M&K Miller & Kreisel S-125 Multi Channel Digital Monitors Two 3 Way Speakers

The S-125 speakers are tall and thin measuring just over 6" wide with the drivers setup in a line. The front pair of the S-125 speakers are angled slightly inward toward the listener to improve imaging. As with any speaker pair, the angles of the left and right speakers need to be tweaked to optimize the soundstage. The center channel is also angled downward for better on-axis response when placed on top of a rear-screen television. The front baffle of the S-125 is not parallel with the rear of the cabinet, nor is the sides completely parallel. This trapezoidal design helps improve the sonic qualities of the S-125 by preventing sound from bouncing back and forth inside the cabinet. Parallel surfaces tend maximize the slap echo effect, so M&K chose to minimize this with their cabinet design. Other M&K speakers such as the S-85 (used as mains or surrounds) and SS-150THX surrounds use the same drivers as the S-125 to achieve a matched timbre for seamless panning of sound from front to back. The S-125 driver arrangement has two 5-1/4" adjacent woofers with a single tweeter next to them. This is different than the more common D'Apollito (woofer-tweeter-woofer) configuration frequently seen in the industry. The center channel (S-125C) exhibited detailed and articulate qualities over a very wide listening angle making it ideal for the many seating positions in a home theater environment. M&K claims the Phase-Focused crossover has much to do with this wide listening window. Many speakers I've listened to have a sweet spot with a lobing effect as the listener is moved off-axis. These speakers had a surprisingly uniform off-axis response. The back of the S-125 has two sets of inputs for selecting either the Normal or Bright Midrange Timbre crossover characteristics. According to M&K, the Normal mode follows their Q-curve response, which is said to have an extremely musical tonal balance. The alternative Bright Midrange Timbre input is a tonal characteristic more suited for absorptive room environments much like what is found in many movie theaters. Our listening environment worked best with the Normal mode, so we used this for the majority of our listening tests.