Micca MB42X G2 Budget Speaker Review

[Esprit]

Different drivers with a different spacing in a different enclosure. It might measure similarly, but no more likely than any other similarly sized speaker.

My reference, however, was to the price range of the Miccas compared to the JBLs (JBLs that I find here for €280 and up).

 

[kemmler3D]

My reference, however, was to the price range of the Miccas compared to the JBLs (JBLs that I find here for €280 and up).

Here in the US they're going for about $250/pair and you can get them for less (maybe $180/pr) if you go for a return or open-box.

In light of that, at least for US folks, they're close in price to the Miccas if you also need to buy an amp, and the JBLs have better directivity.

Between the two speakers I wouldn't call it a total blowout for the JBLs, but personally I'd lean in that direction if it were my money.

Either way I think the good news is there is now another option for something we can call a legitimately decent speaker, for the price of a few pizzas.

 

[RickS]

Micca PB42X Powered Bookshelf Speakers | Micca Electronics

www.miccatron.com

"The PB42X is how we take an already great product and make it even better. It is the natural extension of the MB42X’s success – everything we love about the MB42X is there, and now powered. The frontier of affordable high quality sound is pushed ahead even further with the addition of high quality amplification."

$139.99/pr at Amazon.

Powered variant might be fine for convenience but is very doubtful as a sound quality improvement. Not like they added an active crossover or dsp. In fact, Micca advertises that "The critical 8-element crossover is also completely unchanged...".

Also confirms my earlier speculation. The pic is of the older crossover (9 elements rather than 8).

 

[totti1965]

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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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

"I dialed in a quick boost in the 2 kHz range but didn't like the results."

@amirm: Perhaps this is the reason why you can´t do everything wrong at 2 kHz and you even also can´t do anything right at 2 kHz while listening stereo (no solution possible - it is simply due to the 160 mm difference in transit time between the right and left ear):

So in your case (music you have selected) an equalization at 2 kHz was a bad choice for most content.

 

[JohnBooty]

It's great to see Micca carrying on the tradition of these speakers. I'm not very active any more, but on the budgetaudiophile subreddit the MB42/MB42X and the Pioneer BS22 were our "cheapest recommended speakers, if you must buy new" for a looooooooooong time.

I’m reminded of this guy’s reviews, always an interesting read. There’s a powered version of it too.

Micca PB42x Powered Bookshelf Speaker Review

noaudiophile.com

He was the king. He's really the reason I got into this hobby -- his objective measurement-based approach really appealed to me.

He also pioneered that approach of: "here's a budget speaker, and here are DSP optimizations that compensate for a lot of their flaws, particularly for near-field listening"

Hearing cheap mediocre speakers transformed into impressive performers with some simple DSP tweaks was a revelation to me.

 

[VientoB]

These seem to be hard to find in UK.

 

[theREALdotnet]

"I dialed in a quick boost in the 2 kHz range but didn't like the results."

@amirm: Perhaps this is the reason why you can´t do everything wrong at 2 kHz and you even also can´t do anything right at 2 kHz while listening stereo (no solution possible - it is simply due to the 160 mm difference in transit time between the right and left ear):

So in your case (music you have selected) an equalization at 2 kHz was a bad choice for most content.

There is nothing special about 2kHz. The frequency at which extinction occurs depends on the geometry of the speaker-listener triangle. It lies around 2kHz with isosceles listener triangles that are bit more squat than equilateral.

For example, with these values used for the speaker-to-speaker and the speaker-to-ear distance, I get the following extinction frequencies, assuming an inter-ear distance of 16cm.

Typical (?) desk setup:
(very squat isosceles)
Speaker to speaker = 1.5m
Speaker to ear = 0.8m
Extinction at 1242Hz

My near(ish) field setup:
(elongated isosceles)
Speaker to speaker = 2m
Speaker to ear = 2.2m
Extinction at 2396Hz

Example distances for extinction at almost exactly 2000Hz:
6m/5.5m
3m/2.76m
2m/1.82m

 

[DSJR]

"BBC"/presence dip is rather around 3 kHz, the typical 2-way 2 kHz radiation discontinuity dip is and sounds quite different.

The BBC LS5/8 and 5/9 had their dips in the upper hundred Hertz region (I have makers' plots to show this) and the 5/9 actually tended to a small peak at 3kHz (the files aren't on this computer so I can't get to them). Many speaker makers for whatever reason, seem to allow a presence dip for I suspect, various reasons to maybe aid 'listening comfort' more than anything else

 

[beagleman]

It's great to see Micca carrying on the tradition of these speakers. I'm not very active any more, but on the budgetaudiophile subreddit the MB42/MB42X and the Pioneer BS22 were our "cheapest recommended speakers, if you must buy new" for a looooooooooong time.



He was the king. He's really the reason I got into this hobby -- his objective measurement-based approach really appealed to me.

He also pioneered that approach of: "here's a budget speaker, and here are DSP optimizations that compensate for a lot of their flaws, particularly for near-field listening"

Hearing cheap mediocre speakers transformed into impressive performers with some simple DSP tweaks was a revelation to me.

