122 MACWORLD OCTOBER 2019
PLAYLIST REVIEW: GRACE DIGITAL MONDO+ CLASSIC$15 adapter—connect the radio to your
network via an ethernet cable. There’s a
UPnP media player onboard, for streaming
music from media servers on your network,
and—coming soon—two-way Bluetooth that
will enable you to beam music not only
from your smartphone to the radio, but also
from the speaker to headphones (but not
to Bluetooth speakers).
Pry open a Mondo+ Classic and you’ll find
a monophonic Class D amplifier, rated at 25
watts, driving a single, four-inch, glass-fiber,
full-range speaker. (A rear port enhances bass
response.) Also onboard: MaxxAudio digital
signal processing from Waves. Open the EQ
tab (or tap the dedicated button on the
remote) to cycle through a selection of
presets—flat, classic, jazz, rock,
vocal—which you can tweak using
bass and treble controls.
The voice setting offered the
most detectable improvement—
clearer diction on talk shows—
while others hardly moved the
needle. I suspect the physical
driver doesn’t have the dynamic
range to take full advantage of
either the DSP or the amp.
Listening to a variety of
styles—from the earthy riches of
the New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Fest on WWOZ, to the
mondo-modern “New Sounds”
on WQXR-Q2—I thought the
speaker sounded best when the preset
and tone controls were flat or just a single
notch up or below “0” on the bass and
treble settings.
When tone controls were pushed
harder, the clarinets and trumpets in Evan
Christopher’s Afro/Cuban-flavored jazz
band got raspy. Bass only came on
stronger on LCD Soundsystem’s “Pulse
(v1)”—heard on QXR-Q2—when the volume
was cranked, and then with an unwelcome
increase in sonic bloat. It’s telling that
Grace rates the speaker with a frequency
response range of 50 to 20kHz without
specifying tolerance or total harmonic
distortion values.
Don’t get me wrong. At “flat” settings
and moderate volume levels, the
Mondo+ Classic is a perfectly
pleasant performer, well suited
for casual listening. Still, I can’t
help but wonder how much
better this box might present
with a more refined driver. That
would of course push the cost of
the package above the magical
$199 street price, but it might
also lead me to consider placing
more than one Mondo+ Classic
in a multi-room set-up. As it sits, I
can’t imagine making this box
my prime listening source
outside the bedroom or small
home office. ■mmmh
Grace Digital Mondo+
Classic
PROS- Easy to operate, with lots of
channel preset buttons (the
app is truly optional). - Attractive displays on radio
screen and app keep you
informed who’s on first and
what’s on deck.
CONS - Speaker system is not
capable of bass-kicking,
super-dynamic audio
performances. - Chromecast and Bluetooth
streaming are iffy
propositions.
PRICE
$222
COMPANY
Grace Digital