Introduction
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| MidiLand MLi-490 Boxshot |
By now MidiLand has firmly established itself as one of the players to look out for in the higher end multimedia speaker market. With reviews of its S2 4100 speakers still echoing their praise, it is sometimes hard to remember that MidiLand was around even before their S2 and S4 series of speakers won critical acclaim. And thats where the mystery really lies. Ive been reviewing many speakers for a while, and for me, the S2 and S4 series have become synonymous with the MidiLand name and brand. Ive been invited to review their MLi-490 surround speaker set in order to try my hand at their mid-range speakers, and see just how these babies fared.
The first that strikes when you lay eyes on the MLI system, is that it bears an uncanny resemblance to the classic Altec Lansing designs, right down to the eerily familiar subwoofer shape and design. I swear the unit looks just like an old ACS48 set that I reviewed not 2 years ago, although there are definitely some distinguishing differences.
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| 4 Satellites & the Subwoofer |
The set consists of 4 identical satellite speakers and a single subwoofer. The satellites house 3 drivers and are shaped like cubes and sit flat on the table top. MidiLand fans will remember that the S2 and S4 satellites have always come with satellites that angled upwards towards the listener. The subwoofer houses a 6.5 woofer and has a single flow port at the rear. Each satellite is powered by 10Watts, while the subwoofer reserves 30Watts for its low-end booms. Thats 70W total, which is a very respectable number for a speaker in this price range. The listening tests, however, would show whether the speakers actually perform well, regardless of the power ratings of the set.
Construction quality wise, the speakers are not your highest end contenders. The plastic has a yellow paleness that is decidedly not first class, compared to the almost pearl white of MidiLands S4 white platallic material. Platallic is MidiLands special plastic material developed for their high-end S4 series of speakers. Supposedly platallic cabinets have properties similar to a wood cabinet design, which is what makes it a great speaker cabinet material. I assume that platallic is more costly than the regular plastic used in other speakers, and so the MLi-490 does not use the newer, high tech material. I was relieved to find that the subwoofer, at least, was made from (MDF) particle wood, so that its sonic properties would not be compromised by thin plastic designs.
The fact that all of the satellites are identical, and perfectly interchangeable, is actually a good thing because it ensures that all of your speakers in a surround setup are tonally matched, and you should not get weird changes in tone as sound pans from front to rear, or vice versa.
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| The MLi-490 Lookin Good... |
Although the MLi-490 seems to be a lower end product, it nonetheless features an extensive and very impressive array of connection options. The speakers are Dolby Pro Logic Ready, and Dolby Digital Ready. This means that if your sound card supports either of the formats (and very few soundcards have DD outputs right now), or if you have an external decoder that provides analog outputs in those formats, then you can use the system for Dolby Pro Logic or Dolby Digital playback. The set comes with many RCA cables, which are connected to the subwoofer for various configuration types. The subwoofer is designed to support input for operation using 2 satellites, 4 satellites, Dolby Pro Logic via 5 satellites, and Dolby Digital via 4 satellites.
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