Micca MB42X G2 Budget Speaker Review

[audiotinker]

hi all, the fosi amp and micca mb42x g2 went back to amazon in the end.

on my desk, i now have a focusrite scarlett solo 4th audio interface, and still haven't made my mind up which active monitors to get. i am very tempted by the adam d3v, however i can't help but feel i want something slightly bigger. my desk measures 180cm x 63.5cm, so i have the space.

i wish adam made a budget speaker somwhere between the d3v and the t5v, as the latter just feels slightly too big and boxy, but the d3v a little too small.

don't laugh, but my main listening setup is a sonos ray and two ikea symfonisk bookshelf speakers! so you could say that my standards are fairly low. however, in my small (365cm x 305cm) living room, and with trueplay enabled, it sounds incredibly good to my ears - one of the best audio experiences i've ever had!

 

[somebodyelse]

The Symfonisk picture frames actually measured pretty well, so no laughing here. The Kali LP-UNF might fit your middle ground size around the same price as the D3V.

 

[audiotinker]

The Symfonisk picture frames actually measured pretty well, so no laughing here. The Kali LP-UNF might fit your middle ground size around the same price as the D3V.

Hah! Well that’s something I didn’t expect to see here.. Great to see that they were recommended too!

I only bought into Sonos because of the IKEA partnership (I’m a bit of a IKEA superfan). It’s a shame that the range has been discontinued. I’m pretty excited about their forthcoming speakers.

I’ll have a look at the Kali. They seem to be less popular here in the UK. But I always hear good things about them.

 

[staticV3]

I’ll have a look at the Kali. They seem to be less popular here in the UK. But I always hear good things about them.

Erin called them the best desktop monitors he's heard so far:
https://youtu.be/hOkMVbW7Yts

 

[somebodyelse]

Erin called them the best desktop monitors he's heard so far:
https://youtu.be/hOkMVbW7Yts

That was before testing the D3V though. There's a direct comparison with the LP-UNF from ~8:37 with relative strengths and weaknesses. If he didn't already have the LP-UNF he might have bought the D3V because of the reduced footprint, so it's a close call and depends on your priorities.

 

[audiotinker]

That was before testing the D3V though. There's a direct comparison with the LP-UNF from ~8:37 with relative strengths and weaknesses. If he didn't already have the LP-UNF he might have bought the D3V because of the reduced footprint, so it's a close call and depends on your priorities.

good call. i haven't listened to either of them, but in terms of the design, i prefer the d3v. i'm not keen on the styling of kali speakers, or the touch controls or volume led's. definitely leaning towards the d3v currently.

 

[pio80]

I bought these little speakers and I have to say these are the best speakers in this price range so far, furthemore I will venture to say that much more expensive speakers do not sound like these (I mean timbre of sound, pleasant to listen to, I am choosing micca more often than my elac dfr52 floorstanders ) I am really happy with them and recommend!

 

[audiotinker]

they are good little speakers. however, i returned mine shortly after posting and replaced with a pair of polk audio monitor XT15 which i found on amazon for £99. i also found a brand new wiim amp pro on ebay for £300. seems to be quite a good combination!

 

[staticV3]

they are good little speakers. however, i returned mine shortly after posting and replaced with a pair of polk audio monitor XT15 which i found on amazon for £99. i also found a brand new wiim amp pro on ebay for £300. seems to be quite a good combination!

That's a very nice deal that you've found, especially when you know that the XT15 is basically a Diamond 12.1 in disguise:

Help Make my Music Listening Grin Into a Smile

While on this site I saw the name of an equipment manufacturer, Audio Smile. The name made me think about my music listening, I'm grinning - my goal is to turn grin that to a smile. I'm 76. I retired my B&W 5.1 system years ago. I replaced it with Sonos. Mainly for for simplicity (which I...

