Consider It With Caution

The Philips MMS 321 is a speaker system designed primarily for PC installations where space is at a premium, but where bass slightly deeper than the average 2.0 system is desired.

What’s in the Box?

Opening the box you will find an instruction manual, the two speakers, a very large power supply, and a connecting cable.

Setup

There is nothing complicated here. Plug the left speaker and the transformer power connector into the right speaker, plug one end of the green mini plug into the speaker out of your sound card and the other end into the transformer, and finally the power cord of the transformer into the wall outlet. The size of the transformer is unusually large, but it does allow the interior space of the speakers themselves to be used for nothing but the production of sound.

The speakers come well packaged, with clear plastic tape on them to protect the brushed aluminum finish during transportation. Be sure to remove it before using the system.

There are no tone controls on the speakers. On the right speaker there is a flush mounted power/volume control that glows blue when switched on.

The switch itself is one of the oddest designs I have yet encountered. It is mounted on the right side of the speaker and to turn the system on you have to press your fingers sufficiently hard on it to rotate it clockwise. It is very awkward, and you may need to actually brace the speaker with your left hand while you are doing it. There is a very small raised dot on it that is the only indication of how far you have rotated the dial.

To be fair, the actual volume control moves quite smoothly without producing any unwanted noise. Personally, I would recommend powering the system through an auxiliary power strip and controlling the volume through the PC. I just think that would be more convenient.

How Does It Sound?

The 321 has dedicated tweeters, dual mid/bass and “subwoofer” built into each unit. These have no grill cloths, so the drivers are exposed to accidental poking. Although the exposed drivers look impressive, and while I know that some people prefer the look of speakers with the grille cloths removed, it would be better to give the consumer the option of using or not using one. This is especially true in homes which small, curious children.

In its advertising material, Philips describes this as a 2.1 system, giving the impression that you may be able to achieve extended bass response without a dedicated subwoofer. For comparison, in our home we have a notebook PC with Altec Lansing VS 2220 2.0 speakers, an HP desktop with Creative 2220 2.0 speakers and a Dell Desktop with Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers.

In listening tests with a mixture of sources, I would rate the Philips’ bass response slightly above the Altec and Creative, but far below the Klipsch. There is only no way you will mistake this for a true 2.1 system.

Although I thought the 321 initially produced a rather well balanced sound from so small a package, after about a week I began to notice an odd coloration in the sound. Upon further inspection, I discovered that the problem was not with the speaker elements themselves, but rather with the aluminum trim. When hit with the right resonant frequency, it buzzes. At first I thought it might be a defective driver, but I found that by holding the cabinet firmly the buzzing would go away.

Do I Recommend It?

If you simply do not have room for a true 2.1 system, and you want something that may have somewhat of a more pronounced low end than you typically would find in a standard 2.0 system, this may be tempting.

At least in the case of the set I had, there was that sporadic buzzing when certain notes where played. I suppose it is possible that it may have been an isolated defect in the one I got, and not an actual design flaw. If you do decide to purchase this item, listen carefully.

In my case, I returned them for a refund.