Rating: 7/10
Described by my wife rather succinctly as looking like 'a big pencil case', the MM28 speakers are not what you might be expecting. Usually, powered speakers all look vaguely similar - two pods or rectangles, with some kind of grille for the sound to be projected from (whilst protecting) the speaker contained within. Not so the MM28 from Logitech.
It is one unit, measuring a mere 2.5cm in depth, with a clear plastic, protective lid that bends around into a nifty stand. There is a (very short) connecting cable, terminating in a 3.5mm stereo jack plug. If you require portable sound, then you can eschew the supplied mains adaptor and slap in four AA batteries - providing upto 45 hours of playing time. When you first look at it, your mind convinces you that sound simply can't come out of something that looks like that. Until you hook it up, that is.
The sound quality, unbelievably, is really rather good - although the MM28 can't take too much input volume before distortion sets in. So a few minutes was spent tweaking and fine-tuning my player's graphic equaliser, 'matching' the player to the speakers. When the audio source was music, the bass was rich and full, whilst the treble response was lifelike and clear. Switching over to an audio book, the reading voice could be heard perfectly, despite the low bit rate of the MP3 file.
My only serious gripe with the MM28, other than the aforementioned distortion, was a tendency to vibrate any nearby object (coins, ashtray, etc) at higher volumes. Thus I feel the MM28 would be more suitable for those who need portable private listening, rather than a surrogate boombox. Ultimately, the price is right for a stylish, yet aurally pleasing, powered speaker solution.
For more information, visit Micromart.co.uk