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Micca MB42X G2 Budget Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Now I need something similar.
I mean size price and performance wise but available in Europe.
Anyone? Anything?
ps. Could be something even smaller to use it on my PC desk
I mean size price and performance wise but available in Europe.
Anyone? Anything?
ps. Could be something even smaller to use it on my PC desk
Last edited:
Waxx
Major Contributor
Not exellent, but not bad at all, especially in it's priceclass. It has only minor issues it seems.
KrzyMoogle
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Sent these in to Amir a while back after trying to help a friend find some quality, passive, budget-bookshelf speakers. The wait for the review was worth it, glad that we ended up landing on a winner!
Thank you so much again Amir for the time and effort for the review, and for all the work you do getting through all these submissions from members. We're very lucky to be able to have your expertise to verify quality at low cost!
Thank you so much again Amir for the time and effort for the review, and for all the work you do getting through all these submissions from members. We're very lucky to be able to have your expertise to verify quality at low cost!
JSmith
Master Contributor
JBL 305P MkII?
Bleib
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Edifier mr3 might be quite great as well. At least Erin liked them
Waxx
Major Contributor
The Edifer R1580MB is great and arround the same pricerange. A friend uses them as outside speakers, and the first set did survive 3 very wet and cold belgian winters outside (under a cover) before diying. He bought exact the same speakers again for the same role because he likes them... And they are not only sturdy, they also sound quiet good, best that i heared in that pricerange.
audio_tony
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Amazon UK have them. Prices seem to be a bit silly though, unless I've found the wrong item.
But then, everything here in the UK is more expensive for some strange reason.
AudioSceptic
Major Contributor
$100 for a pair? That's got to be some of the best value I've ever seen for any audio product, ever! Just ridiculously good.This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Micca MB42X G2 low cost 2-way bookshelf speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $100 for a pair, shipping included.
View attachment 427630
I expected thin, cheap plywood construction but instead, found a robust composite enclosure that actually manages to look like a professional monitor. You could sell them for $400 and I would not complain about the case being too cheap. Likewise, the woofer gives a feeling of quality. Whether it delivers on that, will be seen in the measurements.
Please note that there are multiple models in this series with very close sounding names. This is the latest "generation 2" version and company does a good job of showing the contrast with older design:
If you are not familiar with my speaker measurements, please watch this video tutorial:
Micca MB42X G2 Speaker Measurements
Let's start with our anechoic measurements:
View attachment 427632
I must say, this is quite a bit better than I expected! At high level, the response is pretty flat. There are minor variations but those tend to not be very audible. There is a slight bias toward low frequencies which is the opposite of what we typically see ("anti-showroom sound"). That lends to bass that extends pretty low for the class.
Given the relatively close sizes of the drivers, I expected directivity error to be smaller. This is likely to letting the woofer go up a bit too high, causing it to beam relative to the wide dispersion of tweeter at those frequencies (2 to 3 KHz). This results in fair amount of off-axis error:
View attachment 427633
As result, the predicted in-room response has a hole in it:
View attachment 427634
Measuring close to the port, we see a cabinet/port resonance that is responsible for some of the fine frequency response errors:
View attachment 427635
I started to measure the speaker at 86 dBSPL, expecting to hear a lot of distortion but could hardly detect any. Even at 90 dBSPL, response was very controlled:
View attachment 427636
View attachment 427637
Only when I went to 96 dBSPL (not shown) did hear a metallic ringing sound from the port. The high frequencies are especially clean here.
Impedance dips quite low which when combined with low sensitivity, calls for robust and high power amplifier:
View attachment 427638
Dispersion is wide which should make for a spacious, pleasing soundstage:
View attachment 427639
View attachment 427640
Vertical as always narrow but better than many due to smaller woofer:
View attachment 427642
Waterfall as usual shows some resonances:
View attachment 427643
Finally here is the step response for fans of that:
View attachment 427644
Micca MB42X G2 Listening Tests
I had a good feeling about this speaker and it delivered in listening tests. The slightly boosted bass and deep response in that region provided wonderful warmth. Distortion was kept impressively low, allowing me to pump a bunch of watts into this little speaker. Highs were impeccable at times due to spacious nature of them and their clarity. Yes, occasionally the bass got a bit tubby and that is to be expected given lack of equalization for room response.
I dialed in a quick boost in the 2 kHz range but didn't like the results. The sound became brighter than I liked. I have very thick carpet so likely the hole is not as bad in my situation.
At times, unbelievably, the MB42X G2 sounded like a quality studio monitor. I sat there listening to long list of my reference tracks. About 70% sounded wonderful which is far higher percentage than I expect from a speaker anywhere close to this cost.
Conclusions
It seems that micca has really made forward progress in their budget speaker here. Performance, objectively and especially subjectively, is all you can ask for at this price and then some. The small woofer does wonders for bass response despite its size. The only "cost" is low sensitivity which in this day and age, is not a problem at all with amplification being so cheap.
I am going to recommend the Micca MB42X G2 speaker. I am told it goes on sale for even less than $100. If so, be sure to pick up a pair.
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Nice price, however as the last element of the chain between recorded Music and our sensory apparatus, spending some more gets you a lot more. I am very surprised how the new generation of 10 to 18 y/o are not drawn to the quality reproduced Music, with the great quality to price ratio availability of speakers, sources and amplifiers for a few dollars. In my young days everything was way more expensive and quality way worst.
somebodyelse
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Check the supplier's reviews. I'd be more confident buying from the US site and paying the shipping, then hoping they didn't need returning.
DSJR
Major Contributor
Yet for my lot in the 60s and 70s, the MUSIC always came first and shone through
uwotm8
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Call me smug but these are good only among other "$100 passive speakers" and for me that whole idea is sort of "yes, but no". IMO it's rather wasted money, because any hobbyist will get rid of these soon while non-hobbyist need some simplier solution with integrated amp.
Not even mentioning second hand speakers which are almost always a better idea if you're on low budget and want to get the best bang for your bucks.
And even with new speakers just go a bit up in price and you get better options, starting with all those JBL and Polks on permanent 50% sale.
At the end, if you can get LSR305Ps for $100 each (or KRK or 5" PreSonus) you're basically getting better sound for the same money as far as you need an amp for passives.
Not even mentioning second hand speakers which are almost always a better idea if you're on low budget and want to get the best bang for your bucks.
And even with new speakers just go a bit up in price and you get better options, starting with all those JBL and Polks on permanent 50% sale.
At the end, if you can get LSR305Ps for $100 each (or KRK or 5" PreSonus) you're basically getting better sound for the same money as far as you need an amp for passives.
I am pretty sure the older Micca mb42 models are sold / rebranded by a company called LonPoo and called the LP-42 in the UK and Europe, but this company doesn't seem to have used any newer models of MB32x models:
theREALdotnet
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But we don't want to absorb at 2kHz, do we. Floor bounce is already very low there, because the speaker doesn't send much energy down that way around 2kHz.
To compensate, we would ideally reflect the 2kHz region more. This is not really practical, so reducing floor bounce across a broad range (including the 2kHz region) is a good way of smoothing out the estimated in-room response, by lowering the entire floor bounce curve and diminishing its impact on the overall in-room response. A thick carpet can do that.
Personally I would cut down all early reflections to emphasise direct sound.
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