Background: I'm coming to these by way of two different sets of "computer speakers." First, the Logitech Z-5500 5.1 system and, more recently a "holdover" set of speakers the Logitech Z200. The former is iconic and well-respected in certain circles, the second is more like a $20 pair of throwaways. Perhaps more relevant is that I'm also coming to these by way of a few different sets of headphones: The Sennheiser momentums, Audio Technica ATH-M50, and Philips Fidelio L1. All of which I find great for different reasons.
First Impressions: I really didn't know what to expect with these. I bought them at 47 reviews, but they were all either 5 or 4-star reviews, so I took a chance. I wanted the JBL LSR305 but do not have the physical space where these were going (*sadface*). My first thought on the packaging was "wow these speakers are going to be smaller than I thought." As soon as I opened them, though, I realized that contents were just the two speakers and they were actually more like what I expected. Packaging was simple enough, two speakers, cables, and (thankfully) a couple of foam stands/"feet" to isolate them a bit. I was a bit worried about the "neon green" and, let's face it, the color is a bit tacky and juvenile, but as soon as I heard these speakers, I was over it.
Setup was simple enough, about 10 minutes total, and that was mainly because of where they were placed. If these were just set up on a flat desk, I'd wager no more than 5 minutes for the setup. I bought the Hosa CMP159 Stereo Breakout, 3.5mm to dual 1/4in. TRS cables and skipped the included cables. This was a good decision because its obviously a heavier gauge cable, which I like. These plugged right into the stereo out 3.5mm (green) plug on my soundcard. No hassles at all. Overall, a very simply install/setup. Just be sure everything's off when plugging everything together.
First Listening selections: I have a pretty large .flac (free lossless audio codec) collection of music, so I can appreciate listening to something other than your average 128kb mp3 file (as far as digital music goes). These speakers DO expose poor fidelity tracks. The first thing I turned to was some Buena Vista Social Club, a bit of Pearl Jam, some tracks from the Roots, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, a bit of Enya, and finally some classic Beastie Boys. I turned to movies and sampled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Baraka, Zombieland, and The Town.
Performance: My very first response at all was a smile. Take that for what it's worth. I will say that these speakers are really great, but you have to understand what you're buying. With a 4" midrange and .75" tweeter, these covered about 85% of my catalog with the juicy detail that both of my previous speaker systems were never intended to do. I like them a lot. Considering their frequency response, they aren't going to get you into the sub-bass frequencies, and I experienced that maybe more often than I wanted to when listening to bass-heavy tracks. For movies, I didn't notice it at all (which was great!). In movies, the bass was tight and punchy overall. I would consider these ideal for that purpose. I would also say that this would make them great for gaming as well. They really seem to be glorious little workboxes for the vast majority of the listening time. They produce more than enough sound for any reasonable application and if you think they don't, you either have damaged hearing or you're 15 years old and are working on it.
Incidentals: I bought these knowing exactly what I wanted and hoping these would fit the bill. I wanted a decent set of speakers for watching movies and occasionally listening to music in my home office. These are great for that. I'm a little bummed about the lack of sub-bass, but I can't fault the speakers for that because, again, they aren't rated for it in the first place. Besides, for me, I honestly I do more music listening through my headphones. I would rate them at 4.5 - stars, but they're getting the benefit of the doubt because in all advertised respects, they deserve it.
If circumstances were the same, I would buy these again without hesitation. If I had a bit more room in my office, I would probably try to pick up the JBL LSR305s (for $100 to $150 more) since they extend down to a claimed 43Hz (which I believe since I sampled them at Guitar Center).
Hope this helped.
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Mackie CR Series Multimedia Monitors review
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Customer Review: Be aware these are cr4x not cr4
Magnum & Emma Goncalves
From the manufacturer
Mackie Studio Monitor
CR monitors deliver a combination of high-quality components and professional build quality typically only found on more expensive studio monitors. But, they are affordable and ultra-compact. Switch from video editing to music listening in no time flat. Edit a video, then watch a video. You are a multi-tasker who appreciates great sound. CR helps you in all aspects of your multimedia creation and enjoyment.
Compare with similar items
This Item  Mackie CR4BT 4" Bluetooth-Ready Multimedia Monitor Pair (CR4BT) |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | — | $199.99 | $149.00 | $109.00 | -33% $99.99 List: $149.99 | $129.00 |
| Delivery | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
| speaker size | 4 inches | 4.5 inches | 4 inches | 3.5 inches | 3.5 inches | 3.5 inches |
| power source | AC | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric |
| connectivity tech | RCA | 1/4" TRS, RCA, Auxiliary, Bluetooth 5.0 | RCA | Auxiliary | 1/4" TRS, RCA, Auxiliary | Auxiliary, Bluetooth |
| speaker type | Woofer | Monitor | Monitor | Subwoofer, Woofer | Active Media Reference Monitors | Woofer |
| mounting type | Plug Mount | Shelf Mount | Tabletop | Tabletop | Desktop, Bookshelf | Tabletop Mount |
| weight | 12 pounds | 4.5 kilograms | 454 grams | 3.7 kilograms | 3.9 kilograms | 3 kilograms |
| control method | touch | touch | touch | touch | touch | — |
| model name | CR4 | Eris 4.5BT | — | — | Eris 3.5 | BX3BT |
| woofer diameter | 4 inches | 4.5 inches | — | 89 millimeters | 3.5 inches | — |
| subwoofer diameter | — | 8 inches | 4 inches | 3.5 inches | 3.5 inches | 3.5 inches |
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Reviews with images
Great for apartments, small rooms, mama's house, auntie's house for mixing and studio monitoring.
