Samson MediaOne 10S Review – A Cube Full Of Depth

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Samson might not be the best brand when it comes to studio monitoring speakers, but they do have a few aces up their sleeves. Their MediaOne 10S is by far one of the most capable studio subwoofers well under $200. Let's take a closer look and see what it offers.

Design

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is about as true as it gets in case of Samson MediaOne 10S. For all intents and purposes, it is a simple MDF box. The front, where the speaker is located, you will find a matte woven mesh that covers the entire panel. The back side contains a small control cluster and that is about it. Samson went with a down firing bass reflex port, which can be a good solution depending on how you plan to use the subwoofer.

In terms of aesthetics, Samson MediaOne 10S sources appeal from simplicity. A good thing about that approach is the fact that you don't have to worry about it standing out from the rest of the equipment in your studio. This is about as neutral as it gets and it works for the most part.

Features

When it comes to features, Samson did a really good job at offering all the essentials. For starters, we have a 10″ copolymer woofer that's tucked in a butyl surround. What this translates to is a very responsive driver performance. The down firing port is well tuned and fairly large. Samson's choice of a built in amplifier comes in form of a 100 Watt unit. In other words, you are guaranteed to get plenty of headroom no matter how large or small your studio is.

Looking at the back panel, we see a great selection of controls and I/O options. Aside from the On/Off switch and Volume knob, you have a Low Pass filter that goes from 80Hz to 160Hz. Then there's your polarity switch and the auto sleep select switch. Inputs and outputs come in form of L/R RCA cluster, as well as speaker level posts.

Performance

Once everything is plugged in and you press that power switch, you will notice just how powerful this subwoofer is. There's is plenty of transparency, even though Samson MediaOne 10S packs a 10″ cone in a pretty roomy cabinet. The down firing bass reflex port works well in most conditions, however, this is definitely not a sub you want to have on a desktop. Not only is it too large for that, but have that port pumping air into your desktop isn't really something you want to deal with.

The built in low pass filter definitely helps to wrangle the output and make it more appropriate for various types of studio configurations. However, it might take a bit more effort to use Samson MediaOne 10S in a smaller studio. With all that said, Samson MediaOne 10S undoubtedly offers one of the best price-to-performance ratios you can find.

Conclusion

Samson MediaOne 10S is a chunky, boxy but ultimately powerful subwoofer that offers plenty of power and a flat enough response. It comes at a price that is hard to ignore, making it one of the best deals out there at the moment. Overall, it is a very decent choice.

For more info about the Samson MediaOne 10S, click here.
For more studio subwoofers you might like, click here.