High-Performance Monolith 5.X.4 ATMOS Enabled Surround System - THX-365T - THX-265B - THX-365C Speakers - Full Review!

Manufacturer & Model
Monolith by Monoprice THX-365T, THX-265B, THX-365C Speakers
MSRP
THX-365T $499.99 Each, THX265B $299.99 Each, THX-365C $399.00 Each - Internet Direct Pricing
Link
https://www.monoprice.com/pages/monolith
Highlights
Attractive enclosure design
THX-365T and THX365C are both three-Way main speaker design
THX-365T and THX-265B have a two-way ATMOS up-firing speaker built-in with 5.25” woofer and .6” tweeter
All speakers feature a solidly Braced 5-layer HDF cabinet with attractive Black Ash (vinyl) finish
Clear and open sound and high output capable
Affordable speakers with an outstanding price vs. performance ratio
Summary
The THX-365T and THX-365C, ideally used as the LCR form the core of a high-performance surround system. Working with their smaller sibling, the THX-265B, they provide perfect synergy to bring seamless 5.X.4 ATMOS Surround to your theater. The THX-365T and THX265B speakers enable the magic of 5.X.4 ATMOS with built-in up-firing ATMOS speaker systems. The three-way THX-365C Center Channel speaker is the perfect tonal, timbre and level match to the other speakers.
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The Review

After getting the chance to earlier review the Mighty Monolith M-215 subwoofer I was stoked to see some more from this manufacturer!

This time Monoprice sent a set of five speakers that comprises the foundation of a serious 5.X.4 ATMOS Surround system. The THX Certified, Monolith THX-365T Mini-Towers for the front right and left, the THX-365C Center Channel Speaker, and for the surround duties the smaller two-way THX-265B Bookshelf Speakers.

Both the THX-365T and THX-365C are three-way THX ULTRA Certified speakers while the THX-265B is certified to the slightly less stringent THX Select level. In addition, the THX-365T and the THX265B are both ATMOS enabled with the same, up-firing woofer/co-axial tweeter combo in the top of each cabinet.

As for as “design philosophy” our contact at Monoprice told me through e-mail communication that in addition to being designed with THX certification in mind, their primary design considerations with all speakers is stated as: “Our main design philosophy is to make speakers that have exceptional dynamics, are really "fast" with transients, can play at high SPLs with low distortion, and deliver an incredible value for the money.”

That overall design philosophy, as outlined above, will become very evident as one listens to these speakers.


Delivery Day

The speakers arrived via FedEx in five packages. All speakers were packed in heavy cardboard containers with closed cell foam endcaps and covered in a nice cloth/paper sack. The grilles are wrapped in another cloth/paper bag and captured between the foam endcaps to protect and keep in place. There are no other contents in the box. No instruction or set-up guide is supplied and warranty registration is accomplished through the internet when required. The packing looked to be appropriate and substantial enough to deal with the vagaries of the major shippers.

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Initial Impressions

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My first overall impression was that these are very good-looking speakers. All cabinets feature pleasingly soft, rounded sides and backs to reduce/eliminate internal resonances with sturdy knurled knob binding posts that accept bare wire, spades or banana plugs. There is one set for the main speaker configuration and a second set, NOT for bi-wiring/bi-amping, but instead for the ATMOS speaker system built into the forward sloping top of the cabinet. Construction fit and finish of all speakers is excellent.

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The attractive grilles attach firmly with magnets. There are no dimples on the face of the speakers so I’m assuming the grille’s magnet counterparts in the speaker body are countersunk to just below the outside surface. If, like me, you want to proudly display the drivers to the world, the speaker presents a nice uncluttered faceplate without the grille mounting points intruding.

The THX-365T’s are called Mini-Tower speakers but are not meant to sit directly on the floor as with most “Tower” speakers and should be used with stands to get them up to ear level.

The smaller THX-265B’s are termed “Bookshelf” speakers. Weigh in at about standard bookshelf size and weight they will do fine on just about any decent speaker stand or deep shelf you would care to sit them on. Note however, that if you are using the ATMOS capabilities of the speaker system you CANNOT sit them on a shelf with another shelf overhead blocking the ATMOS speaker in the top of the cabinet.

