Suppliers Hung Up On Wall-Hanging Speakers

NEW YORK— Add Phoenix Gold, M&K and Monitor Audio to the rapidly expanding list of suppliers with speakers designed to hang on the wall next to plasma and LCD TVs.

M&K's MP-150 is the first in the company's plasma series of speakers. Another model is due around next January. The narrow-profile speaker is only a tad more than 5-inches-deep and is said to deliver performance "essentially identical" to the company's flagship S-150THX box speaker.

It features three 1-inch fabric-dome tweeters and two 5.25-inch woofers. It is available in black, white or silver/titanium finishes and features wide horizontal dispersion and "wide but controlled" vertical directivity to minimize floor and ceiling reflections. It's tambour-matched to M&K satellites and powered subs and ships around January at a suggested $999 each.

For its part, Phoenix Gold introduced a three-speaker system consisting of left-right speakers and center channel at a combined $399, or $199 each. The TS3241's three extruded-aluminum enclosures each feature 1-inch silk-dome tweeter and two 4.24-inch midwoofers operating from 90Hz to 20kHz, +/13dB. Power handling is 150 watts.

Through Pickering, Ontario distributor Kevro Int., Monitor Audio introduced its Radius 90 and Radius 180 speakers. Both are the brand's first speakers designed for mounting next to flat-panel TVs. Both come in choice of Rosemah-veneer, gloss-black and silver finishes and with interchangeable black and silver grilles. Both speakers are supplied with pivoting, shallow-profile metal wall brackets.

The Radius 180 can be mounted vertically or horizontally, and its depth is only 3.75 inches. The suggested retail is $229 each. It's designed to be used as a full-range speaker but can be mated with the $549-suggested Radius 360 powered sub. The Radius 90, whose 3dB downpoint is 75Hz, is recommended for use with the 360 sub. It's 7.5-inches-tall.