engineering.

The breakdown I got was very candid and indepth. Certainly acceptable to me, and I've been doing this stuff for 12 years now. I aproach most manufacturers with caution, however and always spend my money 1st to bring in and test product before I ever would a client.

A consumer compared to myself looks at this stuff much differently. To me, as long as their subwoofers, 150, 750, & 950 pieces are all carried over, I feel there's a great value there for our clients, -regardless of what is engineered moving forward. Something that was stressed several times to me is that the new MKSound wants to keep the flagship pieces and improve things where they can while developing the current technology into other pieces. It makes a lot of sense and the people involved have a strong history in audio. They are fully aware that they have a great group of speakers already engineered and available to them and are excited to get them back in the market. I'm not worried about it in the least and feel satisfied and excited for where things are headed for MKSound.

[MK_SOUND]

Greetings,

My name is Aldo Filippelli, and I am the Executive Director of MK Sound USA, Inc. I noticed this thread and would like to add to it by explaining a few things regarding MK Sound and its structure and personnel.

MK Sound was started in 2008 by Lars Johansen (Int. Sales Manager for M&K Speakers from 2002-2007), Asger Bak (Consulting Engineer for M&K and other companies), and Per Becher. Chief Engineer of MK Sound is Gert Christiansen, who for many years prior was the Chief Engineer at Peerless Loudspeakers, and was also a Consulting Engineer for M&K.

The current MK Sound product offerings are mostly "historic" M&K models, either the same units with updated drivers and crossovers, or revisions of those older models. There are also some new models like the MP7, F950, and X-Series Subwoofers. MK Sound engineers and develops its own loudspeaker products, from the inside-out, with custom driver design and technologies, for a extremely synergistic match and thoroughly designed, high performance finished product. Since Gert truly knows about driver design and has engineered more drivers for Peerless than you can imagine, it then makes perfect sense that he designs and develops new models with custom drivers that are perfect for the design and performance goals, as well as revise old M&K models to new levels of quality and high performance.

Going forward, MK Sound is committed to designing and producing the best possible products, while also maintaining the known M&K "sonic character" and reputation. There will be new designs in the near future, and some that will gravitate away from the old conventional concepts, yet will have that same M&K character and will also further improve on the reputation and tradition.

Regards,
Aldo Filippelli
Executive Director
MK Sound USA, Inc.