Mako

Razor Mako 2.1 THX Speakers
by Graeme Clark

I was lucky enough to have an early look at Razer's new 'Mako' speakers. Following Razer's tradition of naming their audio products as predatory sea creatures (we've yet to see some 'Clown Fish' or 'Dolphin' headphones so far though), the Mako is the latest to emerge from Razer's range. It's a 2.1 (2 stereo satellites and 1 subwoofer) setup ideal for 'multimedia' use - they're not pitched as being a jack of one trade - but engineered to strike a balance between music playback, gaming and DVD use.

The Mako speakers are designed to grab your attention - the large dome subwoofer and weighty sattelites look and feel the part. They have a smooth matt black finish with Razer snake logos etched on the top of each unit.

Each speaker has a solid top section with the lower part comprising of a mesh - there's no exposed cones here. Traditionally, a satellite speaker setup is very directional. With outward facing cones the higher sounds have a direct path, you can experience this by taking traditional speakers and turning them against the wall or even standing up from your desk and you'll often notice that the higher sounds become flatter in tone. With Mako - the speakers are all designed to reflect audio off the desk and there's very little variance in sound as you move around in any direction.

Razer's setup does advise that a space of 6 inches should be left around each speaker and that they should not be obstructed by other objects, so be ready for a tidy up of your desk. Admittedly out photo shown above has them somewhat more squashed together, but it's worth taking note that you should really devote a bit of desktop real estate for these. Sure, you can put the subwoofer on the floor, but to me it seemed wrong to do that - it deserved to be looked at, not tucked away under the desk.

Connecting the units up reveals some surprises - gone are the traditional phono connections between the amplifier and satellites, with Mako using CAT5 cables instead for high-definition audio transmission. Stickers on the cables warn against plugging them into an actual network, since the connectors are identical to a regular ethernet cable. Anyone wanting to know what would happen when you plug a speaker into the network is going to remain disappointed, as I followed the advice of the sticker and refrained myself from plugging the speaker into our network switch.

Likewise, the control pod uses a connector identical to a 15pin VGA monitor connector and again another sticker advises against connecting your monitor to the subwoofer. I worry that stickers advising not to do something may just be a tempting 'I wonder what would happen if...' for some, but ultimately it just means to take care if you're fumbling to put your desktop back together in the dark.

But anyway, the control pod - this is the bit that really caught attention when we demonstrated these speakers on our stand at the recent i33 event. It's a weighty beer-mat sized unit with a gloss black top. With the speakers in standby mode, the central Razer logo glows a subtle blue colour. Hold your finger on it for a second, it lights up and the pod springs to life showing various options and a stepped volume indicator round the outside.

The pod allows selecting between 'Line 1' (3.5mm) and 'Line 2' (RCA Phono) inputs, adjusting bass level, adjusting volume and muting the speakers. To reach these controls you place your finger in the centre and drag to the required option. For bass and volume this increases the brightness on the outer bar and allows you to 'drag' the slider. It requires a little bit of pressure and can take some getting used to - and admittedly is a little bit of a pain when you want to adjust the volume quickly to take a call or suchlike - but it does feel satisfying to use and will always be a great thing to show off to onlookers. As you increase the volume to the higher levels, the remaining bars turn red - I found myself turning down the volume in the Windows mixer control panel just so that I could leave the red bars on all the time. They just looked cool. The control pod also houses a headphone pass-through connection and another auxiliary 3.5mm line-in connector.

Would you like to see the pod in action? Here's a youtube video below. And since whenever I put a song in a video I get emailed asking what it is, the track is 'Miss You' by Feeder. So now you know.

On to the sound, and this is where it becomes more difficult to describe, but these speakers sound really impressive. At the exhibition hall at the i33 LAN, they could be heard over any other exhibitor stand if I felt like cranking the volume up, including the rather loud setup from Electronic Art's adjacent stand as punters tried out 'Rock Band'. Put them in a room though and they really shine - I set them up with a PC in our shop front (approx 300sq feet room) and they did a fantastic job of really filling the room. We've already got a few sets of high-end speakers on show in the store, including the What Hi-Fi award winning Acoustic Energy Aego's and Altec Lansing MX5021 (one of my personal favourites), and really, the Mako speakers blitz them both for creating an impressive soundstage, no matter where you listen from.

Play anything on them and they'll keep a tight sound with impressive detail, up to very high volumes (as loud as you're ever likely to need in the home) - I exercised them with a variety of tracks from numerous genres and found myself thinking ' I wonder what this will sound like on the Makos...' , there's nothing quite like a great set of speakers to bring your music collection to life again. Folk, Electronica, Indie, Metal and the Sugababes all sounded terrific. Forgive me for writing Sugababes as a genre, but I'm not usually 'into' pop music. But I do make an exception for them.

Gaming was fantastic as well - Call of Duty 4 with an X-Fi sound card and the volume cranked right up brought a whole new realm of excitement to the game. Sure, headphones can sound great, but they're a bit closed - actually hearing the gun shots (and feeling them) with the speakers turned up loud made the experience a lot more involving.

All in all, I was really impressed with these speakers - they're not cheap (recommended retail price is £300 although they'll likely be a little bit cheaper when they become available) - but the sound quality and looks get a very positive thumbs up. The only other point is the control pod - you'll either love it for it's gadget appeal or find it frustrating. If you're likely to fall into the latter - make sure your keyboard has a multimedia volume control function and just leave the Mako speakers turned up to high volume. That way you get to see the red bit on the volume dial. :)

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