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 August 15, 2006 Inexpensive Active: Logitech's mm28 Portable Speaker System
Despite the fact that I have experience with a lot of gear -- some costing as much as an entry-level car -- nothing in the last few years has created the stir around my house of Logitech’s mm28 speaker system. Once I had it out of the plastic, my wife looked it up and down and seemed smitten. Her mother, who was visiting at the time, simply stared in delight. That was the last I saw of it that day. They took it, and the next day I found it up our son’s room on a shelf connected to a Panasonic portable CD player. My wife and mother-in-law seemed thrilled; I was astonished that such a low-priced product could have such an effect. It retails for just $59.99 USD, which is peanuts compared to what the rest of the equipment here costs. So what makes this little speaker system so appealing other than its price? First, it's a stereo speaker system in a single cabinet, which makes it much easier to place than a pair of speakers and their cabling. Second, it's rather small -- about 11 1/2" wide, 4 1/2" tall, and is just over 1" deep -- and weighs hardly anything at all. You could carry it around all day with one hand. It’s also nicely styled and employs some clever features. For example, there’s the clear plastic plate that, when the speaker arrives in its box, is snapped over the driver for protection. It opens up, though, to form a stand.
The mm28 can be plugged into the wall or run from batteries, so it's portable as well. Logitech claims 45 hours of playing time using AAs. For those on the go, the long battery life will be welcome; for around the house, I like the fact that I can simply plug it in and not have to worry about batteries dying. The mm28 uses NXT flat-panel speaker technology, something that’s quite advanced and has been kicking around the audio world for a few years. However, I’ve only rarely seen the technology materialize into a really useful speaker system. The mm28 qualifies as one of those rare cases. How NXT panel technology works is too complex to go into any great detail here. I'd need to write a full article to convey what’s going on. Suffice it to say that it works reasonably well for producing good-quality sound from a flat panel that requires little space behind. In other words, it’s ideal for innovative loudspeaker applications like this one. In term of sound, one of the nifty things about NXT technology is that has tremendous dispersion, which results in larger-than-the-panel sound -- exactly what you want from a small speaker system. The small, thin, light mm28 doesn’t sound small or thin or light at all. It’s surprisingly rich- and full-sounding, and it still has good clarity and detail. The mm28 stomps the two plastic-shelled Dell A215 desktop speakers that I use with my computer system upstairs, and it kills the slick-looking Dell AS501 Sound Bar that snaps under the LCD panel of my computer system downstairs. Both Dell systems sound small and thin. On the other hand, the mm28 sounds surprisingly clear through the midrange, making voice-dominated music an absolute joy to listen to, and it’s quite refined and detailed, which is high praise given that I’m used to speakers costing anywhere from a few times to hundreds of times the mm28's price. Bass is, well, so-so. There’s no real bass depth to speak of -- there isn’t with the A215 or AS501 speaker systems either; you need a small subwoofer to get that. However, there’s richness and fullness to the sound that is quite enchanting and that my Dell speakers simply lack. Perhaps that’s why Dell now offers the mm28 for sale on its website in addition to its own models. The mm28 is quite good and no doubt there’s a demand for it. But, while I have nothing but high praise for the size, styling, and sound of the mm28 for the price, I do have to lay into it a little. Just a little. No, I’m not going to knock the "imaging" or anything like that -- none of the small computer and portable speakers exhibit such a trait -- but rather how loud it can play. In just two words: not very. The mm28 plays kind of like a table-top radio. It's perfect for low levels or background listening -- perhaps a little beyond that. But don’t pretend it's going to double for your stereo system. It will crackle and distort if you push the volume up too far. The mm28 is perfect beside my computer, where I sit quite close, or in the kitchen or kid’s room where it simply plays music while other stuff is going on. In these settings, the mm28 provides clear, clean, surprisingly full-sounding music in a stylish, convenient, and innovative package, making it the perfect add-on for computer systems or portable audio devices. And, yeah, it costs hardly anything. The mm28 is a bona fide hit in the Schneider household. It's staying here, and not heading back out that revolving door. ...Doug Schneider To learn more about Logitech’s mm28 speaker system, visit www.logitech.com.
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As a high-falutin’
audio reviewer, I have access to equipment that many audiophiles dream of. Sometimes audio
gear comes through the front door of my house so often that I think I should put in an
industrial-strength revolving door. 
The mm28 also has its own
built-in amplifier, so it’s an active loudspeaker system, not unlike the Aurum
Acoustics, NHT and Energy Pro speakers that wrote about in 