Razer Mako 2.1 Speaker System

Reviews: Multimedia

Author:
Editor:
Sponsor:
Published:

Max Slowik
Beth
Razer
Jun. 4, 2008

Specifications

<< Previous

Next >>

Taking a Closer Look

I could tell that this was going to be a simple setup. It's a little deceiving, since the cables are voluminous. Not only is every cable thick--not stiff--but they're not audio cables. Cat 5 is supplied for speaker wire, which makes it easy for the technophile to replace. Audio people have a tentative agreement that it makes good speaker wire, but, in this case, a) the patch isn't long enough to affect audio and b) they're flat, untwisted cables, forgoing the benefits of Cat 5. They sure are satisfying to plug in, though.

The satellites are isobaric, with a tweeter parked behind the mid-range driver, their sizes a mystery. Only a THX logo and the opposite Cat 5 jack stand out. The subwoofer's where the plug excitement is, with a single 3.5mm input (line 1), an RCA stereo input (line 2), a serial-style connector for the control pad, power-in, power switch, and two RJ-45 jacks for audio out, left and right.

And finally there's the control pad, touch-sensitive and glossy. It takes a little more pressure to operate than a touchpad, and might take some practice, but the operations are completely intuitive.

Sound Quality

Untweaked, the speakers need, er, tweaking. Now I did read a few other reviews, simply because I came to the conclusion that these just didn't sound like $400 speakers. And I wasn't off-base; giving Razer the benefit of the doubt was unnecessary. It's simple: the highs are over-amplified. If you turn up the line-in, it smashes everything around from about 1KHz and up.

This may generate the misleading impression that the bass is soft and that the mid-range is distant--neither is true in the least. The bass is crisp and accurate, and the mid-range remains completely untouched; the highs are just too bright.

The only thing that's really sad is that you can't completely compensate for it with the equalizer. Whether it's the cylindrical design or ClassHD stuff, you can only drop the highs down so much before you start changing the audio--something that they won't do otherwise.

20Hz: good
30-40Hz: strong
50-2,500Hz: good
3,000-13,000Hz: strong
13,000-17,000Hz: very strong
18,000Hz: audible
20,000Hz: barely audible

The standard audio suite was rocked out to a myriad of sounds (Anne-Sophie Mutter performing Mozart's violin concertos, Il Giardino Armonico performing Bach's Brandenburg concertos, the Real Group's accapella, Ella Fitzgerald, Tool, and fixed frequency tests) with and without modifying the equalizer. Verdict: do tweak the EQ. Afterwards, the highs aren't abusive unless you crank up the volume way too much.

But then, gaming's what Razer likes best and, there, these speakers are tremendous. There is such clean separation between sounds across the spectrum that you'll cringe at the sound of your own rapport. Grenades and engines are all explosive and clear, about as good as it gets where there's no real-life flack.

The whole notion of the sweet spot disappearing is marketing, no doubt. Instead of being directional, the best listening with these is within a distance. Now, that distance changes with volume, and is an area in which the speakers neither excel nor disappoint.

These are desk speakers, and pound impressively when you're sitting in close. In a clean room with a hard floor, they'll carry sound phenomenally well. Filling a larger room, they'll do well; if not loudly, then evenly in all directions. But they point down, and just a rug beneath the sub will mute it (you wouldn't toss a square of carpet over your other speakers, would you?)

<< Previous

Page 2 of 3

Next >>

Page 1: Introduction and First Looks
Page 2: Taking a Closer Look and Sound Quality
Page 3: Conclusion

Subscribe to Speakers [more info]

View All

Speakers October 23, 2008

Meridian F80 Audio System

Speakers June 27, 2008

Audioengine A2 Computer Speakers

Speakers May 16, 2008

Audioengine W1 Wireless Audio Adapter

Speakers May 2, 2008

Add Comment

7 User Comments

1 - Posted by aireiq on June 4, 2008 - 1:09 pm

> Rub an equalizer on 'em, they're good to go.

Is this like rubbing CrossFire on your box?

Too much damned rubbing going on. Consider waving. Or hotly injecting. Or something.

2 - Posted by Max Slowik on June 4, 2008 - 2:25 pm

Yeah, well...

Your memory is too damn long.

3 - Posted by Kurtis on June 4, 2008 - 4:09 pm

How about slathering or smothering. Basting, perhaps? ;-)

4 - Posted by Max Slowik on June 4, 2008 - 4:38 pm

"Slap 'em with the equalizer, they're good to go," that'll do?

5 - Posted by Milan on August 20, 2008 - 7:30 am

This is the best speaker set I've heard for PC. Few months ago I auditioned it in a local store and I was impressed by the quality of sound. It sounded great at the first listening and I bought it. This set of speakers sounded much better than any of the sets that I tried. (I was also impressed by Harman-Kardon SoundSticks but it wasn’t loud enough for me.) However, I had a feeling that something is missing or different than I’ve used to before. After few days of listening, I found out that the treble is too sharp. I was looking for reviews on internet if there is a similar opinion about this and I’ve found this one. I wasn’t very happy to found out that my 350 EU speakers have a fault like that. I had even an idea to sell it and buy a hi-fi system. I auditioned some good speakers with stereo amplifier that were priced about 1000 EU and I wasn’t completely satisfied as my mp3 music didn’t sound much better than I was used to. In the meantime I sold my computer to buy a new one and get an IPod from my friend just to listen to the music before my laptop is delivered. I was surprised that my speakers sounded much better with IPod. It was so obvious that actually the sharp highs were result of my integrated sound card on my last computer. I was so happy that I don’t need to buy new speakers. Razer Mako sound brilliant for mp3. I guess that it will sound great on my new laptop if I take a sound card or have luck to get a good one integrated.

6 - Posted by Kurtis on August 20, 2008 - 6:47 pm

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Makos, Milan. :)

7 - Posted by Razermania on November 10, 2008 - 11:57 pm

Not a bad review... the mako's are going on free shipping. Check out there product page. http://www.razerzone.com/p-90-razer-mako-21-advanc...

Add Comment

To add a comment without being a member, you may omit the password field, but you must enter your name (or nickname) along with your comment. * Denotes required fields.