Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne loudspeakers
- Thread starter Glory
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-- Hi Soup, and welcome! :b
* I like your username (very original).
Thanks NorthStar! I've been lurking here for different things here and there for quite a while, and since this is the best thread on the internet for the MicroOnes, figured it was high time I sign up, even if most the things on this site are out of my price range.
haha yeah, I thought that username up in highschool...thought I was pretty smart.
So no ideas for an amp to use with these guys? Like I said, i wouldn't be opposed to using a tube amp, but I don't know nearly as much about them. And the whole issue of the dampening factor being so low and the power being so low throws me off. Also most of them are higher than the budget I wanted to spend. Not to mention I am not sure they could keep up with most the Metal/Rock that I spend the majority of my time listening too.
TBH, nevermind the amp, I don't think the mmMicroOnes are really meant for metal. Everything is super down-tuned and blast beat/double-kick. Maybe with a sub. I found these better for vocals/jazz/etc...imho.
I would typically agree that having a bit more low bass would help, but what other monitor style speaker would do that better than the MMMicroOne. Not to mention the MicroOne doing absolutely everything else so impeccably well for its price. I spent like 5 hours listening to metal when i demo'd them as well.
Soup,
The MM1 needs 100+ watts to be happy IMO.
I run the 150W LSA Statement with Exemplar's super mods on it. For 2/3K you can pick up a great integrated SS amp.
These speaker need a sub with R&R! After you get them up and running you can add a Gallo etc... sub to them.
IMO you get 15/20K speakers for 2.5K.
The MM1 needs 100+ watts to be happy IMO.
I run the 150W LSA Statement with Exemplar's super mods on it. For 2/3K you can pick up a great integrated SS amp.
These speaker need a sub with R&R! After you get them up and running you can add a Gallo etc... sub to them.
IMO you get 15/20K speakers for 2.5K.
Thats exactly what i was thinking i would do. Sure theres a bit more at the very bottom end that i would love to be there, but i can add a sub down the road after i get the amp and speakers set up. I hadnt thought of the gallo sub though, thats a great option! I was just thinking of how expensive the matching EA sub would be...
Yeah the Audio-GD amp im looking at is 250 watts into 8ohms and 500 into 4 ohms, so i think it will have plenty of power. And its known as being a ruthlessly revealing amp with an iron grip on speakers and a very black background but also a large and deep soundstage, so i think im gonna like it.
Ill probably have to get a preamp as well when it comes sub time though...
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Forget about the speakers.... you listened to metal for 5hr.? There's the problem!
I'm pretty sure alot of the music I was listening too will never be heard on the MM3s or the MicroOnes again. Definitely helped break in the MicroOnes though, apparently they hadnt gotten all that much use yet since they were just being used as surrounds in the gentlemens theater.Does any one have a comment on the coherence of these speakers. I gravitated about a year and a half ago from a 2 way to a 3 way as I wasn't getting a good simultaneous delineation of the various orchesteral/instrumental voices in chamber and symphonic works. The 3 way solved my problem, but they are fairly large speakers (Monitor Audio PL200's) and I may be downsizing abodes in the next year and if these do multi-instruments well they may be just the ticket for me. What I'm looking for is detail on various instruments, not an orchestral mush.
Wow, sometimes we make the most absurd statements like, "IMO these are 15K/20/K speakers for $2.5K.
Who wrote that??
Who wrote that??
Numerous people on this forum did after RMAF 2011. They were comparing them to the Magico Mini speakers and trying to say they sounded better than the Magico speakers. So bingo, now you have people making statements that you have a $2.5K speaker that sounds just as good or better than $20K speakers.
Why so much scepticism about MMMicoOnes?
Many people seem quite upset that relatively inexpensive speakers, off the scale low by the standards of this forum, can sound as good or even better than much more expensive speakers when coupled with good electronics? I do not own them, nor do I intend to buy them, but they have sounded very good to me even in nonoptimal show conditions. The hype surrounding them does not seem any more intense than that surrounding such products as Magico Q1s, and in any case hype can be discounted.
Many people seem quite upset that relatively inexpensive speakers, off the scale low by the standards of this forum, can sound as good or even better than much more expensive speakers when coupled with good electronics? I do not own them, nor do I intend to buy them, but they have sounded very good to me even in nonoptimal show conditions. The hype surrounding them does not seem any more intense than that surrounding such products as Magico Q1s, and in any case hype can be discounted.
True a little over the top, however, they do sound pretty amazing for the price. When compared to the 15k Evolution Acoustics it was clear the more expensive ones were better - overall smoother and cleaner presentation, much more bass extension, higher max SPL capability, however if I was listening to the Micros and just judging them on performance and cabinet build quality I would have guessed the retail was more like 7k a pair. Tonally they were very similar and both sounded excellent.
I've heard the MMMicro1s and they are a very good speaker. I've also heard the Magico Q1 and think they aren't too shabby either.
But the EA absolutely SHOULD be in the same conversation as the Magico Q1. I won't get into the argument over which is better because so much of this crap comes down to personal taste.
HOWEVER, an experienced eye will notice that the price differences between these two speakers is not remotely indicative of any sort of performance difference.
