Monoprice Monolith THX-365T Mini-Tower and THX-365C Center Speaker Review

[Verdinut]

the Monolith should technically blend better with one's sub(s) due to the combined electrical and mechanical (sealed box) highpass filter slope of 24 dB/octave, matching the same slope typically used in the subwoofer channel's lowpass filter.

With a sealed box, the roll off is not 24 dB/octave but 12 dB/octave starting at the system's resonance. With the ported design, the roll off is 24 dB octave at frequencies below the tuning point.

 

[Adam2434]

With a sealed box, the roll off is not 24 dB/octave but 12 dB/octave starting at the system's resonance. With the ported design, the roll off is 24 dB octave at frequencies below the tuning point.

Yeah, I mentioned combined electrical (from the AVR/AVP) and mechanical (from the sealed speaker) will result in a 24 dB/octave slope.

AVR/AVP highpass slopes are usually 12 dB/octave, and 24 dB/octave for the lowpass.

 

[Adam2434]

The non-Atmos floorstanders have been in stock a couple days.

Now I'm just waiting for them to run a sale on them, like they occasionally do for the other THX speakers.

 

[Was1m]

Greetings Folks! Hope everyone is safe and well.

A new member here from across the way in the UK looking for a new 5.0.4 setup as I already have a XTZ sub. The big players over here are XTZ Cinema series and the Arendals. However since my pockets are not as deep as I'd wish (should have concentrated more at school!) I keep seeing myself going towards the Monoprice Monoliths which are hardly heard of over here. They do now have a European Webshop with limited kit but well stocked with the 365T/C and 265B.

Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts? Are these the real thing?I believe that this site is independent and so the glowing review really caught my eyes.

Thanks in advance folks!

 

[shadyJ]

Greetings Folks! Hope everyone is safe and well.

A new member here from across the way in the UK looking for a new 5.0.4 setup as I already have a XTZ sub. The big players over here are XTZ Cinema series and the Arendals. However since my pockets are not as deep as I'd wish (should have concentrated more at school!) I keep seeing myself going towards the Monoprice Monoliths which are hardly heard of over here. They do now have a European Webshop with limited kit but well stocked with the 365T/C and 265B.

Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts? Are these the real thing?I believe that this site is independent and so the glowing review really caught my eyes.

Thanks in advance folks!

All of the THX stuff from Arendal and XTZ are also made by the same guys to make the Monolith THX stuff, Claridy Audio. They all use the same ODM for engineering. It will have a lot of similarities. Since the THX performance targets are the same, they sound should very similar.

 

[Was1m]

Thanks ShadyJ, very reassuring words.

I know there is a lot of talk of if these Centres can be used in a vertical alignment. From the graphs and forum talk I have seen it seems there would be a minimum degradation in sound due to the design. The reason I am interested in this is if I do make the move, I can have my front R&L in either a horizontal or vertical alignment and not decided what will work best so would like the option switch. However I don't think you would want to compromise on quality when it comes to your LCR?

Does anyone know if some sort of wall mounting kit exists for the 365T/C's? Either official or something that works!

I think I have to decide whether I should add the 4 speakers my current setup to get it right or go for new kit. Both options will cost the same. I currently own Monitor Audio Apex series but I want matching LCR + Rears meaning I woud need to purchase 4 more Monitor Audio Apex A40's - great centre and be used in either horizontal or vertical alignment. Then move the A10's to ceiling height.

The only other potential candidate is the new Ken Kreisel Sound M150 but not much information around at present.

Anyway thanks for your thoughts.

 

[shadyJ]

Thanks ShadyJ, very reassuring words.

I know there is a lot of talk of if these Centres can be used in a vertical alignment. From the graphs and forum talk I have seen it seems there would be a minimum degradation in sound due to the design. The reason I am interested in this is if I do make the move, I can have my front R&L in either a horizontal or vertical alignment and not decided what will work best so would like the option switch. However I don't think you would want to compromise on quality when it comes to your LCR?

Does anyone know if some sort of wall mounting kit exists for the 365T/C's? Either official or something that works!

I think I have to decide whether I should add the 4 speakers my current setup to get it right or go for new kit. Both options will cost the same. I currently own Monitor Audio Apex series but I want matching LCR + Rears meaning I woud need to purchase 4 more Monitor Audio Apex A40's - great centre and be used in either horizontal or vertical alignment. Then move the A10's to ceiling height.

The only other potential candidate is the new Ken Kreisel Sound M150 but not much information around at present.

Anyway thanks for your thoughts.

The center speakers that can be used as left/right fronts are MTM- which is a two-way speaker where just a tweeter is sandwiched between two woofers. The Monolith center is a three way, and it would suffer if used on its side. I recommend just using the Monolith center speaker as intended.