First let me say, if you have the cash JBL LSR 305 have the better sound overall, although they are around the $270-$290 range for a pair compared to this for $150.I bought these speaker for plenty reasons.1. Good for small rooms.I have some JBL LSR 308 monitors and they make the whole house dance with all the bass that penetrates the wall and floor regardless of the amount of acoustic foam i had surrounding. Plus the JBL LSR 308's are huge for a small room situation. Bass traps are too expensive for me after all the d**n acoustic foam i had bought. These monitors are ideal for someone in an apartment situation or parents house and don't want to wake up Aunt Vivian from sleep.2. PriceI thought about getting the CR3 , but i said "Hey, for $50 more and the good youtube reviews i've seen, i mind aswell get the CR4"3. They fit on desk with no need for speaker stand.Unlike my mega JBL LSR 308's from earlier, these studio monitors actually fit on my desk completely without hanging off the side.These are 6 and One-Eighth wide and 8 and Three-Fourths Tall.4. Price to Sound RatioYou won't find studio monitors this price that sound this good anywhere, but check out Edifier R1700BT Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers below because although not stated as studio monitors, some use them that way and may even prefer that sound over these.Edifier R1700BT Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers - Active Near-field Studio Monitors - Powered Speakers 2.0 Setup WoodenEnclosure - 4 inch Subwoofer - 66w RMSLast of all, these monitors also came with foam to put up underneath to minimize vibration, but i wouldn't bother with it because they aren't as dense as other isolation pads, but its better to use them rather than none at all. Another thing to consider is to cover walls with acoustic foam to prevent even more noise from escaping your thin bedroom or apartment walls.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2014
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2016
I bought these for PC gaming and music listening, so that’s what this review is about - I’m not an audio engineer. For reference, I am comparing the CR4s to my 2.1 Logitech Z-2300 and Z623 systems.
Because these are “reference” monitors, their out-of-the-box sound is very flat: highs, mids, and lows are all roughly the same volume, which I guess is ideal for audio editing. If you are used to a 2.1 system, you will immediately notice that the lows are too quiet for speakers of this size. A side-by-side comparison with my Logitechs left me disappointed - the mids and highs sounded great, but the lows just weren’t there at all. As a fan of various genres of electronic music this balance was not acceptable to me.
ENTER THE EQUALIZER.
To fix this I installed a copy of Equalizer APO (free, super easy to use, light on system resources) and made the following adjustments: Bumped up the low frequencies (63Hz, 100Hz) by 9 decibels, upper-mids (1kHz, 1.6kHz, 2.5kHz, 4kHz) by 3, and highs (6.3kHz, 10kHz, 16kHz) by 6, 9, and 6, respectively. Someone more knowledgeable than me could probably find a better sounding balance, but these settings seem like a good starting point.
Now these CR4 reference monitors are putting out almost as much bass as my old 2.1 systems. They still lack the super-low frequencies that a good sub can reach, but music is now satisfyingly punchy, while the detailed mids and crisp highs make games (BF4 in particular) sound really impressive. They can also get VERY loud without any noticeable distortion.
After the EQ tweaks, I would absolutely hands-down recommend these over any other similarly-priced desktop speaker system. They sound incredible if you’re willing to tinker with audio settings for ten minutes.
Fantastic desktop speakers (but EQ required)
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2016
TL;DR: The CR4s sound phenomenal after a bit of equalizer tweaking. Instructions below.Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2016
I bought these for PC gaming and music listening, so that’s what this review is about - I’m not an audio engineer. For reference, I am comparing the CR4s to my 2.1 Logitech Z-2300 and Z623 systems.
Because these are “reference” monitors, their out-of-the-box sound is very flat: highs, mids, and lows are all roughly the same volume, which I guess is ideal for audio editing. If you are used to a 2.1 system, you will immediately notice that the lows are too quiet for speakers of this size. A side-by-side comparison with my Logitechs left me disappointed - the mids and highs sounded great, but the lows just weren’t there at all. As a fan of various genres of electronic music this balance was not acceptable to me.
ENTER THE EQUALIZER.
To fix this I installed a copy of Equalizer APO (free, super easy to use, light on system resources) and made the following adjustments: Bumped up the low frequencies (63Hz, 100Hz) by 9 decibels, upper-mids (1kHz, 1.6kHz, 2.5kHz, 4kHz) by 3, and highs (6.3kHz, 10kHz, 16kHz) by 6, 9, and 6, respectively. Someone more knowledgeable than me could probably find a better sounding balance, but these settings seem like a good starting point.
Now these CR4 reference monitors are putting out almost as much bass as my old 2.1 systems. They still lack the super-low frequencies that a good sub can reach, but music is now satisfyingly punchy, while the detailed mids and crisp highs make games (BF4 in particular) sound really impressive. They can also get VERY loud without any noticeable distortion.
After the EQ tweaks, I would absolutely hands-down recommend these over any other similarly-priced desktop speaker system. They sound incredible if you’re willing to tinker with audio settings for ten minutes.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2023
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James Todd Hennessey
... work in my office and so far am completely satisfied. Quality build
Reviewed in Canada on February 23, 2016
