Introduction

They’re baaaaack! A long time ago (1973 to be precise) Walter Becker of Steely Dan asked Ken Kreisel to design a reference subwoofer suitable for mixing their Pretzel Logic album. For more than three decades, Miller & Kreisel was the name in speakers for music and motion picture studios. M & K also developed a tremendously loyal following in consumer audio, the MK 150 series speakers in particular creating fanatical devotion among owners.

Alas, in 2007 Miller & Kreisel shut down its operations after 34 years. Later that year, one of its largest distributors purchased M & K’s intellectual property, but then things went quiet again. Fast forward to the October 2008 AES convention in San Francisco, where the M & K booth was a welcome addition, back in business. Chris Minto, U.S. sales manager for the revived company (now called MK Sound), emphasized that while there were new products in development (including an updated 150 series), for its re-launch the company was adopting an if-it-ain’t-broke, don’t-fix-it mode. So while I wasn’t able to get my hands on the new 150 speakers (yet!), MK Sound was willing to provide a set of their M Series for review. The M Series are not technically new speakers, but they previously were only available to the pro market, where they are used in applications such as monitoring DVD mixes. So I was very interested in getting a set in my own home theater.