Customer Reviews

Mirage NANOSAT 5.1 Channel Home Theater Speaker System - (NANOSATSYS) - (34532327)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It looks like I will be the first to review Mirage's Nanosat System here. I have owned them for only a few days and don't consider them as being 100% installed yet so I will likely edit this more than once to give them full justice. I'll start by saying I had no intention of buying these. They were a bit out of my budget and I thought they would look a little obtrusive. I was visiting a local electronics store to look at Onkyo speakers and the salesperson convinced me to listen to Mirage. I was amazed! I decided to buy them but the store wouldn't budge from $799. I wanted to check if that was a good price and found them at Amazon through Crutchfield for $599 with free shipping and no tax ... too much of a differnce to "buy local". When they arrived I was disappointed that 2 of the 5 satellite speakers had their grills crushed in and the power cord was thrown in so it could have easily punctured the exposed titanium subwoofer speaker. I'm not sure if that is Mirage's fault or not because the Onkyo receiver I bought from Crutchfield also looked like a repack. Other than that, which I am still waiting to resolve with Crutchfield, the construction quality of these speakers is absolutely first-class and the sound is truly impressive. I am going from a 6' tall set of Mageplaner speakers with 2 JBL subwoofer towers to my first satellite-type system and not only am I impressed with the obvious home-theater applications of this system but how effortlessly it handles everything from subtle nuances in classical music to hard-driving crunk to delicate jazz. There are some vocals I've listened to that would bring tears to the eyes of a sailor. I have them mounted higher than normal but inverted as the manufacturer suggests. The imaging is precise like you want with home-theater yet the soundfield is as natural as a live performance when you are listening to music. The subwoofer is tight and will satisfy most bass-greedy listeners without sounding boomy or unnatural. I have the speakers connected to the Onkyo 674 receiver which I will review separately and find the two to be superbly matched. As for my concerns about the speakers being obtrusive, now that I have them mounted I think they look very classy. At $599 I doubt you will find a better-built speaker or one that can perform so impressively on such a wide variety of musical material.

UPDATE:

It took me a long time to come back and edit this, more than 6 months. Here's what I have to say now. First off, though the spreakers were bought through Amazon, Crutchfield was excellent about sending me two new speaker grills to replace the dinged ones. I have lived with the speakers through all kinds of music and movies and continue to love them. I have moved them around slightly and may do a little more of that but they are so versatile there is no hard and fast rule for placement. I am using a Bose for the center speaker and agree with some of the other reviewers that a more focused center channel as part of the package would be better. What truly amazes me is that I can be in my upstairs office listening to music and it still sounds full-range and listenable. Very few speakers could get away with that. My vote still goes for these speakers being the best value for the price and I very much recommend them.

Let's get the cons out of the way first: I wish the system had a more dedicated center speaker. While I do not have any problems understanding speach in DVDs or similar center-channel things (as others have commented on), I have some problems placing the speaker due to it's verticality. But, it is pretty small, so it's a very minor setback.
Overall these speakers are AMAZING. Super small, I have my front speakers on the available subtle stands, and the rear speakers mounted upside-down towards the ceiling. The versatility of the speakers is endless due to the size and omni-polar direction - the sound gets reflected in an almost 360 degree angle. Anywhere in the room the sound is full and clear. The bass unit, while also somewhat small compared to others, is very powerful and crisp. There is a slight gap between the highs & lows due to the size of the sattelite speakers, but not too big of a deal.
Great sound so far with DVDs, rock, pop, hip-hop & classical music.
I am very happy with this purchase!
(also, they look really cool and I am sure to get a remark from anyone visiting... :) )

I've had my Nanosat system for several months now, and I think I've finally spent enough time with them to write a review that does justice to this system.

Overall I would say that these speakers are a good value. They look very cool, are built like tanks, and with the sub properly located, they deliver a top notch movie and music experience. The sub has excellent, powerful bass. (people with a high pile carpet should possibly put a pad or something under the sub because the down firing speaker moves so much it will probably hit the carpet on louder bass notes) The satellites have crystal clear and highly detailed highs. I've been listeneing to a lot of old favorites, and it's almost like I'm hearing them for the first time again. I've heard nuances that I'd never noticed in the hundreds of times I've listened to them before. As far as sound quality is concerned, the limiting factor seems to be the recording quality of the movie or cd... For the first time I can actually hear a difference between DTS and Dolby Digital.

