My experience purchasing and owning Monoprice Monolith 16" Ultra THX Subwoofers and a Pair of M-215 Powered 14hz THX Subs #hometheater #subwooferbasstest
I just got the 16 thx ultra. Luckily it arrived in perfect condition and perfect working order. I love the Sub. It's a beast. Sorry to hear you are having some many issues. Makes me worried about ordering a second 16
I would not hesitate to get a second 16". Yeah, it sucks I found a few issues with some of these subwoofers. But Monolith did honor their warranty, I didn't pay a dime for replacements. Both the 16 and m215 are awesome, Monolith would get it sorted out if you ended up with a issue. Hopefully Monolith can provide parts or repairs in the future, that's my biggest concern right now.
@@MiddlePark I may just go for it, then. I spent too many years deciding between this or the pb16 ultra. Finally ready to buy, when I decided to look up recent videos and found this one.
@@carlifegarage2340 I have no experience with the 13" monolith, but my 215's are still working perfectly. I wouldn't be that worried about buying another monolith. Just make sure to keep the original packaging for warranty purposes. Monolith will stand behind any issues and warranty them. They even let me trade from the 16's to the m215's, I did not expect them to do that. 13, 16 or the 215, I'm pretty sure you're going to be as impressed as I was (aside from the quality control issues I experienced).
Now, I am not sure (as you didn't mention anything about this) but did you make sure to properly break them in? I have had my M-215 for a few months now and not a single problem.
Didn't say anything? There is a little ongoing series on these on my channel. Monolith said their is no break-in. I agree, there are no parts to wear in, the surround and spider are 100% good to go from the factory. Back in 1887 you might have needed to break in a wooden surround or something, but not modern equipment. Some decaf songs will toast your m215 in minutes or less. These subs get hot fast, faster than any others I've had. At mortal listening levels it's relatively reliable.
I bought them without putting much effort into researching brands. Most everything was out of stock at the time, I wanted 21" Devastators, but they were not even taking orders due to a supplier issue. Flat packs were out of stock, then I found Monolith..
How is shipping damage to the box a Monolith issue? Mine work perfectly but I don't run 12hz test tones through a speaker to look for issues before they are even broken in.
Looks like I found my 1st Monoprice Shill. These Monoliths sounded like trash at lower levels, clearly demonstrated. I'll make sure to purchase only 20Hz and above blu-ray soundtracks from now on to meet your expectations. What Exactly what is Monoprice recommended for a break-in procedure on these subwoofers? Lol and what exactly is happening at this time? Seriously through, I caught Monolith lying and claiming shipping damage instead of it being defective on FedEx shipping papers = Monolith Insurance Fraud. I still have the paperwork, and I shared the information with fedex customer service recently. Fyi, my review left out 2 additional defective Monolith subwoofers. Monolith has no parts support, this is a HUGE disappointment. When my subs fail again and they will, I can either attempt my own repairs or refurbish the cabinets with Quality components or roll the Monolith customer service dice again.
The packaging was clearly repaired by the shipper before it was put on the fedex truck. I do not believe a fedex employee or driver would have tipped a 200+ lb box and pallet over on its side to repair the bottom. For some reason all other items I use fedex freight for are delivered in perfect condition. It's only the Monolith stuff that arrives like this. I recommend you watch my latest video on the monolith speakers, pay attention to the defects in the lamination. This is real customer feedback, they're junk.
@UCrNkWdFKOv1_j4BadiJS-3g Is it normal in your world to respond to new people on your channel to insult them in the first sentence? I guess I will move on to content creators who can discuss topics honestly and know how to treat people. Thanks for letting me know who you are. I would have loved an honest discussion on the topic but I don't cast my pearls before swine. Peace....
@@robzilla69 Your smart assed comment was deserving of my replies. I couldn't care less about your views or subscription, unlike most yt channels I am not a shill giving fake reviews for likes and subscribers. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Man I understand completely I bought a huge subwoofer from them and the box was all torn up the speaker cone was damaged. But hey I got my 1300 back right away after speaking to customer service and sending back the speaker.
In you opinion, and assuming all works well , would you recommend 1-m215, or 1-16” ultra? ( budget restricts me right now to just one or the other) with plans to add a second at some point in future … but for now if it was one or the other, what do you recommend? Price, power and most specs are comparable. Thank you.
I would not recommend the 16 until the grill has been redesigned, and replacement parts were available. The grill uses magnets but the magnet mount polishes on the face of the matte finish enclosure, this makes four glossy eyesores that are very noticeable. I don't believe the specs are accurate. The 215 makes the 16 seem like one of those subs that are included in a home theater Box. I bet it's more profitable to sell the 16" over the 215, thats why we see similar advertised performance specs.. The 215 is much larger, doesn't have to work as hard, moves way more air and goes lower than the 16" did in my basement. The low volume response and performance from the 215 is Awesome. I noticed the 16 can easily be pushed to port noise or in my opinion overheated. Makes sense because it's roughly the same amount of power going to one driver, that has to work much harder to keep up with the 215. If I had to pick one it would be the 215 hands down. I don't believe in the THX certification anymore after this experience. I bet the 16 achieved "ultra" simply by having decent output for a single 16" subwoofer. The current pair of 215's are still operating perfectly and I'm more satisfied with them every day.