 

[Was1m]

Thanks ShadyJ - I obviously had it wrong! I will re-visit the threads outlining this and see where I went wrong.

 

[Space2013]

I am very interested in these speakers. I don't even know if I'll use the upfiring Atmos speaker, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me how well it would work (or not work) with a drop ceiling. The ceiling is flat, but it does have a texture to it. The panels look something like these from Menard's:

https://www.menards.com/main/paint/ceilings/ceiling-tiles/usg-trade-radar-trade-illusion-2-x-4-white-acoustical-drop-ceiling-tile/r2862/p-1444445400511.htm

It is a bit of a mental block to pay for an upfiring driver I won't use, but the speakers themselves do look amazing.

 

[ryanosaur]

I am very interested in these speakers. I don't even know if I'll use the upfiring Atmos speaker, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me how well it would work (or not work) with a drop ceiling. The ceiling is flat, but it does have a texture to it. The panels look something like these from Menard's:

https://www.menards.com/main/paint/ceilings/ceiling-tiles/usg-trade-radar-trade-illusion-2-x-4-white-acoustical-drop-ceiling-tile/r2862/p-1444445400511.htm

It is a bit of a mental block to pay for an upfiring driver I won't use, but the speakers themselves do look amazing.

The biggest obstacle to the Atmos Module [Bouncy-House] speaker is that you really have to get the geometry right. The incidence of reflection has to match up between your speaker, the ceiling, and your LP. If the reflection is hitting 1-2' in front, you are probably good, but 2+ feet behind... or 3+ feet in front... maybe not so much.

 

[Space2013]

The biggest obstacle to the Atmos Module [Bouncy-House] speaker is that you really have to get the geometry right. The incidence of reflection has to match up between your speaker, the ceiling, and your LP. If the reflection is hitting 1-2' in front, you are probably good, but 2+ feet behind... or 3+ feet in front... maybe not so much.

I think I can get the geometry right, at least for the front speakers. I just wonder if the drop ceiling with the small square pattern will end up absorbing everything.

Upfiring speakers aren’t my first choice, but everything else about the speaker seems great.

 

[shadyJ]

I think I can get the geometry right, at least for the front speakers. I just wonder if the drop ceiling with the small square pattern will end up absorbing everything.

Upfiring speakers aren’t my first choice, but everything else about the speaker seems great.

A drop ceiling probably would absorb a bit, especially at lower frequencies. However, there isn't a good way to install in-ceiling speakers in a drop ceiling, so if you want Atmos height effects, Atmos modules aren't such a bad way to get some effect. Make sure the speaker is positioned so that the Atmos speaker is well above your ear level.

 

[ryanosaur]

I suspect the drop panels will attenuate some of the sound as most of those ceilings are supposed to be absorptive/deadening to a certain extent. It's seemingly worth experimenting with if you are interested.

 

[Space2013]

A drop ceiling probably would absorb a bit, especially at lower frequencies. However, there isn't a good way to install in-ceiling speakers in a drop ceiling, so if you want Atmos height effects, Atmos modules aren't such a bad way to get some effect. Make sure the speaker is positioned so that the Atmos speaker is well above your ear level.

I didn’t realize in-ceiling speakers were more challenging to put in a drop ceiling. That’s too bad as that was definitely my eventually. In that case upfiring might be a worth a try.

 

[Space2013]

I’m confused a bit by how the various frequency response graphs compare. The first on-axis graph shows what appears to be a -4 dB drop ambetween 1-2 kHz and a -5dB drop above 5 kHz relative to the frequency response around 400 Hz. However the waterfall graphs the dips don’t look as bad. Is that just because the graph is stretched out more? Aren’t dips like that an issue?

 

[shadyJ]

I’m confused a bit by how the various frequency response graphs compare. The first on-axis graph shows what appears to be a -4 dB drop ambetween 1-2 kHz and a -5dB drop above 5 kHz relative to the frequency response around 400 Hz. However the waterfall graphs the dips don’t look as bad. Is that just because the graph is stretched out more? Aren’t dips like that an issue?

Those graphs are using the same measurements, so yeah, it seems like the scale of the graphs are throwing you a curveball. The thing to look at is overall trends, that will be what is most audible. So what is going to be most audible here versus a perfectly neutral speaker is the downward slope from the bass to midrange. That will give this speaker a warmer sound. While perfect accuracy is preferred, this kind of voicing isn't bad to my ears, although the mid-bass might get too much of a boost if you place them near boundaries like a corner, but even that can be alleviated by some equalization.

 

[Space2013]

Thanks! That makes sense. I was probably focusing too much on specific dips and peaks and missing the overall trend of the graph. I do want a speaker that is as neutral as possible but has good dynamic range for movies. I'm not seeing a lot of passive speakers that competes with these in this price range for that combination.