The THX-365C Center Channel speaker sat just fine on my Sanus center channel stand and has a nice rubber pad on the bottom of the speaker for sitting directly on a glass or wooden shelf. The other speakers have little rubber dots for feet to protect any fine furniture you might be placing them on and to keep them from sliding about.

The rounded shape of all the speakers probably precludes any other type of mounting schemes like wall mounting/bracket mounts. The shape will also prevent the horizontal/side placement of the THX-365T and THX-265B speakers that, because of the ATMOS sections, are meant to be used in the vertical.

Monoprice sells a number of speaker stands that look suitable for very reasonable prices or roll your own as I did.



Construction


Form, fit and finish were excellent. The cabinets are well put together and solid. A good rap with the knuckles gave only the slightest hint of ringing and produced a nice solid “THUNK!”. Construction is said to be five layers of HDF (High Density Fiberboard) laminated together making for a very rigid and dense enclosure.

All speakers share the same design hallmarks and are a sealed, acoustic suspension design.

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The THX-365T and THX-365C are both three-way designs and share the same main driver components. The Woofers are 2 x 6.5" long fiber pulp cones with FEA optimized Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) surround and aluminum shorting ring while the Midrange is a 2" silk dome with Neodymium magnet and aluminum shorting ring. The tweeter is a 1" silk dome with Neodymium magnet and copper shorting ring design. Crossovers appear to be same in both speakers and utilize a Linkwitz-Riley configuration with a 24db slope at each crossover point and crossing over at 550Hz and 1.9kHz.

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The smaller in stature, two-way THX-265B has only one of the 6.5” woofers and the same 1” silk tweeter used in the THX-365 speakers. Crossover is the same Linkwitz-Riley, 24db per octave slope, design as it’s bigger siblings but with a single crossover point at 1.6kHz.

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Where it really gets interesting is the THX-365T and THX-265B both have an additional 2-way speaker system built into the top of each cabinet that consists of a 5.5” woofer and a .6” coaxially mounted silk dome tweeter (Crossover at 3.8kHz – Butterworth 18db) to work with ATMOS systems and ATMOS enabled content.

The main speaker box for the THX-365T’s and the THX365C is relatively efficient at 89.5dB/2.83V@1m. The main speaker section of the Two-way THX-265B’s are a little less efficient at 86.0dB/2.83V@1m. The ATMOS sections of both the THX-365T and THX-265B is rated at relatively inefficient 86.0dB/2.83V@1m. The nominal impedance of all the speakers is 4 ohms. 2.83V into 4 ohms translates to about two watts input. If you are fixated on the idea of what the sensitivity would be at 1 watt just knock off 3db to the quoted specs. Any decent sized amplifier should drive any of the speakers to “loud enough to hurt” levels (if you are into that sort of thing, of course!).

Set-Up

I set-up the speakers in my main listening room/theater in a 5.2.4 configuration. This room is approximately 3700 cubic feet in volume. I placed the THX365T right and left in the same spots my main speakers had occupied previously and sitting them on top of two unused DTI PF-15’s now doubling as speaker stands. The THX-365C replaced my center channel speaker atop my Sanus Center Channel Speaker Stand that was already in place. The THX-265B’s were set to the sides of my main listening position on a small cabinet on the left and an AV stand I had lying about on the right.

Speaker wires were run to each of the Monolith speakers’ main terminals, and then to the ATMOS sections as well. Amps powering the speakers were a Parasound Halo A21 (400 watts RMS into 4 ohms) for the front right and left, a Parasound Halo A52+ (255 watts RMS into 4 ohms) for the center and side channels and a Parasound Zonemaster 450 (90 watts RMS into 4 ohms) for the four ATMOS speakers.

I used my two Rhythmic F18 18” subwoofers for all testing except where noted.

