Microlab Solo 8C Speakers Review

Up Close

We mentioned in our introduction about the complete set of cables provided by Microlab with the Solo 8C, and here you can see that they’re not only covering all the possible inputs, but they’re also lengthy. Too often a manufacturer will save a few pence here and there to shave a few inches off and it drives us crazy. So it’s nice to see Microlab giving decent lengths. The banana plug cable in particular is long enough to allow you to spread the two 8C speakers as wide as you desire. The manual is concise whilst still covering your enquiries. It’s always enjoyable to have a manual that doesn’t do the “congratulations on choosing our excellent product” thing, with a FAQ that mainly covers “where can I buy more of your excellent products”.

       

With or without speaker grills we think that the Solo 8C are very attractive. They continue the design ethos of the entire range of Solo xC speakers with nice dark wood grain and a simplicity that’s visually appealing.

      

At the rear we find a port on each speaker. The right hand one contains the power, amplifier and input connectors. From left to right we have the AUX input, PC input, TOSLINK Optical, and Coaxial. Just below shot is the on off switch, and the ‘banana’ outputs to the left hand speaker.

      

On the right edge of the right hand speaker we find the volume and tone knobs. The volume doubles as an input selector too, cycling through the available inputs on the Solo 8C. Finally at the bottom right is the receiver for the remote control, which also doubles as a display to indicate your adjustments. Which we’ll look at on the next page.