Micca Micca MB42 Bookshelf Speakers, Passive, Needs Amplifier or Receiver, Not for Use Directly with Turntable, 4-Inch Carbon Fiber Woofer and Silk Dome Tweeter (Black, Pair)

Good

Lasst die Finger von den hier angebotenen günstigen Aktivboxen. Dann lieber einen kleinen Verstärker von Fosi oder Aiyima kaufen, die Miccas anschließen und schon ist man klanglich auf der richtigen Seite. Da kommen selbst Aktivboxen der 400 Euro Liga nicht ran.

I purchased this to use in conjunction with the AIYIMA A07 amp. I was not sure how well they would work together, as this is somewhat of a budget audio system. The quality and clarity of this combination has continually impressed me. I would highly recommend this combination for a very good audio experience.

デスクトップオーディオで以前8センチフルレンジSPだったので、もう少し 低音が欲しくなり１２センチクラスのSPを探していました。 ヤマハやJBLなら問題のない音が出るのでしょうが、それでは面白くないので 他メーカーを探していたところ海外レビューを中心に良い評価の本製品を見つけました。 価格は有名メーカーの半分ほど。これでどんな音が再生されるのか？半分好奇心で 購入したのですが、聞いてみてビックリ！高音から低音まで非常にバランス良く、 クリアでパンチのある音色で、特に中音域のスネアやパーカッションの艶とキレが 素晴らしい。 最初シャリシャリした音が気になりましたが、半日ほどで消えました。 英文取説に加え、和文のセッティングガイドまで付属しており、最高のパフォーマンスで 聞いてほしいというメーカーの製品にかける熱意と自信を感じました。 同タイプのSPでは間違いなくトップクラスの音だと思います。

At this size and price point, they sound absolutely amazing. My only very minor complaint is that they didn't bother to put in a cap to filter out frequencies the speaker shouldn't be hitting. It says its frequency response is 60Hz, but if you don't have your amp filter anything below ~100Hz, it tries to reproduce it very very poorly. And listen: it's a 4" speaker. I don't for a second expect it to hit anything below 100Hz; that's crazy talk. I'd just prefer it didn't even try. Even still: these speakers are fantastic and I would highly recommend them.

After much dithering, I decided to get these instead of Dayton Audio B652 6-1/2-Inch 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair , because (1) Amazon's price on the Daytons is still over $50 (although one person reported that another web vendor still has them for $40), (2) they're a bit smaller (that was useful to me), and (3) various comments and reviews just gave me the impression that build quality might be a bit better (binding post connectors rather than the Dayton's spring-loaded wire terminals, for example). First, the "bad": one has no right to expect powerful or deep bass at this size or price, and, indeed, they don't go down very low. But the bass is fairly solid and clean right down to where they started to lose steam (around 80-100Hz in my estimation - they really don't go down to the 60Hz specified, in my opinion). I won't concentrate heavily on specs in this discussion, because most people don't have measurement equipment, and, interestingly, most people perceive 80-100Hz as "deep bass" (they also perceive 12KHz as "very high treble"). But where you can tell is with music containing quality bass content (electric bass guitar, string quartets with bass fiddle, organ music, etc.). These speakers didn't do a bad job, but they sure don't give you the physical pounding that you get from speakers with top-class bass response (Klipschorns, or 18" sound reinforcement systems used in concerts, etc.). Room placement is key, here (this is mentioned prominently in the manufacturer's literature, in fact). I placed them along the short wall of a 15'x24' rectangular room, about 6" from the wall and 4' from the corners, and they produced shockingly pleasing sound. Again, not powerful bass, but entirely pleasant and adequate. The only other area where I felt that my high-end speakers were audibly superior was what I would call a slight "softness" in the midrange and upper midrange. This most noticeably affects female vocals, and was, for example, noticeable on Sara K's "Hobo" album, and, to a similar extent, on stuff by Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris. To their credit, these speakers behaved very well at amazingly loud (for their price and size) levels, even though their published sensitivity is 85dBm. This relatively low number means that they need, say, 10 times as much power as a 95dBm speaker to produce the same level, and that translates to a boatload of power going into them in order to sound loud. They're rated at 75W, but I'm certain that if you actually ran them at 75W continuous, they'd be quite well cooked in a minute or so (as would your ears). So I was probably driving about 4W average into them and they sounded quite impressive. The clean sound and overall balance is really wonderful (that almost insignificant midrange softness mentioned above doesn't really detract). They're just so pleasant to listen to, you really could mistake them for speakers costing 20 times more. So far, I've AB'ed them with Sonus Faber Concertinos. Admittedly not every uber-audiophile will rate those at the absolute top of the small-speaker spectrum, but they're quite respectable (and around $1000/pr). The differences with the MB42s were audible, but not severe. As I said, you would never guess that you were listening to $50 speakers, and to be able to compare them with the Concertinos in the same paragraph is nothing short of astounding. Build quality was as hoped for: decent binding posts, excellent fit and finish (of relatively light 3/8" vinyl-covered particle board). They probably weigh 1/4 as much as the Concertinos, and while one might want something sturdier, at $50 you are simply not going to find that. A thought about that modest bass response: a lot of folks will be tempted to add a subwoofer to make up for missing bass. I've found, sadly, that most affordable subwoofers do a really poor job of augmenting bass response. They insert a huge bump somewhere between 60Hz and 100Hz, but the result isn't natural-sounding bass, just an impressive thump-and-boom. I understand that's what a lot of people want, but that's just not going to make these speakers sound fabulous. You'd have to consider spending $500 to $1000 or more on a serious powered subwoofer system to get a combined system worth listening to, and let's face it, there's just no way it could be worth adding a $1000 subwoofer to a $50 pair of main speakers. I mean, you *could* do it and it would sound very good, but if you've got the money, you should first look at spending more on the main speakers and probably forget the subwoofer altogether. I next hope to compare these to Bose Acoustimass 5 Speaker System - Black , a system that I've never really enjoyed listening to, but which, at $399, should, in principle, outperform the Micca MB42. One last point: considering that you could combine these with an excellent quality inexpensive amp like LP-2020A+ Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi Audio Mini Amplifier with Power Supply or FiiO A1 Mini 2x14W Class-D Digital Audio Amplifier or Topping TP20-MK2 MKII TA2020 Class T-AMP Digital Stereo Amplifier , you'd have a killer system for around $100 that could hold its own (respectably!) against systems costing way over $1000. So am I satisfied with my purchase? Definitely! Are they worth the money? Absolutely! UPDATE (2 days later) I've had a chance to listen to a lot more music, and have discovered a moderately unpleasant narrow resonance peak in the midrange (haven't measured - seems like it might be around 600Hz). This was surprisingly and annoyingly audible on a performance of The Nutcracker, "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy". To be sure I wasn't imagining it, I played the same segment on the Sonus Faber Concertinos and they performed admirably - no resonant peak, just beautiful, clean sound. Having heard that CD through many other speakers, I was pretty sure it was the Miccas, but there's no doubt about it. Pretty annoying. Interestingly, the peak is narrow enough to not be audible on most material, but wow, when you hear it, it really sings (and not in a good way). OK, we're still talking about $50/pr speakers, here, so it's something I can overlook, but I sure won't be playing The Nutcracker on these speakers again. UPDATE 5/27/2013: If you happen to read recent reviews of the Dayton Audio B652 6-1/2-Inch 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair , it seems that they've "updated" that speaker with an inferior product that buyers are quite unhappy with. So it looks like, in this price/size range, the Micca speakers are the one to buy - if you can get them.