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While Microlabs are still not that well known within the computer peripheral market, they are certainly proving to be serious competitors for the likes of Logitech and Creative. With the aid of audio guru Peter Larsen, they have not only created a brilliant 2.1 speaker system, but have done this at a very respectable price point.
The speakers produce an intimacy and warmth to the sound field that will allow you to enjoy many genres of music, and they certainly have the power when it comes to filling a reasonably sized room, thanks to the brilliant power cube amplifier.
Microlab have also added several very useful features, including a line input on the amplifier as well as a headphone jack. This allows the user to plug in a iPod or phone with ease, as well as plugging in headphones when it is getting late and you don't want to upset the neighbours.
The biggest weakness with these speakers is the soundstage presence. They produce a narrow soundstage, and sometimes can ruin the immersive feeling of being placed within a larger environment. The amplifier also produces an annoying, audible clunk when first given power and when switched off.
These speakers are built to a specific price point and have certain limitations when compared against more expensive competing products. That said the sound is warm, enjoyable and they coped with a wide range of media playback. The biggest positive is the very modest asking price of only £47 at Overclockers.co.uk.
At this price they are certainly ‘Worth Buying'. If you want a larger sound stage presence and a more refined overall experience then be prepared to dig deeper into the wallet.
Pros:
- Amazing value for money.
- Great build quality.
- Powerful amplifier for size of speakers.
- Power Cube gives easy to reach input and headphone socket.
- Impressive sound quality and punchy bass.
Cons
- Narrow soundstage.
- Satellites are distant sounding with some sound sources.
- Amplifier takes up a lot of desk space.
- Not the most elegant looking.
Kitguru says: A bargain priced set of speakers with plenty of volume to fill a medium sized room.
They look alright, bit cheap looking IMO, but cleartly the sound is alright.
They look ok, but I wouldnt buy a cheap paire of speakers like this because its a false economy. I bought a non name brand in pcworld last year and the sound was good for a week then the speakers starting doing weird things. The problem with cheap speakers which make you wonder how they release them at that price is because they use t he cheapest compononents inside. they are born to fail.
As the UK distributor of Microlab speakers, I am quite surprised to see the negative comments above. From the thousands of units we have put into the market, we have only seen 4 units come back as faulty so far. We have 4 sets of the speakers in house, and have done for months, with no issues. Also almost everyone within the business here has at least 1 set at their own homes, all with no reported problems. (Aside from one person that never took the plastic shielding off of the speaker cable and wondered why it wouldn’t work 🙂 ). Major resellers we sell to are not reporting any customer complaints to us either. So with a lack of returned product, and a lack of reseller complaints, I am truly not seeing the issues reported above.
Happy customer here. bought the 6C after the review last time and they have been great, much better than my last cheap set I bought locally. Maybe you got unlucky with a bad batch?
i got a set of these and think they’re great. lovely accoustics and yet very affordable. look great in my living room next to my samsung TV 😉
Is Dungeon Dogz website owned by you? I only ask as they’ve got your review (word for word – a clear copy and paste from your site) and your pictures (complete with your watermark) on their website: http://dungeondogz.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/microlab-fc360-21-speakers-review.html – i would take a look – nothing worse than another review site stealing all your hard work….
Hi all,
I’d just like to add that I’ve been using these as my standard desktop speakers since this review (well over a month of getting used everyday for many hours – music, gaming, films etc), and are still very impressed with the sound quality they produce. They have a small desktop footprint and produce a lovely sound, what more could you want? On top of that, they match my LG monitor perfectly!
Have no doubt, that these are certainly several leagues above that of any ‘un-branded PC World products’, and are unbelievably good value for money.
Simon
I know this review is over a year old now but I’m interested in these but was wondering if you think these would still produce a good sound using onboard sound from my motherboard? The onboard sound is provided by Realtek, the model is – ALC 887.
Thanks.
got my hands on these for £50 from amazon and wow these were boss…. the bass quality and sound are good but try using some gold jacks to get the high def sound. i say 4.5/5