I ran the Audyssey MultiEQ XT32 calibration in my Marantz AV7703 pre/pro and then performed my measurements using REW and my calibrated microphone. I bypassed the Audyssey on the front channels for all measurements letting the speakers and the room generate the curves. I also ran the curves with and without the subwoofers engaged. Only the main sections of the cabinets were measured and the ATMOS was judged using a purely subjective listening test.

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Measurements

Below are the published measurements from Monoprice. Measurements were at 2 watts @ 1 meter. Nice and flat for both the main cabinet and the ATMOS! The little bump in the ATMOS on the higher frequencies would be intentional, I would think, to compensate a bit for any losses incurred when directing the sound up to the ceiling for reflection back to the listener.

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THX-365T Frequency Response (from Monolith)

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THX-365C Frequency Response (from Monolith)

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THX-265B Frequency Response (from Monolith)


For my own measurements I used REW and a calibrated microphone on my MacBook Pro. I measured the frequency response vs SPL on each of the speakers in my listening room at the LISTENING POSITION. I calibrated the measurements at 75db using the Pink Noise generator in REW and an external SPL meter.

Audyssey was bypassed for these measurements.

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Monoprice claims low distortion and extended frequency response and my measurements and listening test support that claim across all of the speakers. While they don’t list a +/- the bass response is clearly active to their published starting point and the highs have clearly usable energy well beyond the 20kHz where I stopped my measurements.

Although not specifically stated I’m sure that Monolith’s speakers were tested at one meter on axis in what must be an Anechoic or “Quasi Anechoic” chamber. My measurements at the listening position in my somewhat imperfect room are still revealing none-the-less and confirm the Monolith measurements in a real world environment.


Listening

Music

My musical listening approach for this set of speakers was slightly different than my normal approach to two-channel testing. I made my main music choices with 5.1 surround in mind and the emphasis was on listening selections from my small collection of SACD’s, and DVD Music discs.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (SACD) – “Welcome to the Machine” and “Have a Cigar”
This 1975 classic was given a remix and 5.1 surround mix in 2011 to wonderful effect. While a remix to 5.1 surround does certainly notwork for every title out there, this one by Pink Floyd is the happy exception. Remixed and ported to 5.1 surround by the original engineer, Mr. James Guthrie, it is not only extremely well done, but the surround effects just work when they are used. For the most part, and on most tracks, the surround is used as ambiance and to firm up the center image just as it should be with an occasional pan to the surround channels for effect.

“Welcome to the Machine” is the standout exception and the odd machine sounds swirl, crunch and burp from all channels to great effect. The smaller THX-265B’s used in the right and left side channels more than held up their end with the sometime loud and abrupt noises. At no time did the smaller speakers draw any attention to themselves as different than their bigger front channel counterparts speakers in tone, timbre or intensity.

This is a great song to listen to loud and so LOUD it was. All speakers delivered without any sign of strain or distortion.

It was the same with the slightly more straight ahead “Have A Cigar”. The song was rendered in a tight, concise, slightly forward manner. A very punchy and musically enjoyable rendition.

Hiromi – Brain (SACD) – “Kung Fu Champion of the World”
This SACD finds the powerhouse fusion jazz artist Hiromi making strong use of synths along with her normal piano and accompanied by her small combo. The interesting tunes put forth dig deep and make good use of the 5.1 surround capabilities of the SACD format. The Monolith speakers delivered again with a wonderful tight and defined delivery. In the opening track “Kung Fu Champion of the World” the “Talking Synthesizer” effect was up front and well presented. Surround notes were transferred seamlessly between all speakers. Handover from the main speakers was seamless when the music called for it.

King Crimson – Discipline (DVD Audio) – “Elephant Talk” and “Frame to Frame”
This 1981 effort from King Crimson featuring a stellar lineup (Fripp, Belew, Levin, Bruford) is still a good listen. Remixed and remastered in 5.1 Surround by Robert Fripp himself and surround meister Steven Wilson in 2011 this disc is great music full of dynamics and complex music on DVD AUDIO Disc. The surround in this case was used to reinforce the material and open up the soundstage.

The Monolith speakers presented it all with pleasing musicality. The overall sound was a bit drier and more forward than with other speakers I have auditioned this music with.