I have the Nanosat 5 system plus 2 extra nanosat speakers setup in a small (approx 12x14) room in a 7.1 configuration. The speakers are connected to a Yamaha RX-V659 7.1 receiver which I bought at the same time as the speakers, so I had no prior experience with the sound quality of the receiver with any other speakers. All of this is connected -initially with 7.1 analogue and then finally digital fiber optics - to my PC which has a Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Gamer soundcard.

When I decided to get these speakers, I had read tons of reviews online. Most of what they said has proved true, so I'll try not to rehash what others have said. There are a few things you may also have read about these speakers that I would like to dispell. I had heard about the 'cloud of sound' these speakers supposedly have that makes the room sound somehow bigger... Maybe I just don't have enough experience with higher end surround sound to recognize what they're talking about, but I don't hear it. They do, however, have the amazingly seamless soundfield that the speakers 'dissapear' into that people have raved about. It's something that has to be experienced to believed. Some people had written that this 'cloud of sound' made the pinpoint possitioning of sounds a little less distinct. Maybe... but to me everything sounds convincingly located and very detailed. Maybe it's just not as evident in 7.1 vs. 5.1.

A few reviews said something concerning volume with the center channel speaker. The center channel volume is fine. I've never had a problem hearing dialogue. My center is mounted a bit lower than all the others (it sits on a pedestal behind my monitor about 6" above head height while all the other speakers are mounted on the wall about 16" from the ceiling facing down), but I don't really think that makes a big difference.

Another thing that I'd read was that these speakers -need- the sub to sound good because the speakers don't have much bass. That is somewhat true. Bass without the sub is undeniably weak, but not aweful. I have a full 88 key keyboard hooked to my pc, and without the sub the speakers can cover the full piano range no problem. The real problem is this: sounds below a certain frequency may be more or less non-directional, but this sub covers much higher pitches than that. It's a fact that makes subwoofer placement very, very important. It ruins the surround effect when everything lower than a certain pitch seems to be coming from the corner of the room where the sub is, especially when that pitch is so high relatively speaking. This is definitely this system's weakest point, and keeps me from giving it a full 5 stars. I found that placing the sub behind something to break up/ disperse the sound a little helps a great deal, but the way I've solved this problem is by putting the sub under my desk basically right in front of me facing straight at me, but I realize that isn't an option available to everyone.

I have had a little trouble with the sub electronically. The sub would pop every time I touched the volume knob when I first got it, and then one day I started noticing this low grating noise coming from the sub. The problem turned out to be dirty contact points on the volume knob. I solved it by turning the sub off and turning the know back and forth a bunch to wear off any crud built up on the contacts. I haven't had a problem with it since, and it doesn't pop when you mess with the volume knob any more.

Volume on this system seems adequate for a small room, but I wouldn't put it in anything much bigger than what I have. It may be that the receiver -and not the speakers- can't handle the volume, but it certainly doesn't seem like my setup could handle much more.

If you buy these, the one thing you absolutely, positively need to know about these speakers is that they need some break in time...especially the sub. When I first got this system, I was a little dissapointed. Sure it was better than the Creative Inspire 6.1 speakers I had, but was the improvement worth several hundred more? After about 2-3 weeks things began to smooth out. The improvement was remarkable.

For anyone who isn't a hardcore audiophile, these speakers are the perfect addition to your home theater system. The sound stage is absolutely enormous and the sound reproduction quality is top notch. For movies, gaming, parties and your everyday listening, having a big sound stage is essential.

The vast majority of speakers are directional, which means you have to be sitting within a fairly small area to get the proper stereo reproduction. In many cases, if you listen to a typical 5.1 speaker setup, you can point to the speaker location. That is a bad thing and breaks the illusion of a realistic sound stage.

