Product: Samson Meteor M2 Multimedia Speaker System
Provided By: Samson
Price: ~$149.99 Online at time of publication

 

Introduction:

Samson is not new to the audio game and they've been at it long enough to know how to make good quality products. We've looked at a couple of their microphones in the past and today we are taking a look at their Meteor M2 Multimedia speakers and taking them for a spin around the office. The Meteor M2 is a two-channel speaker system that is geared for your desktop. While that doesn't sound all that exciting at first, you really need to keep on reading and check out the images of these classy speakers. 

 

The Meteor M2 is a wired-only setup and there is not subwoofer for chest-pounding bass. What there is however, is a couple of zinc die cast speakers that look great and sound about as good as they look. While there is no extra subwoofer, each unit has a rear-ported passive radiator that offers a really nice bass response and balances quite well - but I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

First Look:

When I first saw the press release for these new speakers, I was immediately intrigued. I love the style of the unit as it reminds me of old microphones from the black and white TV era. They are classy, and with the Samson name, I figured they'd be pretty decent as well. What I wasn't expecting is speakers that are heavy enough that they could be used as a weapon in a modern game of Clue. (Professor Plum in the laboratory with a Meteor M2).

Samson expects these speakers to impress without a bunch of extra shiny things to distract you. In the box we found the speakers as well as a power cord, 1/8-inch audio cable and a quick install guide. As these are wired speakers, the installation is pretty simple; plug in the cables and power them on. It worked!

 

The speakers are plain and classy. They front of these zinc beauties is nicely finished and has a metal mesh covering the driver inside. Other than the logo and a single power-indicator LED on the right speaker, there is nothing that really stands out on the front. The rear of the speakers is pretty basic as well. The right speaker has a single RCA-style jack that is used to connect the left speaker. There is a power jack and of course the 1/8-inch audio jack. What you will see on the back is the mesh for the passive radiator that generates the bass on these units.

 

The volume controls and power button are located on the right channel on the side. They have a nice soft rubber feel and are natural in their layout. With the power button on the top, followed by volume up and then volume down, you don't even have to see what you're doing to use the controls. It's a nice layout on a nice looking speaker.

 

On the next page we'll take a quick look at features and specifications of these speakers before we talk about how they perform as we test them out.

 

Features and Overview:

The information below has been pulled from the Samson product page and posted here for your convenience. Please take a look below and if you need more information, head over to the Samson's site. They have all the information there - we've just pulled a few interesting bits for our review.

 

 

 

 

• Compact multimedia speaker system
• Sold as a stereo pair (one active speaker, one passive speaker)
• 2.5" drivers
• Additional rear-ported passive radiators produce full-range audio
• Crystal clear high-end performance
• Exceptional bass response
• Side panel Power (I/O) button and Volume control
• Includes speaker (integrated on passive speaker) and 1/8" Aux cables
• Rugged zinc die cast construction
• Sleek, elegant finish

 

On the next page we'll take a listen to these speakers and share our thoughts.

Listening to the Meteor M2:

I love doing audio reviews as part of the 'testing' process becomes doing what I love - enjoying music, watching moves and playing games. While I don't usually get much chance to do this, I make sure I test out the products thoroughly and try out a lot of different genres of music as well as several different movies and diverse range of games.

It's about this time that I need to remind you that audio is very subjective. What sounds great to one person may not sound good at all to another. While I'm not an audiophile by all means, I do have a decent ear for music (I think) and will judge these speakers for my taste. Your taste in audio may be completely different. That being said, let's hop to it.

 

Music & Movies:

The first thing I did when I plugged these in was to fire up a playlist on Google Music. Samson claims that these will let you hear it "The Way Music Should Sound", so we'll start there. My playlist ranges from some classic Collective Soul, Goo Goo Dolls, Def Leppard, Counting Crows, Lifehouse, Audioslave and yes even a little bit of Aerosmith. On the more modern front, I enjoy Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, Sam Smith, Disciple, Train and Switchfoot. I can be convinced to listen to Keith Urban, Hedley and Lecrae as well. Overall, I gave these speakers a good workout through a lot of different music. Here's how they breakdown.

Right off the bat I was surprised. I really didn't expect the Meteor M2 to have the clarity and volume that they managed to produce. For the most part I would leave the volume control on the speakers at maximum and change the volume on my media player or computer. The vocals and highs were crystal clear - if a little sharp, and the mid-range was right on par. They balanced quite well with each other and despite the fact that the speakers are small, and housed in a metal box, Samson manages to balance quite well without making the music sound "tinny" or "thin". 

The bass response was really well balanced for such a small speaker. The passive radiators will not thump your mind-numbing bass tracks by all means, but that's not always a bad thing. Real audio junkies know that speaker and headphone companies often jack up the bass in order to appeal to the teen and hip-hop crowd with all that trance-inducing beat. Most of the time speakers that are accurately reproducing the sound are considered to be lacking bass by the average listener.

Even with that in mind, I feel that the bass push on the Meteor M2 is still a little lacking. With the passive radiators on this set, the louder you turn the volume, the better the bass does, but it always seems a little weak and never is able to catch up to the vibrant highs and mids put out by these little units.

 

Games:

While the target market for the Samson Meteor M2 is for professionals in a desktop environment for audio and video content, many people enjoy playing games and won't want to swap out their speakers for the times when they game. The Meteor M2 actually do really well in the gaming environment. The crisp, clear sound lends itself well to first person shooters as the audio is very clean. Explosions have just the right amount of punch while not smothering up the sound of enemies trying to sneak up on you. 

For League of Legends, DOTA 2 and Smite fans, the M2 speakers are just fantastic. They excel at music and the game doesn't have a ton of other environmental sounds so it balances very nicely to make it a great experience. When it comes to gaming and two-channel audio, the Meteor M2 set is a winner on every account.

 

Conclusion:

The Samson Meteor M2 speakers surprised me at almost every turn. While I expected them to look nice, they looked even better than I imagined. The zinc die cast construction and finish of these units is fantastic. They heavy and won't easily slide around on your desk with the soft pad underneath ensuring that they stay in place.

When I plugged them in, I was even more impressed with the initial quality and volume of sound that they produce. These are about as big as my "Zoltrix" speakers that came with my first Windows PC and they have as much sound as my first 5.1 setup in terms of volume. As for quality, they absolutely dominate other speakers of this size and should be considered if you want a great set of speakers and don't have a lot of desktop real-estate. They combine good looks with overall great sound and will surprise anyone that checks them out as they produce crystal clean sound at all volume levels.

I pushed these speakers pretty hard and couldn't get them to distort - even at high volume levels. While the bass feels a bit weak to me, the passive radiators do better the harder you push them and at high volume levels, these speakers are at their best.

At the end of the day, I'm really sad that I have to send these back to Samson. While my current PC setup includes Logitech Z-5500 sub and a pair of Polk Audio bookshelf speakers, the Samson Meteor M2 speakers deliver good sound with a much smaller footprint. Every person wishes they have more desktop space available and the Meteor M2 will give you that - without sacrificing audio quality.

 

Pros:

• Amazing design
• Solid metal body
• Clean, crisp sound
• Can be used for self-defense (they are heavy!)
• No distortion

 

Cons:

• Bass is a little weak - especially at lower volumes

 

At $149, these are not the cheapest 2.0 speakers you'll buy for your desktop, but they very well might be the last speakers you'll buy. They are solid, sound very good and look even better.

I'd like to thank Samson for sending these our way for a review. If you have any questions, comments or general feedback, please post it in the forum at the link below.