Norah Jones – Come Away with Me (SACD) – “Don’t Know Why” and “Cold Cold Heart”
Released in 2002 this was the debut studio album from Norah Jones. This is my concession to the “audiophile” conceit of using solo female vocals with sparse instrumental accompaniment to demo equipment. There is a little something to this conceit as the spare instrumentation, often acoustic, can create big space and enable you to listen deep into a recording. It is, of course no more effective than forming an opinion by listening to any other music you are intimately familiar with or feel strongly connected with in some way. But, this affection seems to be the current affection among those who practice “AudioPhile-Do” (the way of the Audiophile).

But I digress…. In this instance this type of music did reveal something I had been feeling, but not necessarily registering, up to this point.

The recording sounded a bit more lifeless and less “airy” than what I was familiar with. Still pleasing and rendered well… but a bit clinical. I chalked this up to the silk dome tweeters. Accurate and pleasing but a bit “rounded” none-the-less.

I jumped back to stereo for the next selection and listened to a little Bach. Queuing up the Brandenburg Concertos Helmut Rillingconducting the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra I was listening for concert hall space and air that I knew was there in this 1994 all digital recording. It was certainly there but a little more restrained and rounded than I remembered. High end extension was not a problem and mid-range was smooth and well defined but, again, the sound was somewhat soft and ever so slightly constrained from what I was used to.

I continued to listen using a variety of sources and material. What I found was that these speakers were happiest with pop and rock music and somewhat more restrained and constrained with classical or sparsely accompanied pop/jazz.


Movies, Video and Television
This is what these THX certified speakers were made for…. MOVIES!

Restoring the full Audyssey settings across the front channels (I usually by-pass the Audyssey on the front channels when listening to music for extended periods) I started the listening tests for movie and video surround. Because of the ATMOS capabilities of the THX-365T and the THX-265B speakers my selections focused heavily on movies featuring Dolby ATMOS or DTS-HD Master soundtracks on Blu-Ray, Apple TV iTunes, and Disney+.

Selections included scenes from John Wick One, Mad Max Fury Road, Blade Runner 2049, Star Wars - A New Hope (Disney+), and more ATMOS enabled content streamed through my AppleTV 4K from multiple sources.

With all content I was listening for solid integration of speakers and subwoofers, center channel dialog, the speaker’s ability to handle dynamics, ability to handle loud transients, detail/texture… and presentation of an effective ATMOS sound field when present.

Let’s talk ATMOS! I found after a bit of experimentation and listening that the Audyssey calibration had set the level of the up-firing ATMOS speakers in the THX-365T and THX-265B too low to be wholly effective. A simple bump of 2db+ on each ATMOS channel made it much better to my ears so with height channels now fully activated I began.

In John Wick One the speakers performed very well delivering the action cues and frenetic action of the movie crisply and with impact. The speakers and subwoofers worked hand-in-hand delivering the action LFE cues and effects seamlessly and with conviction.

The THX-265B’s delivered any surround effects with perfect integration with the front speakers and with clear directional cues or defuse ambiance when called to do so.

The ATMOS ambiance in Chapter 15 kicks into high gear as rain begins to fall in the action climax scene. The ATMOS was both effective and, well eerily atmospheric. As the rain fell, I found myself looking overhead and around me. The feeling of envelopment was so extraordinarily complete that I got up and took a stroll around the room looking for holes in the effect. The effect held up very well all around the room with only the intensity increasing as I approached the individual speakers.

Mad Max Fury Road – This High Octane (had to work that in :-) action film is relentless in its action throughout most of the film. The Monolith speakers delivered throughout with incredible dynamics and transients.

The THX-365C Center Channel again delivered intelligible and very natural dialog throughout while anchoring the effects and action in center channel when needed with no sign of stress or stain.

Positional and surround cues were well presented and the atmospheric introduction and other subtle ATMOS effects were delivered well.

All speakers proved themselves overachievers in volume department with the loudest effect delivered crisply with no signs of stress or stain.