Fan of his stuff from the beginning also!
Have to wonder, did he really just stop reviewing or what, have not seen much new by him in a while?

 

[anphex]

Mostly smooth FR and a super wide dispersion at that price? Count me in.

 

[RickS]

There is nothing special about 2kHz. The frequency at which extinction occurs depends on the geometry of the speaker-listener triangle. It lies around 2kHz with isosceles listener triangles that are bit more squat than equilateral.

For example, with these values used for the speaker-to-speaker and the speaker-to-ear distance, I get the following extinction frequencies, assuming an inter-ear distance of 16cm.

Typical (?) desk setup:
(very squat isosceles)
Speaker to speaker = 1.5m
Speaker to ear = 0.8m
Extinction at 1242Hz

My near(ish) field setup:
(elongated isosceles)
Speaker to speaker = 2m
Speaker to ear = 2.2m
Extinction at 2396Hz

Example distances for extinction at almost exactly 2000Hz:
6m/5.5m
3m/2.76m
2m/1.82m

Adding that Amir listens to only one speaker as well, agree that this is not the major issue that the youtuber alleges.

 

[GWolfman]

Depends on speaker placement and how far away the listener is. Assuming placement near-ish to a wall and 8 feet away:

View attachment 427831

As you can see, even with the low sensitivity you don't need a lot of power to get that very loud average SPL (are you sure you want your kid listening that loud in their room?). However, the problem arises when you try to get 20dB of headroom for peaks:

View attachment 427832

Even with 1000W on tap, we're still a bit shy of hitting 110dB on the peaks. This is where higher sensitivity speakers shine:

View attachment 427833

A speaker with 90dB sensitivity can hit 110dB with only 150W on tap.

Of course this is largely academic: with a budget speaker with a 4" woofer, you're going to get some pretty gnarly distortion on those peaks anyway, even if you had the power on hand to drive it to those levels. You need more/bigger/better woofers to get high SPLs without the speaker starting to fall apart.

Keep your expectations in check, and be more realistic about the likely actual SPL levels you (or your kid) are going to be listening at, and this speaker will probably do just fine. An average SPL of 80dB is actually pretty dang loud, and then looking at 100dB for dynamic peaks:

View attachment 427834

Only 118W needed for those peaks, and you can get that no problem with, say, a Wiim Amp or the like.

Much appreciated!

Do you have a link for the calculator you used? Thanks!

 

[kyuu]

Much appreciated!

Do you have a link for the calculator you used? Thanks!

Glad to help. SPL calculator here.

 

[pathtonowhere]

Mostly smooth FR and a super wide dispersion at that price? Count me in.

Wide dispersion isn't always good, especially in an untreated room. If the dispersion is very uneven, too, like in this case, it's a huge minus for me.

 

[kyuu]

Wide dispersion isn't always good, especially in an untreated room. If the dispersion is very uneven, too, like in this case, it's a huge minus for me.

Is the dispersion uneven? It looks remarkably similar to the Revel M105, at least going by the -6dB lines:

If you go out to the -12dB and further, it's definitely not as good.

In any case, Amir's listening test doesn't seem to have revealed any issues with the dispersion. I don't believe the space he uses for listening tests has any treatment beyond normal room furnishings.

 

[staticV3]

Is the dispersion uneven? It looks remarkably similar to the Revel M105, at least going by the -6dB lines:

Here are the full graphs:


The Micca is a smidge wider, though neither is super well controlled.

Edit: For reference

 

[Adaboy4z]

Everyone has a pile of Minimus 7s loitering around doing nothing. Throw them out and buy a pair of these little miccas.

I use mine on the desktop with an Episode Evo 6 inch powered sub.

 

[Acerun]

Isn't that $178 for one? $100 is for a pair of the Miccas.

It says active studio monitor pair

 

[totti1965]

Here are the full graphs:
View attachment 428667 View attachment 428668

The Micca is a smidge wider, though neither is super well controlled.

Edit: For reference
View attachment 428670

Please let us know, which speaker is shown in the reference graph!
Audio First Fidelia? Genelec? KEF Blade 2?

 

[anphex]

Here are the full graphs:
View attachment 428667 View attachment 428668

The Micca is a smidge wider, though neither is super well controlled.

Edit: For reference
View attachment 428670

The main issue with speakers that have extremely precise directivity control is that they tend to have a rather narrow dispersion. Personally, I’d prefer a speaker that’s slightly less linear but offers reasonably controlled, very wide dispersion over a perfectly flat speaker with limited coverage.

I recently switched to KEF Reference speakers, and I’ve been missing the spacious sound of Nubert’s NuVero series so much that I’m now searching for a used pair of NuVero 70s—especially since they’re being phased out. Their 100°+ dispersion creates a uniquely “live” feeling that I never realized I’d miss this much.

Reference review: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/nubert-nuvero-60-speaker-review.54390/
Note that "70" was not a typo, the 60 were tested but the 70s have even wider dispersion do due thinner baffle and lower crossovers compared to the 60.