Because of the omni-directional nature of the sound coming from these little speakers, you feel like you are flooded with sound. But somehow, instead of feeling diffuse and messy, it feels like you can pinpoint every sound perfectly.

It's easy to spend far more on speakers, but it'll just be a waste of money. Buy these speakers and spend the money you save on buying a bigger television or a better quality receiver.

I bought these speakers a year ago, and I'm continually amazed. These are some great speakers. If you're not familiar with Mirage and their Omnisat / Nanosat series, there's a design feature that sets them apart from most other "surround system in a box" speaker packages: they have a unique radiating system, with a drive mounted upwards towards a reflector. The resulting sound field is more "spread out" than other conventional speakers, and so the sound image becomes more transparent. If you set them up well, and turn on an audio source with decent imaging, you'll be amazed at how hard it is to localize where the speakers are. Sound imaging is astoundingly accurate.

Then there's the sound quality. Some people don't much care for the subwoofer and its set crossover, but I don't mind. Just set the crossover point on your amp (the manual says to 120Hz), and you're good to go. The sub itself is decently powerful, but not muddled. The speakers themselves produce great highs and decent mids. They can be a little bright sometimes, but that's a common problem with small speakers thanks to a lack of any significant enclosure. If I turn the volume up, they get plenty loud and never distort.

Definitely one of the best speaker deals out there...I'd highly recommend them for anyone with an apartment or small livingroom setup that needs unobtrusive speakers and doesn't want to just settle for the run-of-the-mill consumer crap.

I have an Onkyo TSR605 receiver and I hooked up the Bose 10 speakers versus the Mirage Nanostat and the Mirage satellites are much, much clearer; also my old Onkyo woofer that came with my previous Onkyo Home Theater System produces much cleaner bass than the Bose (I started to get a headache with the Bose subwoofer because it was almost always booming when it shouldn't be and it was a muddled bass instead of a clean bass). I tested both with a movie (The Incredibles) and a concert DVD (Sarah Brightman). The Mirage Nanostat is about $500 without a woofer and the Bose 10 is $1000 but even if they were the same price, the Mirage is much clearer and won't give you a headache like Bose's subwoofer. For those who complain that the Mirage Nanostat center channel would be better if it pointed at you instead of the ceiling, I turned it so the speaker faced me to get a slightly louder sound or you could turn up the center channel and lower the rest of the other speakers but if this isn't good enough, I also hooked up the Bose center speaker and it acoustically matched the Mirage Nanostat speakers so you could always buy the Bose center speaker separately for $200. The Bose 10 speakers are going back to Best Buy tomorrow.

These speakers sound great, especially when you factor in their size and price. My only complaint with them is that they really should have come up with a different speaker for the center channel. The satellite speakers work great for surround, but do not do the job when used as a center speaker, especially when mounted as directed which is pointing straight up. I remounted my center channel speaker so that it is pointing straight at the couch. This has helped a lot with understanding what people are saying, but when I get the time and money, I'm going to buy a proper center channel speaker. Overall, I am very happy with these speakers.

I needed a speaker system for my living room. The requirement was to get the best sounding small speakers for a reasonable price, and maximum sound stage.

This particular system is omnidirectional which means that it will create the largest possible "sweet spot" and will completely fill a room <= 300 ft (i.e. my living room).

I've heard the small 5.1 system by Klipsch (Mirage parent company) (synergy quintet III), B&W (M1s), Polk (RM705), and Energy (Mirage sister company) (classic take 5):

Polk RM705: A good system, but not as good as the others. IMHO these speakers don't seem to give as much detail as the other brands.

Klipsch Synergy: I compared this system against the Polk, and it seemed to do better in terms of detail. However, they will usually cost more than the Polks.

B&W M1s: These sound great, but not better than the Klipsch IMHO. They are comparable to the Klipsch, but you will have to pay more for them (many may disagree with me here, but I'm just talking about what my ears perceived). For the price I would have expected these to at least produce a larger sound stage, frequency range, and clarity than the Klipsch. You do get a set of speakers from a name company though (just not superior sound in their class according to my ears).