Blade Runner 2049 – This is a movie that grows on a person with repeated watching. There are so many subtle things, visually and sound-wise, going on in this atmospheric and moody film that repeated watching is almost a necessity. Depending on your mood it also be somewhat of torture test as well as it certainly plods along at times. But patience and concentration are ultimately rewarded as amazingly realized details are revealed.

All of the Monolith speakers really worked effortlessly together within this movie delivering the minutest of details and sound textures with subtlety and clarity. This is a movie with a lot of dialog in a myriad of surroundings and the THX-365C again delivered a sterling center channel performance.

The ATMOS was very active throughout the movie. Lots of rain falling in many of the scenes was well presented and enveloped the listener when it was supposed to.

One scene in particular, Chapter 11, the beehives, had a lot of overhead information with the bees flying about. The Monolith speakers did a pretty good job with this scene only slightly dropping the continuity of the bee’s flight in this hard to reproduce effect.

There were other scenes throughout the movie where the air cars would fly overhead and the effect fell a little flat. It seemed that the ATMOS sections of the speakers did a reasonably good job with subtle atmospherics and not as well with the bigger, in-your-face effects.

Star Wars – Episode IV – A New Hope was released in 1977, remixed and updated many times over the years and finally culminating in a Disney release featuring 4K HDR video and a Dolby ATMOS soundtrack. Available for streaming on Disney+ both of the original Star Wars trilogies were given the same upgrades. I watched this movie for likely the twentieth time and it was in many ways better than previous nineteen times.

The incredible changes afforded by the video upgrades and the remix to Surround and the addition of the ATMOS made it play like a newer, contemporary flick.

I enjoyed the heck out of the presentation through the Monolith speakers finding the beefier LFE solid and well presented. The THX-365C presented the dialog in this addition as much better focused, intelligible and excellent clarity.

While the ATMOS in these reissues is used mostly as environmental ambience there were quite a few effects that were piped through the overheads with appropriate gusto. A good example occurs almost immediately in the movie when the Imperial Cruiser slowly fly’s over the virtual camera position and the ATMOS enables a solid flyover effect. Now I know that really “In space nobody can hear you scream…” but I’m just a sucker for big, if mostly unreal effects of the Star Wars universe. The sound fx and the ATMOS speaker sections worked very well to bring a new element and level of excitement/enjoyment to the entire film.

I have the original trilogy on DVD so I ran a direct comparison and found the newest release better in every way. The older DVD’s none-the-less still played well through the Monolith speakers and the level of excitement was diminished only by knowing that there was now missing sonic information.

I have continued on watching more and more varied content on Acorn, Disney+, Netflix, Apple iTunes, Blu-Ray, and Hulu. The Monolith system continues to be eminently listenable across all of these sources and with all of the very diverse content.


Summary and Closing Thoughts

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It’s getting harder and harder to find decent places to audition speakers these days. Taking note of the fact that the internet is pervasive to the modern buying experience and you can certainly understand how even speaker buying, something heretofore thought to be the sole territory of the brick and mortar audio salon, is changing. Add to that the fair audition time windows most internet retailers offer, and the often very generous and easy return and satisfaction policies, and you can see the very real attraction of internet buying.

With the Monolith THX line of speakers even the model numbers and the emphasis placed on the THX certification says it all. This is certainly a case where third party, THX in this case, certification and guanantees of performance can be real assurances to those shopping for speakers.

And, these are speakers made for the movies! And it’s very clear from the first listen that these speakers really, really, shine with movies soundtracks. They add to the movie experience in every audible way.

While I found all of these speakers to be well built, look good and perform as promised, I was especially fond of the THX-365C center channel speaker that delivered amazing clarity and definition with dialog and content, and never sounded unnatural, chesty or congested with any material, at any volume.

The warmish sounding THX-365T’s are the logical choice for larger rooms but are still petite enough to not overwhelm in smaller rooms. Smooth, extended highs, silky smooth midrange and extremely capable dynamic range make this a great choice for the front channels (or surround channels).