Thank you for this…,I have been saving for a better sub option for some time as my next upgrade. This would compliment my recent upgrade of Golden Ears triton 1, and super center xl ….and for now, I have about $2k I can spend on the best sub I can get for the money…it’s a very big step for me. So I want to get it right the first time. Sounds like m215 is the way to go, unless you know of a better bang for buck in the same price range. Thank you again. I did buy the monolith 7 channel amp and it’s been just fine …although surprised it doesn’t play louder than my Onkyo receiver …. Basically the same output, but guessing the monolith isn’t working as hard to do so .
@@curtissanjenko285 You are welcome, I enjoy sharing my experience to inform others on what to expect. I think the 215 owns the Bang for buck category. And it's extremely competitive in sound quality. It's amazing how much these things flex without making any mechanical noise. Still, Quality Control needs improvement, and Monolith needs to have real parts support, they have to make replacment parts available, not having parts available for 2500.00 speakers is bad practice. I won't spend another dime on Monolith until or if that happens.
Thank you for taking the time to put this video together. Solid SVS fan here, PB-3000 is unreal. I’ve read/watched 50+ hours about Monolith subs and been increasingly/incredibly curious whether to jump. This answered all questions. 🔊🌪️🫨
Thay have their advantages, powerful, clean 14hz sound waves, overwhelming pressure and presence. Now that it seems I have 2 proven m215's I don't care about the headaches anymore. And monolith did stand behind their products over and over. Hopefully Monolith has gotten wind of these videos and improved qc. They really are amazing, these transform even just low volume everyday listening into something crazy fun. Drywall cracks are an indicator to turn them down before burning one up.
SPL 150 is not even in the same class as the m15v2. I have had both and you made the wrong choice. Monoprice stands behind their products. Yes, I have experienced a damaged unit as well, but once I got a good one it has been perfect.
I bought two of their 10" versions a few months ago and one of them had noticeably worse port chuffing. They replaced that one and then they performed the same, but chuffing was still a problem on both "good" subs and I had to seal them to enjoy them. After a while I gave in and built two marty cubes and I'm a lot happier now. I'm still a Monolith fan from a value perspective, but I wouldn't go lower than their 15" version if I had to do it over again because I think you need the port velocity headroom to avoid chuffing in normal content. It seems like you're playing a static tone in your video which I've heard can easily damage the driver if done for long at a high level.
Yeah I used a constant sign wave tone. But not long enough to heat anything up, and I was only at about 50% output, these things will Flex Much more when pushed. This was a similar condition to the wave scene in aqua man.. I would have used a movie such as Lord of the Rings or Aquaman but I was afraid of copyright issues. I was impatient and flat packs were out of stock at the time, otherwise I would have went with Marty or similar. There is a reason why high quality drivers like lavoice are about twice as heavy as these monolith drivers. I have decided to leave these in THX mode, non extended with hopes they will last longer than the prior ones did.
@@MiddlePark I have Lavoce 18" lavoce drivers in my cubes and I can only get about 106dB at 20hz at 1-meter from one of them. I'm guessing what you have there stays stronger at lower frequencies. If you went the DIY route later you'd probably need 21" full martys or devastators to get close to what the M-215s provide.
@@miscreant1739 I was looking at the 21" devastater flat pack. I will probably pick up a pair of them next year and sell the monoliths before warranty runs out.
I think most commercial subs are underported to obtain those ridiculously low tuning frequencies (around 20 Hz) with relatively small enclosures. That said, testing subs with test tones is not really useful to see how it performs in a movie or with music. Especially if you run test tone below tuning, the distortion dramatically increases. This happens to any ported sub
@@Pentenfi You didn't pay attention to the review. The reason I demonstrated them gently flexing at 50% power for 10 seconds or so was to demonstrate how there was no mechanical noise. This was not a distortion test.
It's close, but my experience suggests the 215's moves much more air. The issue I noticed with both the 16 and 215 is temperature. The 16 has a larger magnet/ motor. But the M215 has the power split between 2 smaller motors. The 215 puts out more bass with less effort in my opinion. Probably due to way more cone area and the larger box. The 215 takes much longer to warm up when pushed. Both the 15 and 16" monoliths can be overheated quickly, it happens at a surprisingly low exterior temp, no stinky coils, just a sudden rattling or clicking sounds at the coil fails. Also the plate amp on the M215 is physically larger and I believe that's going to radiate heat better than the more compact amp on the 16. THX vs Ultra, I couldn't tell a quality difference. I suspect thx Ultra comes from the compact size vs output. The 215 is probably not "ultra" due to it's enormous size and weight.
