Monsoon is a brand of
loudspeaker
A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or " ...
s, originally automotive speaker systems and later computer speakers. Monsoon was originally associated with OEM-sourced automotive audio speaker systems, notably supplied on a number of
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
products and then later expanded onto other manufacturers such as
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
. The brand name was also licensed to Sonigistix, a
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, B.C., Canada company, and applied to their line of computer multimedia speakers.
Sonigistix
Sonigistix started out as a project out of the
UBC Electrical Engineering
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top three ...
company and existed for two years on the UBC campus. Its founder was Brent Bolleman and its first ''raison d'être'' was to refine and market an electrostatic computer product based on the design of
Quad Electrostatics
The Quad Electrostatic Loudspeaker (ESL) is the world's first production full-range electrostatic loudspeaker, launched in 1957 by Quad Electroacoustics, then known as the Acoustical Manufacturing Co. Ltd. The speaker is shaped somewhat like a ...
. Electrostatic speakers have their own problems due to the need for the membrane requiring high voltage, which is dangerous and has the requirement of a step up transformer, which is costly. The ultimate desire was to have a speaker that looked great and sounded great, so the conversion to planar magnetic design, which had problems of its own but easier dealt with, most notably was the need for rare earth magnets, which were expensive. Much of the focus of the transition focused on how to reduce this cost element and make the speakers more appealing to a larger pool of consumers. The early unnamed company started sending out prototypes to United Technologies. Through this the company made contacts with
Woody Jackson
Woodrow Wilson Jackson III (born June 10, 1970) is an American composer and session musician. He is best known for his work with Rockstar Games, composing scores for its video games ''Red Dead Redemption'', ''L.A. Noire'', ''Grand Theft Auto V' ...
, a high end audio products expert based in Little Rock Arkansas, and Dave Clark an audio engineer who had ties to Delphi based in Detroit. Clark designed the subwoofer part of the package. Another challenge as the planar magnetic design had a bottom end of 100 Hz and it was key to make the crossover design seamless.
By 2000, Sonigistix expanded its product line and the Monsoon brand into the then burgeoning consumer computer
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
market, developing a solid reputation for their flat-panel speaker designs that were popular with computer users keen on obtaining quality high fidelity from their computer hardware. Monsoon's speaker designs were based on planar magnetic technology, licensed from
Eminent Technology
Eminent Technology is American audio electronics company based in Florida, established in 1983 by Bruce Thigpen. Their first product was an air bearing straight line tracking tonearm for phonograph playback, and was the first implementation of ...
who developed the original concept. However, despite the brand's popularity among computer users – or perhaps because of it – within the next couple of years the assets of Sonigistix were purchased by Eastech, an Asian technology company that also focuses on providing consumer products in a variety of audio-based markets.
As for Sonigistix, a privately held company by that name currently resides in Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A. An online company profile on goliath.ecnext.com lists this Little Rock company, being Woody Jackson as being in the home audio/video industry. An owner's manual for the MM-700/''i''M-700 Flat Panel Audio System with a copyright of 2000 shows the Monsoon Multimedia Sales office address as
Little Rock, Arkansas
(The Little Rock, The "Little Rock")
, government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager
, leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_ ...
.
Eastech
Monsoon-branded products continued for a time under Eastech (under the Level 9 name), but by late 2004 Monsoon computer speakers had essentially disappeared from the U.S. marketplace. By 2005, Eastech no longer sold Monsoon speakers.{{Citation needed, date=April 2008
Legacy
Monsoon-branded speakers, whether sold by Sonigistix or Level 9, have developed an almost cult-like following due to their perceived high sound quality and accuracy, particularly uncommon (at the time of their run) for the personal computer marketplace. Dedicated owners of Monsoon flat panel speakers will often go to great lengths to keep their old Monsoons running, primarily because it is assumed that replacements made and sold by other manufacturers may be inferior.
["The original Monsoon flat-panel systems were arguably the most accurate computer speakers ever sold"]
Level 9 Monsoon PlanarMedia 14
review by Don Labriola in Pcmag
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...
2003-06-17, retrieved 2009-03-11 When the Richmond, B.C., factory closed, a loudspeaker repair shop in Vancouver, B.C., obtained the remaining stock of tweeters, midranges and woofers as replacement parts. The replacement parts were exhausted by 2008, leaving the use of salvaged parts as the only options for units that have failed. The most common issue with midrange and tweeter elements is corroded NeFeB magnets. Sadly, this corrosion is a terminal condition and cannot be reversed or repaired, however there is rumour around the "Monsoon Community" that this problem may have been resolved in some of the final production runs.
As for the Monsoon brand, it remains a trademark of
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...
. This allows GM to exploit the reputation that the Sonigistix products developed, by using the Monsoon brand for their current
in-car entertainment
In-car entertainment (ICE), or in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), is a collection of hardware and software in automobiles that provides audio or video entertainment. In car entertainment originated with car audio systems that consisted of radios and ...
products, although made by several other companies. Currently Monsoon in-car audio is optional on several GM cars.
References
External links
History of Eminent Technologies including the planar transducer
Loudspeaker manufacturers
Audio equipment manufacturers of the United States