After our much talked & read about review for the Manzana Hangon headphones last week today I have with me yet another product from Manzana and it is their top end product in the multimedia speakers category, today I have with me the Manzana Blu Megatone 2.1 Computer Multimedia Speakers for review.
The speakers are 2.1 channel with two satellite speakers and one sub-woofer unit. The Blu Megatone is equipped with a plethora of features like Bluetooth connectivity, FM playback, AUX input and USB support along with SD/MMC compatibility. Its nice to see that Manzana managed to pack all this into a tight price tag of around Rs 3200.
All the three units have a wooden body that indicates to a good bass and less treble, reality we'll come to know later on while testing. Speaking of the technical side it comes with a peak output of 16W and the satellite speakers with 12W each, which accumulates into 80W of peak output by these speakers which is quite high for a product this small in size.
Packing and Closer Look
The Manzana Blu Megatone Speakers come in a tall box with all the components stacked vertically inside. The front boasts a huge Manzana logo and the product name right under it. The product image is placed in the center with the Bluetooth compatibility highlighted specifically.
The key features of the product is nicely printed at the bottom and the sides are covered with technical specifications.
Opening the box we get our hands filled with the following components:
- A Central Sub Woofer
- Two Satellite Speakers
- AUX cable for connecting them to any device that has a 3.5mm jack
- A Flexible FM Radio Antenna
- Remote Control with two AAA size batteries
- User Guide
Starting with the two satellite speakers we can see that they are well crafted in a nice curvy design with an all wooden body and soft rubber feet underneath to damp away vibrations at high volumes.
They are solidly build for the price they come for but it would've been better if they'd come with a fabric coating on the grills not only to give them a premium finish but also to hide away the shiny speaker underneath them.
The central unit or the sub-woofer unit is glossy on the fascia but wooden everywhere else and resembles the two speakers in terms of a wavy design. A digital volume control knob and two buttons each with two functions on them. One has the mode and play/pause while the other has the normal fast forward/backward functions.
Nothing is back-lit as you might have expected from the display pictures. Each time you change the mode a seven segment LED display on the left of the volume knob displays the current mode accompanied by a female voice playback informing you about the mode that you switched to.
I was more of expecting a more detailed display with music beat's graph or something else since its the top model of the lineup.
On top you have the USB slot and SD/MMC slot for your flash-drives and SD cards.
At the back you have the bass control knob and set of jacks for speaker output and audio input from either a PC or a handheld device. Power switch is near the bottom left.
Performance and Testing
Testing the Manzana Blu Megatone 2.1 Speakers was quite simple since its very easy to assemble and understand in terms of functionality. The remote is basic and gives control over all the functions but its reception is a bit poor especially from a range.USB and SD Card were recognized without a hiccup and all the formats are widely supported including .wma or a 320Kb/s MP3 file. Only issue is that it doesn't play the songs in order of assignment but puts them in a random order so one has to make sure of putting only the choicest of songs to avoid any disappointment!
Bluetooth connectivity is great even with an Apple iPhone 6S from a range of three rooms separated by thick brick walls. Sound quality by the speakers is clean and bass is just perfect at lows and mids, especially the mids since the lows go a bit damp in some titles but once you turn the volume to full and play something from the rock genre or heavy metal the treble does come into play so they can disappoint a heavy metal fanatic otherwise all other genres including Bollywood beats sounded flawless at full volume. The FM reception is fine and no crackling sound was heard on multiple stations.
My Verdict
Manzana has brought a winner with the Hangon headphones and that's undoubtedly factual but the same cannot be said for the Blu Megatone 2.1 Computer Multimedia Speakers. The company has made it their flag-bearer for the speakers and there is nothing wrong in that since the performance and build quality of these speakers is nearly unmatched for all the features that hey have to offer including a very strong Bluetooth connectivity.
But for this pricing you can get a 5.1 channel speaker set with identical features and higher RMS value by compromising upon the build quality and sound output, this will ward off some customers who value physical size over sheer performance so Manzana needs to tighten up the price tag and bring it down by Rs 400-Rs 500 for a clean-sweep.The nice matte black finish over the wooden chassis and soothing sound quality at such compact size makes the Manzana Blu Megatone 2.1 Computer Speakers a must consider product on your next shopping trip if you want a speaker set that sits in some unforeseen corner of your room and can blow the paints off of the walls by its solid Boom!
I give it a 8/10
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Awsm product but in pic it says 10.5 watt satellite speakers each?
ReplyDeleteWhat about F&D F550X
DeleteYou've mistakenly read the physical dimensions of the satellite speakers, its not 10.5W but 10.5cm in width. The speakers have 12W for each of the satellite speakers.
DeleteThe F&D F550X is undoubtedly a great product from what I've read about it. The drivers are really big and can definitely produce a very loud sound with high bass plus looks are really cool as-well.