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The Monsoon MM-700 speaker set comes with 2 extremely elegant, almost gorgeous thin panel satellites, a single wood enclosure subwoofer, and a smallish volume/mute controller (that we fondly call the "puck"), all in a matching black color. Despite the lower price, the MM-700s struck us as being more elegant, and exuded even more quality than its bigger brother - which served to please us to no end. The sheer weight of the satellite speakers were witness to the quality of the neodymium magnets that Monsoon used in their construction. The new satellites are protected (both physically and eletromagnetically) by a black wrap-around metal mesh, which accentuate the amazingly aggressive looking neodymium magnets sandwiching the mylar membrane which actually produces the sound. A nice touch were the new, heavy duty black anodized metal stands that anchor to each of the flat panels. The subwoofer has also been redesigned, and though smaller, features a more "efficient" bottom firing design. When I first saw this I was immediately excited. Even though the subwoofer enclosure was smaller in volume, and the amplifier was rated lower than the MM1000 sub, my own experience in the past has been that properly designed down firing subs could generate much more volume than an otherwise equal, but front firing or rear firing subwoofer. Down firing designs also tended to result in a noticeable, but tolereable loss of resolution, regardless of how well it is implemented, and we hoped that the subwoofer was designed so as to minimize this effect. A poor down firing design would would result in loss of bass definition and overall quality.

Each component, from the well designed subwoofer to the high-tech satellites - and even the amazingly elegant metal stands, are of such high quality that it was a wonder that the entire package could cost $149. This makes the MM-700 a sharp package, especially compared compared to some other, similarly priced systems out there that just don't make the grade. We were totally psyched to get this set up and running, and we were not in the least disappointed in the performance.

Installation was no different than installation with other speakers. The new subwoofer includes a power off switch (something that the MM1000's lacked, because the engineers did not see a need for one). This was something that many reviewers commented on in MM1000 reviews, and the combination of customer and reviewer requests must have been heard. The best improvement, in our eyes, was the improved volume/mute controller, or the "puck". If any of you have ever read about the drawbacks on the puck in the MM1000s, well none of those flaws apply to the new puck. The newer puck controls volume smoothly and deftly, while the mute button operates flawlessly. The puck is so handy that it is perhaps the most convenient control ever designed for a multimedia system. We've seen controls from Boston Acoustics, Labtec, Altec Lansing, Yamaha, and MidiLand, and though some of those are well though out (especially the MidiLand control module), none function with the simplicity and convenience that the "puck" offers. The mute button alone should win accolades from users, simply because of its total accessibility and ease of use (it's much easier to just slap the puck's oversized and responsive mute button than to jab at a much smaller mute button, such as those used on the MidiLand controllers.) Unfortunately, because of the simplicity, there is no facility to adjust treble, or balance, but bass controls were available on the back of the subwoofer.