Meyer MM-4XP Micro Speaker Review

[Doodski]

$2360 per pair and for a special installation requiring let's say 40 of them @ a grand total of $47,200. That is not good value for single driver/one way speakers. All of this is not including the external power supply.

 

[Aijan]

For Atmos duty, it might make more sense to use coaxial speakers like the KEF Q series (Q150, Q1/Q8 Meta). They're relatively compact, have better frequency response and dispersion, and are affordable.

 

[bachatero]

Scam! Slash that price by 20x and then we can talk.

 

[uwotm8]

FYI Genelec has a somewhat similar speaker running on PoE

My guess is it has 2-4x better sound for almost 2x lower price

 

[uwotm8]

$2360 per pair and for a special installation requiring let's say 40 of them @ a grand total of $47,200. That is not good value

Very polite!
What would you say if it was made by ATC, PMC, ProAc or Dynaudio?

 

[Doodski]

Very polite!
What would you say if it was made by ATC, PMC, ProAc or Dynaudio?

I would not say anything because I don't care who the maker is. What would you say if they are 80% less money and made by KEF? Seriously what a question...

 

[uwotm8]

What would you say if they are 80% less money and made by KEF

I'd say it's very bad even by KEF standards and as far as they can make acceptably good speaker for $300 - go for it instead. Or just buy Bose. Or Genelec 4410 if sound and LAN power matters.

 

[DanielT]

Nice test Amir.
I was most fascinated by the Meyer MM-4XP's high SPL (relative to other small broadband/coaxial speakers) and its ability, as you said, to play at higher volumes without sounding distorted.

I wonder what kind of driver is in the Meyer MM-4XP? Some PA broadband/coaxial driver with high power handling?

 

[DanielT]

I'd say it's very bad even by KEF standards and as far as they can make acceptably good speaker for $300 - go for it instead. Or just buy Bose. Or Genelec 4410 if sound and LAN power matters.

If I had thought about some small broadband/coax speakers and mixed in KEF, my first thought would have been eggs.

Now around ten years old, a pair doesn't cost that much:

KEF HTS3001SE - How would you EQ these?

Some time ago I got myself a pair of KEF HTS3001SE satellite speakers, possibly the nicest eggs produced by KEF. Out of curiosity I am now trying to make them sing. Setup: Digital source -> Behringer DEQ2496 optical in/out -> Sony STR-DB940 -> KEF HTS3001SE and a stacked pair of active...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[TNT]

Owner wondered if they make for good Atmos speakers. I guess they could and

My bold, text from Dolby...

Overhead speaker characteristics
Dolby Atmos audio is mixed using discrete, full-range audio objects that may move around
anywhere in three-dimensional space. With this in mind, overhead speakers should
complement the frequency response, output, and power-handling capabilities of the
listener-level speakers. Choose overhead speakers that are timbre matched as closely as
possible to the primary listener-level speakers. Overhead speakers with a wide dispersion
pattern are desirable for use in a Dolby Atmos system. This will ensure the closest
replication of the cinematic environment, where overhead speakers are placed high above
the listeners.

//

 

[peniku8]

X4i - L-Acoustics

X4i 2-way passive, 4

www.l-acoustics.com

This is the competing 4” mini cube that I know of. This one is passive, but two way and they are intended to run with an external DSP.

Which is about 5K a pair if you include the amping (using the cheapest and smallest amplifier L offer). And it comes with all the limitations you'd expect from a tiny 4" coax.
But a big part of these is just increasing HF clarity at the mix position for live events, because more often than you think, the mix position is a compromise and you don't hear super well what you're doing. And even the directivity of many big 6-7 figure systems is still lacklustre to this day, so it's good to have a tool that irons out the tonal balance at FoH a bit (or gives it more clarity in very reverberant venues). Not gonna happen with the Meyers and their laser tho, unless you stay perfectly still because you hate the music you're mixing

 

[beagleman]

I wonder if sometime in the future we could implement another rating.

One for "measurements" and one for "Value"

For the price, its quite mediocre to me, but if it was say a few hundred dollars, I would almost say great for what it was.....

 

[GXAlan]

I wonder what kind of driver is in the Meyer MM-4XP? Some PA broadband/coaxial driver with high power handling?