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Should perform even better with Erin's corrective EQ loaded into the WiiM Amp:

Spoiler: Parameters

Preamp: -2.9 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 58 Hz Gain +2.94 dB Q 1.22
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 130 Hz Gain -0.96 dB Q 1.70
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 235 Hz Gain +0.75 dB Q 1.29
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1121 Hz Gain -5.07 dB Q 2.99
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1161 Hz Gain +2.98 dB Q 1.53
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 6361 Hz Gain -2.03 dB Q 1.10
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 13652 Hz Gain -4.08 dB Q 0.81

 

[audiotinker]

That's a very nice deal that you've found, especially when you know that the XT15 is basically a Diamond 12.1 in disguise:

Help Make my Music Listening Grin Into a Smile

While on this site I saw the name of an equipment manufacturer, Audio Smile. The name made me think about my music listening, I'm grinning - my goal is to turn grin that to a smile. I'm 76. I retired my B&W 5.1 system years ago. I replaced it with Sonos. Mainly for for simplicity (which I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Should perform even better with Erin's corrective EQ loaded into the WiiM Amp:
View attachment 503380

Spoiler: Parameters

Preamp: -2.9 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 58 Hz Gain +2.94 dB Q 1.22
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 130 Hz Gain -0.96 dB Q 1.70
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 235 Hz Gain +0.75 dB Q 1.29
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1121 Hz Gain -5.07 dB Q 2.99
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1161 Hz Gain +2.98 dB Q 1.53
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 6361 Hz Gain -2.03 dB Q 1.10
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 13652 Hz Gain -4.08 dB Q 0.81

it was a great deal huh?! i didn't know they were so similar to the diamond 12.1. i thought the diamond would be far superior given the price difference and the constant praise that they get from uk publications. sometimes the whole value thing seems off with hi-fi. like, are the £299 dali kupid three times better than my £99 polk xt15?

i used erin's settings from the following video:

here he only uses three bands of parametric eq to correct the speaker, and the numbers are very different to yours. where did you get those from?

 

[staticV3]

where did you get those from?

The ones I posted are from https://www.spinorama.org/speakers/Polk Audio XT15/ErinsAudioCorner/index_eac.html

 

[audiotinker]

The ones I posted are from https://www.spinorama.org/speakers/Polk Audio XT15/ErinsAudioCorner/index_eac.html

great. so now i need to figure out why there's two different sets of information. bit annoying.

 

[staticV3]

great. so now i need to figure out why there's two different sets of information. bit annoying.

One is created by Erin by hand, the other uses Erin's response data and algorithmically calculated the ideal filter.

One is not necessarily better than the other, just try both and see which you prefer.

 

[pio80]

Should perform even better with Erin's corrective EQ loaded into the WiiM Amp:
View attachment 503380

Spoiler: Parameters

Preamp: -2.9 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 58 Hz Gain +2.94 dB Q 1.22
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 130 Hz Gain -0.96 dB Q 1.70
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 235 Hz Gain +0.75 dB Q 1.29
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1121 Hz Gain -5.07 dB Q 2.99
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1161 Hz Gain +2.98 dB Q 1.53
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 6361 Hz Gain -2.03 dB Q 1.10
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 13652 Hz Gain -4.08 dB Q 0.81

Have You got corrective parameters EQ for Micca maybe?
But I think that it will not change much, it plays nicely out of the box.

 

[Power Pop 23]

Have You got corrective parameters EQ for Micca maybe?
But I think that it will not change much, it plays nicely out of the box.

Yes

See post # 16 of this thread for corrective parameters EQ for the Micca.

 

[staticV3]

Have You got corrective parameters EQ for Micca maybe?
But I think that it will not change much, it plays nicely out of the box.

Here are more EQ corrections for Micca speakers: https://www.spinorama.org/?brand=Micca

For the MB42X G2 I recommend you try all three (both presets from post #16 and the one from Spinorama) and just stick with the one that sounds best.

That takes care of the speaker itself (within the limitations of unit variation).

Add room correction on top, so Notch filters below ~400Hz to counteract room mode peaks, and you'll have a great playback system.

For the latter you need an actual microphone.
HouseCurve for iOS works, something like the iMM-6C or Micbooster EM258 is better, a UMIK-1 is best.

 

[Talisman]

Even for 200 euros I think it will be difficult to find better. I have a pair of Presonus 3.5 on my desk, they don't do any better.

Spoiler
and instead the presonus eris 3.5 are definitely worse from the next review...
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-eris-3-5-gen-2-powered-speaker-review.64076/