I was also somewhat perversely digging the sound of the smallest speaker, the THX-265X, when pressed into duty as the main speakers in a stereo setup. I found them to be as clear as a bell and have an open, clean sound that I greatly enjoyed. If you have a smallish room to fill, a multi-channel audio system built around the THX-265B and a THX-365C coupled to a good subwoofer or two would be a standout for movies and music.

Yes, all of these speakers are shy on the bass side, but by design. They are made to be used with a subwoofer. Preferably that subwoofer would meet or exceed the THX specs for subwoofers. When the subwoofer being used is up to the task the Monolith speakers should integrate smoothly and perfectly while providing the system synergy necessary for big movie sound.

And yes, while I initially found the three-way THX-365T a bit soft for my liking with some music, they will be just the sound some will love and immediately appreciate. And…. as I continued to listen and acclimatize to the softer, silkier (pun intended) sound of the silk dome midrange and silk dome tweeter I began to appreciate their smooth sound and fatigueless presentation more and more!

As far as ATMOS goes I have not, up to this point, been a fan of the up-firing, built-in speaker ATMOS solution. It hasn’t worked well on what I’ve heard before (or maybe the demonstration just sucked). But, this implementation of the concept by Monolith was well executed and resulted in a meaningful and fun ATMOS presentation.

Monolith by Monoprice offers five-year replacement warranty, a Quality Assurance Guarantee, thirty days, no questions asked return policy, coupled with a strong service and support group and all that adds a good measure of security and comfort to your investment.

All said, these speakers offer a high level of performance at an extraordinary price point. Coupled with the THX certification assurance these speakers should be considered on the short list as part of any high-performance home theater project.


Monolith by Monoprice THX-365T Mini-Tower 3-Way Main with Internal 2-Way ATMOS Enabled up-firing
Speaker – Published Specifications

  • THX Ultra Certified
  • Main Woofer Drivers: 2x 6.5" long fiber pulp cones with FEA optimized Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) surround and aluminum shorting ring
  • Main Midrange Driver: 2" silk dome midrange with Neodymium magnet and aluminum shorting ring
  • Main Tweeter Driver: 1" silk dome tweeter with Neodymium magnet and copper shorting ring
  • Main Frequency Response: 65Hz ~ 24kHz
  • Main Sensitivity: 89.5dB (2.83V@1m)
  • Main Crossover Frequencies: 550Hz (24dB Linkwitz-Riley) and 1.9kHz (24dB Linkwitz-Riley)
  • Main Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms
  • Atmos® Woofer Driver: 5.25" long fiber pulp cone with FEA optimized Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) Surround
  • Atmos Tweeter Driver: 0.6" silk dome tweeter with Neodymium magnet
  • Atmos Frequency Response: 120Hz ~ 20kHz
  • Atmos Sensitivity: 86.0dB (2.83V@1m)
  • Atmos Crossover Frequency: 3.8kHz (18dB Butterworth)
  • Atmos Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms
  • Cabinet: Sealed, 5-layer HDF with horizontal shelf bracing and 5-way binding posts
  • Dimensions (without grille): 22.9" x 9.7" x 10.8" (581 x 246 x 275 mm)
  • Dimensions (with grille): 22.9" x 9.7" x 11.4" (581 x 246 x 290 mm)
  • Weight: 28.4 lbs. (12.9 kg)

Monolith by Monoprice THX-365C 3-Way Center Channel Speaker – Published
Specifications

  • THX Ultra Certified
  • Woofer Drivers: 2 x 6.5" long fiber pulp cones with FEA optimized Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) surround and aluminum shorting ring
  • Midrange Driver: 2" silk dome midrange with Neodymium magnet and aluminum shorting ring
  • Tweeter Driver: 1" silk dome tweeter with Neodymium magnet and copper shorting ring
  • Frequency Response: 65Hz ~ 24kHz
  • Sensitivity: 89.5dB (2.83V@1m)
  • Crossover Frequencies: 550Hz (24dB Linkwitz-Riley) and 1.9kHz (24dB Linkwitz-Riley)
  • Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms
  • Cabinet: Sealed, 5-layer HDF with horizontal shelf bracing and 5-way binding posts
  • Dimensions (without grille): 9.7" x 22.9" x 10.8" (246 x 581 x 275 mm)
  • Dimensions (with grille): 9.7" x 22.9" x 11.4" (246 x 581 x 290 mm)
  • Weight: 26.4 lbs. (12.0 kg)