What’s sort of crazy is that it’s not a coaxial, it’s a full range driver… this is the older, non active version. Active version has the 440W peak Class D amp integrated. (They say peak = 0.5 seconds; sustained is 220W)

Disassembling Meyer Sound MM-4 Ultra Compact Wide-Range Loudspeaker Case

With this guide you can take your MM-4 from one solid brick of a speaker to four parts and a bunch of screws. This is useful if you are replacing a...

www.ifixit.com

Not comparable.
8020 are given for 107dB SPL peak @1m.
Here, we speak 112dB at 4m, or more than 120dB at 1m (with a limited bandwidth).

It’s actually just 1m for the measurement, but that’s continuously at 2 hours at 50C ambient (122F).

Overhead speakers with a wide dispersion
pattern are desirable for use in a Dolby Atmos system.

Look at dispersion at 2m against KH120, focusing on 2 kHz and below

At 10m, look at the coaxial Genelec.

So, while it definitely is beamy for the HF, which seems good for positioning height effects (such that the rear atmos and middle atmos and front atmos have some localization) it’s also wide enough that you can sit comfortably on a sofa and don’t need your head in a vise.

But I definitely hear what Amir says. If you are close, it’s got the underwater sound.

As long as you are a professional customer: nearly impossible to get a significant discount on their products in Germany as a private customer. Learned it by trying to get an offer on the Amie....

Try reaching out to Solotech, they have a Germany office and in the U.S. they will give discounts pretty easily even for single users. Solotech is very reputable. They handled the LED video wall for Adele, concert setup for Coldplay, and the audio for the HK Airport. It’s about $861 the last time I checked for the MM-4XP which gives you an idea about the percent discount they would give you on the Amie if you are still looking for it.

If you keep your eye out, you can get these well below list price. The one I sent to Amir, I got open box, unused from Solotech’s eBay store at just $369 each. (But I already had the 48V power supplies)

 

[DSJR]

No idea for how much longer, bars and restaurants in the US would have the funds for these as sound-support. Here in the UK, apart from exclusive places in big cities, these would be regarded as far, far too expensive, even at the discounted price! JBL Control Ones (nice 'tactile' mids even if there's little bass and a dip before the tweeter) and I recall, Bose Acoustimass sub-sat systems were more usually what I remember.

I wonder where the driver comes from as it looks well over-built at the back

 

[JEarle]

Which is about 5K a pair if you include the amping (using the cheapest and smallest amplifier L offer). And it comes with all the limitations you'd expect from a tiny 4" coax.
But a big part of these is just increasing HF clarity at the mix position for live events, because more often than you think, the mix position is a compromise and you don't hear super well what you're doing. And even the directivity of many big 6-7 figure systems is still lacklustre to this day, so it's good to have a tool that irons out the tonal balance at FoH a bit (or gives it more clarity in very reverberant venues). Not gonna happen with the Meyers and their laser tho, unless you stay perfectly still because you hate the music you're mixing

Sometimes the smaller and wider the better when you have to punt

 

[GXAlan]

I wonder where the driver comes from as it looks well over-built at the back

Meyer Sound makes all their drivers in house, in the most expensive part of California, while bragging about paying all their employees living wages. I have seen claims that Meyer Sound even controls the consistency of the supply chain of the wood pulp they use by owning the land that the trees are in.

Breaking the sound barrier in West Berkeley with precision manufacturing

[Sponsored] At its large West Berkeley complex of buildings, Meyer Sound manufactures precision products that are used at venues large and small around the world.

www.berkeleyside.org

 

[GXAlan]

I found this price list, which shows $150 for the driver, and $680 for the replacement amplifier in 2016.

 

[GD Fan]

Funny that 50% of the votes (including mine) are for 'poor' while so many of the comments attempt to defend this thing.

 

[thewas]

Would have been interesting to see also multitone distortion measurements on it, being a small single way driver I am sure they are quite more problematic than the HD measurements would imply, what partially rescues it though that its response skydives below 200 Hz reducing the driver excursion and thus the correlating multitone distortions.

 

[GXAlan]

Funny that 50% of the votes (including mine) are for 'poor' while so many of the comments attempt to defend this thing.

You figure that 51% vote poor for obvious reasons (can get way better sounding speakers for the money) but you have to figure that since 49% didn’t vote poor, it’s worth explaining why.

It’s not like the Innuous USB reclocker with 97% voting waste of money and lots of comments explaining why it’s a waste of money.

Within the constraints of physical volume (4” cube), it’s an interesting option.