Gamertell Review: Polk Audio’s HitMaster gaming stage monitor

Product: HitMaster Gaming Stage Monitor (aka The HitMaster; HitMaster Portable Powered Floor Monitor)
Price: $99
Rating: Two thumbs up; 95/100; A-; * * * *1/2 out of five.
Pros: Excellent sound quality for the price, extremely sturdy, looks and feels like an actual stage monitor and able to connect it to multiple monitors and various audio sources (including MP3 players).
Cons: Does not include a male-to-male cable and no bass or treble adjustments.
Overall: Certainly adds to the faux stage experience and can be used for much more than just gaming.

Playing a music video game does not make you a musician but dammit if you sure don’t feel like one while you do.

You can rapidly smack buttons and strum to some heavin’ hitting in-game tunage. Companies have done well furthering that rock star feeling by creating more realistic guitar controllers and even one with strings.

Polk Audio wants to help add even more realism to your grand at-home jam illusion with its HitMaster stage monitor (those boxy speakers you see in front of each musician on stage at live performances or being smashed by archive footage of The Who).

Out of the Box

Printed on the box is the HitMaster’s promised compatibility with Wii, PS2, Ps3, Xbox and Xbox 360 as well as “stereo input of iPhone/iPod and other MP3 devices.” In actuality it goes way beyond that but more on that later.

In the box is the HitMaster monitor along with a 9 ft. RCA stereo, a 7 1/2 ft. power cable and a printed quickstart guide.

The primarily black HitMaster features black metal mesh protecting the speakers with the product logo (in red) and the company logo (in white).

Beyond the mesh the rest of the body, I believe, is wood coated in a thick plastic layer to prevent scratching. The “bottom” has four 1 in. by 3/4 in. rubber feat and the “top” includes a thick vinyl/plastic handle with metal fasteners.

The back control panel is metal and includes a fuse, AC input port, power switch, left and right Line In and Line Out ports, a 1/8 in. input port, a power LED indicator and a rubber volume knob that ranges from 1 to 11. (Yes, really. Eleven.)

To complete the monitor effect it has five sides so the speakers are pointed at the musician, er, gamer. It weights about 13 pounds but is easily carried thanks to the handle and measures about 9 in tall, 14 1/2 in. wide and 10 1/4 in deep.

In the “Box”

Under the mesh is a 6 1/2 in. dynamic balance woofer, a 6 1/2 in . composite clone driver and two 1 in. 3×4 horn tweeters. Promised frequency response is 40Hz to 20kHz with Maximum SPL of 103 dB 1M/1W. That all makes up what is called a single-point stereo array, meaning you get the effect of stereo from a single system.

On Your Floor and In Your Ears

Set up is easy, as any speaker should be. It’s plug-and-play for both the 1/8 in. and the left-right RCA ports.

For music games the sounds is just the right mix (and even decent enough that it can replace most TV speakers for normal use). It hits the highs and lows very well and, even if you crank it to 11, the sounds is never distorted (the top volume was purposefully kept low enough to avoid damage, static or audio artifacts).

Since it is a powered speaker system, you can vary the volume from the HitMaster precisely enough to synchronize with your TV or, if that audio simply sucks, “daisy chain” it with other monitors or speakers for more spread stereo effect. On its own, it offers a wide enough spread of sound that it can be placed across a room and hit pretty much every corner.

If you do plan to use use this as your main TV speaker, the bulk might make it hard to place anywhere other than right in front of the cabinet or, unfortunately, behind it. But, then again, the real intention is to play music games with it and get that I’m-on-stage feel while gaming, which it certainly provides.

Thanks to the RCA and 1/8 input ports, pretty much anything that makes noise in your house and has output ports can be connected to the HitMaster, making this far more useful than just a gaming accessory.

My complaints are relatively small and only with the provided cables. The RCA cables provided are male on one end a female on the other. For consoles that’s not really an issue since you can plug the audio directly to the HitMaster. However, if you already have some sort of audio system, you really need another male-to-male RCA cable. Also, the power cords is shorter than the RCA cable which is the opposite of what is usually needed since the consoles will likely be closer to the speaker than the nearest wall power outlet.

There’s also not any form of in-box fine tuning adjustments (base, treble or balance) but, in any situation, you’re really at the mercy of the game developers and console for the final mix (or lack thereof – eg. cannot separate instruments and microphone from each other) and output quality.

HitMaster or MissMaster?

There is no mistake that this system sounds great, especially for the price. It looks and feels exactly like a stage sound monitor and will certainly impress – and very likely intimidate – your friends. The sound quality is better than most TVs and, if the bulk is not an issue for your setup, could become your primary stereo speakers.

As we were told by Polk Audio, this is certainly not a toy. The HitMaster has enough heft and a sturdy enough construction to keep it real but light enough to quickly move. Heck, you can even plug your favorite handheld game system into it.

There’s no doubt that this will survive years of gaming and withstand many accidental hits caused by your new found in-home stage presence. Don’t believe me, then check the photos of my 3-year-old sitting on the HitMaster. Believe me, he’s already put it through his own battery of stress tests and it’s come out unscathed.

And if you get something like the USB string guitar with the game adapter or even Power Gig: Rise of the SixString, all we really need is for a company to come out with a robotic at-home roadie. (I’ll leave the shaky, poorly swept wooden floor and artificial groupies to you.)

Read [HitMaster @ Gamertell] Site [Polk Audio HitMaster] Photo Gallery [HitMaster Photos @ Gamertell]