Energy Take 5: The cheapest of the lot and sound that arguably is better than all of the above. I've heard these speakers in a show room, and both my wife's and my jaw fell. Incredible sound for a system just $300 on sale (including the matching sub!). However, even when the sound stage is good, the sweet spot is still small.

The issue is that my living room is arranged so that the center sofa gets the sweet spot, but the seats at the side don't. Solution:

Mirage nanosats: These sound as good as the Energy Take 5 in my opinion, but the sweet spot is gone. I have sat outside of the left front speaker and sound is phenomenal! These speakers will be about $100 more than the Energy's, but you get an obviously larger sound stage, not possible with any other speaker at comparable size, price and class. And they will play loud enough with minimal distortion in a medium room, believe me. Another bonus is that they are very forgiving in terms of placement (I have all front speakers above the TV and they still sound great! - note this is NOT possible with any of the above speakers as you will notice the sound comes clearly from above the TV).

I've seen reviews about the center speaker not having enough power being that all satellites (including the center) are the same. I disagree, I feel the sound from the center channel very clear. Other center speakers (including the ones from Mirage) may boost the mid frequencies to make speech more clear. There is a trade off, the sound will not blend as well as it moves to the other channels in surround sound effects. I feel that if the sound was encoded in a way, then I prefer enjoying it undisturbed. If I need more power on the mid frequencies for speech, I can always have my receiver do this for me instead of my speakers.

Furthermore, it is relatively easy to purchase extra sats for a 7.1 system. I do not feel the need to do so, but I have seen extra sats for as low as $50 in Vanns! As reference, I bought my system for $450 on a sale.

Set up this particular package with an Onkyo TX-SR706 AV receiver.

Home theater set up is as follows: Sony KDS-60A3000 HDTV set, XBox 360, Comcast HD DVR & Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-Ray player.

I included a BIC America DV-62CLRS 6-Inch 2-Way Center Channel Speaker, found on here because of the excellent reviews.

I thought that while these would sound great as surrounds, the BIC is a powerhouse when it came to delivering dialouge and clarity. I installed all with quality 10 guage speaker wire and banana plugs.

I am blown away, after running the Audyssey setup and tweaking crossover and phase shifts from audiophile reviews on other sites.

This system is unbelievable. Everything you have heard about Mirage being nondirectional, yet precise and the same time sounding live and filling the room is so true.

All the movies I have thrown at it so far have left me sitting on the edge of my seat being engrossed in stuff I failed to hear before with such realism.

Now note I used an exceptional center channel speaker as well factor that OneCall (whom I purchased from) includes the S8 subwoofer which is tighter, more powerful deeper, more controlled subwoofer than the regular 75 watt subwoofer than normally comes with this package. In fact i intentionally chose OneCall package over competitors because the S8 subwoofer was included.

I recommend without any reservation. You can't go wrong with Mirage.

Btw I found some speaker stands on Ebay which were gorgeous and seemed to have a lot of mounting options. I took a chance and man am I happy, with some fiddling and frustration I think they compliment the Nanosats with that uncommon elegant modern look.

These are great speakers for this price range! At first glance, I had no intention of buying these. I was against the small size and didn't think they could get loud enough. This installation was for my parents. I own Klipsch floor standing speakers, but my parents didn't want to spend that kind of cash for their home theater. After reading some reviews and online forums, these speakers were held in high regard. For the price, of course.

After installation, I was pleasantly surprised. The speakers can get fairly loud in volume, although they do lack a bit of mid-range sound. For those who pump up the bass, this may not be the set for you. The powered subwoofer included with this set is not suitable for large rooms or "rumbling" bass. The subwoofer speaker isn't a large unit with a lot of power. Thus, it is satisfactory for "punchy" bass, but not for any extended bass in a large room.

If you are an "audiophile" looking for speakers for this price, you may have to realize that you are not going to find anything to your satisfaction. You'll have to pony up a LOT more cash for superb "reference" level speakers. For the general user, the Mirage Nanosat speakers are great. The performance is beyond other speakers of this price.