@@sebastian7539 I have had several burn out. Once they begin to get stinky they have all failed. Only one of my M215s seems to be holding out OK. I think I've burnt up at least 6 monolith subwoofers over this last year. The last 3 I received, I've left in THX mode and no gain was added through my amplifier. These speakers sound amazing at high volume, but you have to be really careful with them, no more than a few minutes at a time of high output music operation or risk result cooking these things. It happens all of a sudden, you start hearing a ticking or clicking sound from the center of a wolfer behind the cap. I think they're only designed for intermittent bass like you would see in a movie. Something I noticed about the M16 versus the M215, the 16 heats up much quicker than the M215's. I think this is because the amplifier power is shared between 2 drivers, the 15" magnet/motors are smaller but both of them add up to more mass than the single 16's mass. Both subs can be overheated easily but the M215 takes quite a bit longer to get hot and stinky. Luckily monolith has an awesome warranty department and will take care of you for 5 years. I'm hoping they eventually start upgrading the subwoofers design, I have not had any re occurring issues with the amplifiers just the speakers.
@@MiddlePark oh no! So you're saying I should return the 16s for replacements? I've destroyed and thrown the boxes away. Would not look forward to repackaging and moving them again
Yes, and I am grateful because otherwise I probably wouldn't mess with it. Monolith is doing a fantastic job at standing behind their 5 year warranty. So much so that I wouldn't hesitate to purchase from them again If I see something I like. Hopefully they update the 15 and 16" woofers in time.
Thanks for this...might have to go with the Klipsch 1600SW that came out recently instead. Or SVS PB16 Ultra not sure. Those 215s look huge and badass though!
I think using test tones below port tuning is not the best indicator of a subs performance as distortion skyrockets below tuning of a bassreflex design
This was to demonstrate how there is no Mechanical noise, the very reason I have returned 2 or 3 Monolith m-215's. Under no circumstances should it be acceptable for mechanical noise to be present in a thx certified subwoofer. I have experienced port rattling, mechanical noises, defects in the laminating, and horrible gril mounting designs that rattle. The Monolith magnetic grill and peg mounts are garbage. As for distortion, I have not noticed any, in fact these speakers have glowing reviews for sound quality and response.
@@codychavarria6088 That's hard for me to say, the m16's and 215's are my 1st experiences with big powerful home theater audio equipment. The 215 sounds amazing, and I enjoy the 14hz response.
Bro, the messed-up boxes have nothing to do with Monolith. Obviously. I've had the M212 for a year and it fucking pounds.. just got the M215 today.. also pounds. Both work great.
I received a m215 that was clearly re packaged. I also received a fresh pair once, perfect, mint condition sent on a pallet. The rest have been skidding around on the floor. It's Monolith imo.
I think you probably don't understand what's happening... If I remember what expert reviews have said correctly... ANY ported or vented sub can port chuff at it's tuned frequency when pushed to the max... looks like you're playing some test tone... which is like torture if pushed to the max... So likely, you would never hear this when playing normal content. I thinking you might be new to home theater? Getting two M-215's... you got a go big mentality... that's good... but you might be being unfair here and probably the people in the comments don't know any better. I mean, I'm not 100% but you are pushing these subs below their designed freq with a 12.5Hz test tone, which is below the audible range... OF COURSE you will hear noise! I don't think that means there is something wrong...
Big ass subs and basied on the box comming originally all the way from china... it sucks getting new toys and having them broken on arrival i get it but these things are HEAVY as f$%# both my thx 12s were beat up when they arrived.. but work flawlessly luckily... Tho probably nearly half the size of these monsters i can guarantee the shipping co does not care about whats in the box. Tho who knows maby there were defective from the get go.. Part of the problem with modern shopping. Would be nice if you could just get in your car and go down to the store and pick out what you want... God i miss the ol days. Ill always spend a little more to buy locally if possible for this very reason. Tho i get for alot of things its simply not possible anymore atleast when there is a problem you dont have to wait weeks for things to ship back and forth.
Yeah, well If these cannot deal with a few seconds of careful testing then they are trash. You will notice they were barely moving and that's because everything was turned down, it was just enough to show that they flexed quietly unlike the other sub woofers that I have. They had problems right out of the Box with the exception of the 16 which I never put a test tone to. Every failure I had was before I even considered finding a safe test tone to use and demonstrate the noises they were making. I could use a clip of Aquaman (where 2 subs failed) and demonstrate what happens, but copyright issues scare me. Maybe you can but it's beyond my current knowledge. If either of these fails again they're likely going on marketplace for parts or repair. I have to give up at some point, I keep taking days off of work to wait for fedex who generally doesn't show up until the 3rd or 4th scheduled delivery day. I have missed out on weeks worth of work through this mess. If these went up in smoke, then contacted monolith and was denied.. Well I have much more detsiled footage demonstrating the failures I had, it would probably motivate me to put it on RU-vid. Or maybe I would disassemble one, have the components evaluated by a shop in Denver for a Monolith value review video. Thanks for the warning, but I'm really not worried about it at this point.
