Recording - December 2015 - 36

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

MunroSonic is a British manufacturer of
studio monitors that takes its name from its
chief speaker designer Andy Munro and
from Sonic Distribution (James Young and
Philip Smith), who collaborated with Munro
to create the original EGG150 back in
2011. The EGG150 has grown quite popular in European markets over the past few
years, and now with enhanced US distribution, the updated EGG150 and its new
smaller sibling the EGG100 hope to do the
same here in the States.
As the name implies, the EGG is a
unique design that literally looks like a
large egg... albeit one with a slice out of

MunroSonic EGG100 Monitoring System
its front side that is fitted with a tweeter and
woofer, with a bass reflex port underneath.
I was sent an EGG100 system for review.
Let's get cracking on a closer look, and I
promise that's the last of the obvious egg
yolks-jokes! Sorry.
The Egg , as a speaker and a system
All EGG speakers are produced and
manufactured in the UK, and come as
part of a complete integrated monitoring
system. The EGG is a passive design, but
you needn't worry about choosing thirdparty amps and getting the cables right.
These speakers ship as a complete package with a custom-designed external
power amp, a pair of 2-meter cables with
Neutrik Speakon connectors, and a set of
custom stands known as Egg Nests.
While it would be easy to dismiss the
EGG's shape as little more than a gimmick,
keep in mind that many speaker companies
have been producing cabinets with contoured edges for years. This rounding helps
reduce unwanted diffraction and reflection,
and improves the sound stage and directionality of the audio.
The oval geometric design of the EGG's
enclosure pushes this concept further: the
body is essentially an infinite baffle. It is made
of a thin yet sturdy injection-molded plastic
and is a monocoque design, meaning that
the external shape aids in supporting the
internal components' weight. On the
MunroSonic website, the company lists this
structural design as being both rigid and resonance-neutral, which yields considerable
benefits. The EGG100 measures 15.45" tall,
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A monitor that's beautiful in both form and function

Nesting
While the original EGG150s sat on an
armature-style stand, both models now
come with a large contoured and notched
rubber disc called an EGG Nest. This nest
cradles and holds the monitor in place
while decoupling it from a surface. It also
allows the speaker to be easily angled and
pivoted for precise aiming and placement.
Note that one major difference
between the 150 and the new 100 is that
the 150 had a small laser/aiming light
for exact placement and the 100 does
not; this was not an issue when setting
them up in my room. There is also a small
semicircular notch in the Nest that sits
below the bottom-firing bass port; this
serves to additionally focus and control
the bass extension.

It has a single large volume knob which
is center detented. At that setting in my
room, I measured about 78-84 dB SPL
when full-volume audio was fed from my
DAW from iTunes. There is front mounted
backlit power button, a peak/clip indicator light, and a 1/4" headphone jack that
mutes the speakers when in use.
There are simple high and low frequency
shelving trimpots on the side of the amp for
attenuating the high and low frequencies to
taste, or to help compensate for low-end
buildup depending on placement. In use I
felt no need to adjust them from their flat
positions. The rear of the unit features XLR
inputs and Speakon speaker cable outputs.
Specwise, the amplifier puts out 30W
RMS with a dynamic range of 112 dB. It
uses a passive crossover set to 3.0 kHz
and has a THD+N of 0.03% per channel.
It is so low in distortion that the Munro
gang claim they can't even measure it.
Hype? Possibly, but I can tell you that the
EGG100s have darn near zero noticeable noise, hum, or hiss, even when there
is no music playing and the output is at
maximum. This is one clean and quiet
monitor setup!

The amplifier
The system's custom-designed Class A
amplifier is 2 rack spaces high and 1/2
rack in width. It has a boutique audiophile look to it, with a thick brushed aluminum faceplate with the Munro name
etched in the front.

First we look
The EGG100 is in the 4" desktop monitor class; as an appropriate application/installation, I set them up in my
home office. This is both my hi-fi music
listening room and a full edit suite; I do
much of my editing and preliminary

9.45" wide, and 9.05" deep, and weighs
just shy of 7 lbs. Like the larger EGG150, it's
available in black, white, or red.
The EGG100 uses a 1" soft dome
tweeter with a sensitivity of 95 dB SPL
(1W at 1m), a 4" bass driver with a sensitivity of 86 dB SPL (1W at 1m), and the
bass port is a 70 Hz QB4 style port.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2015