Monolith 3 Budget Amplifiers Bench Test Results!

[Swerd]

I'd settle for a red LED clipping warning light. VU meters were always sloppy and inaccurate.

 

[Steve81]

I'd settle for a red LED clipping warning light.

Pretty much. I’ve got that on my ATI at least. Only ever had a fault once, and a reset fixed it (wasn’t output related).

 

[ben_]

I'd settle for a red LED clipping warning light. VU meters were always sloppy and inaccurate.

It's not about accuracy, it's about aesthetics. VU meters are cool. A clipping indicator would be a good addition to any amp though, you're right.

 

[Steve81]

It's not about accuracy, it's about aesthetics. VU meters are cool. A clipping indicator would be a good addition to any amp though, you're right.

The built in limiter on my old PC-12NSD sub flashing red on a regular basis told me it was time to upgrade for sure.

 

[ben_]

That light just lets you know when you're really rocking out, bro.

 

[ryanosaur]

That light just lets you know when you're really rocking out, bro.

No… the flashing lights out front and the pounding on your door let you know you’re really rockin’ out!
*rock horns

 

[Swerd]

That light just lets you know when you're really rocking out, bro.

If you need a light just to let you know you're rocking out, you need better speakers.
Here's your VU meter, bro .

 

[bjquinn]

So wait, whatever happened to the 7100? Did it ever resolve its bench test issues? It seems to be available now, and on sale.

 

[gene]

So wait, whatever happened to the 7100? Did it ever resolve its bench test issues? It seems to be available now, and on sale.

They cancelled it due to my bench tests and findings. I commend Monoprice for NOT bringing it to market.

 

[Danzilla31]

They cancelled it due to my bench tests and findings. I commend Monoprice for NOT bringing it to market.

So that's interesting Gene because it is on sale on their website right now.

Why wouldn't they send it back to you for more testing? Maybe it's just an error?

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43866&utm_term=&utm_campaign=PMax+%7C+Offers+%7C+Early+Black+Friday+%7C+Monoprice&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&hsa_acc=6614305189&hsa_cam=20730153318&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiApOyqBhDlARIsAGfnyMqGfdw3KXzokfIPom_av5tIL4M7pFE6CToHYqKXl5AoC9xjGaw7UcYaAtXZEALw_wcB

 

[bjquinn]

Yeah, that's why I was asking. I saw it was for sale https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43866 and ON sale, and a better price/channel ratio than the other options. And I only just barely stumbled on the part of your review that said it didn't bench well. I'd seen good things about the other models, and the fact that just the 7 channel one is bad wouldn't be what you'd naively expect, so I nearly extrapolated the positive comments about the other version and bought the 7 channel version.

So I was wondering whether they fixed the issues or not. If they did, I guess at the very least you have obviously not had an opportunity to re-test.

 

[Danzilla31]

Yeah, that's why I was asking. I saw it was for sale https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43866 and ON sale, and a better price/channel ratio than the other options. And I only just barely stumbled on the part of your review that said it didn't bench well. I'd seen good things about the other models, and the fact that just the 7 channel one is bad wouldn't be what you'd naively expect, so I nearly extrapolated the positive comments about the other version and bought the 7 channel version.

So I was wondering whether they fixed the issues or not. If they did, I guess at the very least you have obviously not had an opportunity to re-test.

I'd be careful why didn't they send it back to @gene for retesting? At the very minimum I'd speak to Monoprice about this and I'd feel a lot more comfortable in your shoes hearing back from Gene before I could ever recommend that amplifier to anyone member or non member due to the issues that came up when Gene had it for review

 

[bjquinn]

Yep, I don't plan on buying it, I'll probably buy two of the 5 channel versions instead, but I brought it up because I saw it was available and initially wondered if that meant the issues had been resolved. Gene not knowing about it surprised me.

 

[Danzilla31]

Yep, I don't plan on buying it, I'll probably buy two of the 5 channel versions instead, but I brought it up because I saw it was available and initially wondered if that meant the issues had been resolved. Gene not knowing about it surprised me.

Yeah that surprised me too

 

[NoMaD83]

They cancelled it due to my bench tests and findings. I commend Monoprice for NOT bringing it to market.

Gene,

Well, I just bought the M7100X before reading your comments on it. It definitely is available. What was the issue with them, and do you know if it has been resolved "recently"?

 

[gene]

I'd be careful why didn't they send it back to @gene for retesting? At the very minimum I'd speak to Monoprice about this and I'd feel a lot more comfortable in your shoes hearing back from Gene before I could ever recommend that amplifier to anyone member or non member due to the issues that came up when Gene had it for review

I will NOT recommend the 7CH version of this amp unless Monoprice sends me a sample to retest.

 

[NoMaD83]

I will NOT recommend the 7CH version of this amp unless Monoprice sends me a sample to retest.

Gene,

Since I purchased this amp before reading the bench testing, I decided to reach out to Monoprice to see what they would say. This is their response.

Hi James,
Thank you for contacting Monoprice.

We're sorry for the delay in response. We received an update from the proper channel regarding our inquiry. According to the proper channel, it was determined the “issue” only occurs in extreme testing conditions and not in real-world operation under normal conditions. The testing only showed increased noise, not something like it isn’t going to work with speakers or be defective.

I hope this helps.

This sounds a bit like a cop-out answer to me, but was curious what your thoughts are. Did the problem only occur during "extreme" testing? Would it not exhibit the problem under normal listening conditions? I guess regardless, this means that they have not attempted to fix whatever the problem was.