Monolith by Monoprice THX-265B 2-Way Main with internal 2-Way up-firing ATMOS Enabled speaker system – Product Specifications
  • THX Select Certified
  • Main Woofer Driver: 6.5" long fiber pulp cone with FEA optimized Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) surround and aluminum shorting ring
  • Main Tweeter Driver: 1" silk dome tweeter with Neodymium magnet and copper shorting ring
  • Main Frequency Response: 65Hz ~ 24kHz
  • Main Sensitivity: 86.0dB (2.83V@1m)
  • Main Crossover Frequencies: 1.6kHz (24dB Linkwitz-Riley)
  • Main Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms
  • Atmos® Woofer Driver: 5.25" long fiber pulp cone with FEA optimized Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) surround
  • Atmos Tweeter Driver: 0.6" silk dome tweeter with Neodymium magnet
  • Atmos Frequency Response: 120Hz ~ 20kHz
  • Atmos Sensitivity: 83.0dB (2.83V@1m)
  • Atmos Crossover Frequency: 3.8kHz (18dB Butterworth)
  • Atmos Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms
  • Cabinet: Sealed, 5-layer HDF with horizontal shelf bracing
  • Dimensions (without grille): 15.4" x 9.7" x 10.8" (391 x 246 x 275 mm)
  • Dimensions (with grille): 15.4" x 9.7" x 11.4" (391 x 246 x 290 mm)
  • Weight: 21.4 lbs. (9.7 kg)
 
Last edited:

Sonnie

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Nice detailed review Tom. Sounds like these speakers can do the job.

I just re-loaded my copy of Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (SACD) on my new laptop. That is no doubt one you can crank up.

On the other hand... I couldn't even get thru the entire movie of Blade Runner 2049... not sure there has ever been a worse movie for me.

Thanks for taking on a review position here at AV NIRVANA... you are doing an excellent job!
 

Tom L.

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Hi Sonnie!

Thanks for the kind words! It has been a wonderful experience and opportunity to be given the chance to experience and report on just a small part of the equipment that AVNirvana has access to. Thank you all to be given a chance to participate at this level!

Blade Runner 2049, as with several Ridley Scott vehicles, may be an “acquired taste” but there is no doubut there is genius lurking in the Details! Give a careful listen to the soundtrack and “ye will see”!!

I’m overall very impressed with the Monolith speakers reviewed. They are really excellent as home theater speakers and very good as musical speakers! I’m currently working on a review of their tower speakers, the THX-465T’s and they may well be the”Swiss army knife” of the brand Performing exceedingly well with both home theater and music!

For the money this brand is hard to beat!

Thanks again!

Tom
 

Todd Anderson

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Yup, great read. As I mentioned to you, Tom, I think you nailed your conclusion.

I’m curious as to why Monoloth went with silk dome tweeters as opposed to the AMT drivers they used several years ago. I’ll see if I can dig that up!
 

Tom L.

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Thanks Todd! It would be interesting to find out why they would shift from a speaker type that other manufacturers seem to be gravitating towards these days!
 

Sonnie

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I’m curious as to why Monoloth went with silk dome tweeters as opposed to the AMT drivers they used several years ago. I’ll see if I can dig that up!
I'm curious about that too... wonder if it's a production thing, cost of implementation, etc.
 

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Thank You Tom for this excellent review. It seems honest and heartfelt. WHile not presently in the market for new speakers, I can now see that these will fill a good niche.
 

Tom L.

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Thank You Tom for this excellent review. It seems honest and heartfelt. WHile not presently in the market for new speakers, I can now see that these will fill a good niche.
Hi Jack, Thank you for the kind words. I do believe the Monolith does fit in a (very) sweet spot that should appeal to those on a limited/pre-set budget that still seek honest and real performance with true system synergy!
Tom
 
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