Edifier MP300 Plus speaker system

The Edifier MP300 Plus is a small yet surprisingly powerful portable speaker system. It comes with two tiny satellite speakers and a 9-Watt tubular subwoofer that's just 28cm long. Despite their diminutive size, they have enough power to easily fill an apartment's lounge room with superb audio.

The Edifier MP300 Plus portable speakers are an ideal companion to an MP3 player, a home PC or even a work computer. The system has an understated design; the subwoofer has a brushed aluminium finish, and there is a metal weave grill over the two spherical satellite speakers.

Setting up the speakers is simple. On the back of the subwoofer is an audio-in port to connect the satellite speakers, then you simply connect the system to a line-out port on your PC, notebook or MP3 player. The speakers have their own power supply, so once you switch them on you can begin marvelling at their great audio quality.

We tested MP300 Plus with a varied selection of tracks, ranging from gritty rock to drum 'n' bass, and the speakers proved their worth by catering to different musical tastes with ease. One slight flaw of the MP300 Plus speakers' sound quality is the mid-range. It's not very prominent and the sound tends to be a dominated by a lot of high frequencies.

The bass is excellent; the subwoofer handles high volumes with ease. There is virtually no distortion when the volume is turned up, as the bass doesn’t muffle the details of the music in the slightest.

As with any audio product, the main selling point is the sound quality and in this respect the Edifier MP300 Plus certainly delivers. Priced at $99, you certainly get bang for your buck; they also have a solid build quality and are rather pleasing to the eye.

One let-down with the MP300 Plus speakers is that they require AC power. Considering that the main function of the speakers is to connect to a notebook and that they have been dubbed 'portable', one would assume that Edifier could have made the speakers USB-powered.

In Edifier's defence, however, the subwoofer requires more power than can be delivered by USB alone — sound quality takes precedence over convenience in this instance. The speakers are portable purely in the sense that you can move them quickly from room to room. They even come with a carry case, so you can transport them safely.

With so many bulky, poorly designed portable speakers on the market that lack decent audio quality, the Edifier MP300 Plus is like a breath of fresh air. These speakers are affordable and of excellent quality, and their unobtrusive design makes them ideal for someone with limited desk space. Their light weight also makes them ideal for travel.

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