Samson Resolv 65a review

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Verdict:

For a smidgen under £200, the Samsons provide great sound, and are solidly built to boot.

Review Date: 18 Aug 2005

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Our Rating 5 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Samson's Resolv 65a studio monitors are a chunky pair of beasts, only rivalled in their bulk by the bombastic set from Alesis. But size isn't everything.

The Samsons are fairly imposing, finished with a black vinyl. These are monitors designed to cope with the stresses and strains of being lugged about, or surviving a professional music studio environment. But despite this, they won't look out of place next to your PC - as long as you have room for them.

Hidden at their rear are three audio inputs: one quarter-inch TRS jack, one RCA connector, and an XLR socket. Should you want to hook them up to a mixing desk, or a high-end sound card, the Samsons have it covered. There's also a rotating knob labelled 'Mid presence'. This is aimed primarily at music producers who prefer their monitors to sound a certain way. They're handy for ordinary listeners too, as they let you tailor the Samson's sound to your taste by boosting or cutting mid-range frequencies.

The Samsons do an impressive job of reproducing music. As the only set on test to use metal rather than fabric tweeters, the Resolv 65a set has a slightly pronounced treble, but this doesn't adversely affect overall sound quality. The Samsons keep instruments crisply defined.

With folk and jazz recordings, they gave a clear picture of where each instrument was situated between the speakers. Orchestral recordings demonstrated the Samsons' ability to recreate music on a grand scale. Heavier rock and dance music revealed a slightly over-cautious bass, but even at high volumes the Samsons sounded crisp and clear with enough bass to keep the music driving along.

The Samsons may be the second-cheapest speakers here, but their sound and build quality is anything but cut-price. The sturdy build and impressive sound quality marks them out as a sensible alternative if you really can't stretch to the £230 asking- price of the Tapcos.

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