1) the EA cabinet is made in China. The Magico is made here. So already we have a massive price differential based solely on wages.
2) The Magico cabinet takes significantly more time to make simply because it is made up of many smaller machined parts that use up machine time and then need assembling. So the Magico will cost more simply because more man hours are invested in the assembly. Man hours that are many times more expensive here than anywhere else.
3) Both speakers use premium style drivers. But the EA uses quasi-mass produced drivers that benefit from economy of scale as well as marketplace competition. Since Magico makes their own driver, it suffers from economy of small scale. Plus, Magico can claim whatever value they so desire.
4) Magico has a very healthy marketing budget. EA, not so much. And this definitely plays into the final cost. Think about Bose! Those plastic pieces of crap aren't remotely worth the cost people pay for them. But SOMEBODY has to pay for Bose to be a household name.
NONE of the above aspects have much to do with the performance of a speaker at all. But they have everything to do with the final cost. While the Magico cabinet could arguably be a better performer there is no way in hell that it makes THAT much difference all by itself. A competently designed circuit and driver selection is going to have vastly more impact than the cabinet design. Not to mention the fact that we can't even be sure that it really is a better performer. Just because it LOOKS complicated and expensive doesn't mean that it actually works. Personally, I've grown extremely tired of arguments over cabinet design anyway. As far as I'm concerned, Rockport wrote the book on that decades ago. Stereophile measurements show that those cabinets are the very definition of inert. They also require an entirely different technical expertise and artisanship to actually manufacture. And I find it curious that Stereophile neglected to include any sort of accelerometer data when they tested the Q5. Surely, with the advent of this new fancy aluminum cabinetry, they were a little curious. But this is all besides the point.
So after all that, both speakers have drivers that are on par with each other, crossover components that are on par with each other, and designers who are on par with each other. (Though, technically, I think EA has an edge with experience.)
What does this add up to? Simply put, on technical and competency grounds, the EA has EVERY right to be in the same conversation as the Q1. And any other stand mounted two way speaker, for that matter.
Anyone who disregards the MMMicro one due to price either doesn't know what they are talking about, is simply elitist, or has their head up their arse.
But the EA absolutely SHOULD be in the same conversation as the Magico Q1. I won't get into the argument over which is better because so much of this crap comes down to personal taste.
HOWEVER, an experienced eye will notice that the price differences between these two speakers is not remotely indicative of any sort of performance difference.
1) the EA cabinet is made in China. The Magico is made here. So already we have a massive price differential based solely on wages.
2) The Magico cabinet takes significantly more time to make simply because it is made up of many smaller machined parts that use up machine time and then need assembling. So the Magico will cost more simply because more man hours are invested in the assembly. Man hours that are many times more expensive here than anywhere else.
3) Both speakers use premium style drivers. But the EA uses quasi-mass produced drivers that benefit from economy of scale as well as marketplace competition. Since Magico makes their own driver, it suffers from economy of small scale. Plus, Magico can claim whatever value they so desire.
4) Magico has a very healthy marketing budget. EA, not so much. And this definitely plays into the final cost. Think about Bose! Those plastic pieces of crap aren't remotely worth the cost people pay for them. But SOMEBODY has to pay for Bose to be a household name.
NONE of the above aspects have much to do with the performance of a speaker at all. But they have everything to do with the final cost. While the Magico cabinet could arguably be a better performer there is no way in hell that it makes THAT much difference all by itself. A competently designed circuit and driver selection is going to have vastly more impact than the cabinet design. Not to mention the fact that we can't even be sure that it really is a better performer. Just because it LOOKS complicated and expensive doesn't mean that it actually works. Personally, I've grown extremely tired of arguments over cabinet design anyway. As far as I'm concerned, Rockport wrote the book on that decades ago. Stereophile measurements show that those cabinets are the very definition of inert. They also require an entirely different technical expertise and artisanship to actually manufacture. And I find it curious that Stereophile neglected to include any sort of accelerometer data when they tested the Q5. Surely, with the advent of this new fancy aluminum cabinetry, they were a little curious. But this is all besides the point.
So after all that, both speakers have drivers that are on par with each other, crossover components that are on par with each other, and designers who are on par with each other. (Though, technically, I think EA has an edge with experience.)
What does this add up to? Simply put, on technical and competency grounds, the EA has EVERY right to be in the same conversation as the Q1. And any other stand mounted two way speaker, for that matter.
Anyone who disregards the MMMicro one due to price either doesn't know what they are talking about, is simply elitist, or has their head up their arse.
Yet like every speaker I've heard, the Rockports have their own "sonic" signature
Whenever I've heard them, the Rockports always sound slightly overdamped and restrained.
Yet like every speaker I've heard, the Rockports have their own "sonic" signature
Precisely; plus you can easily feel the cabinet vibrations with your hand, even on the Altair. So I am not sure what book exactly they wrote, though still well constructed.
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Yet like every speaker I've heard, the Rockports have their own "sonic" signature
Sure they do. But that signature is not a product of the cabinet. Those attributes are easily explained via drivers and crossover design. Plus associated gear, and probably a whole host of other contributors.
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