Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne

Robsker, Calloway,

I agree with Jonathan. Another way of saying it is that since the speaker is downstream of the electronics, if the setup with excellent upstream electronics sounds exceptional then that is testament to the transparency of the speaker just as much as the electronics themselves.

Therefore, one would expect that the same speaker with lesser electronics will mirror the sound of the electronics and not sound as good as with the better electronics, BUT that is not the fault of the speaker. In fact it is its strength. Also, I believe that the transparent speaker with lesser electrronics will still sound better than a less transparent speaker with those lesser electronics. The reason is that you will still hear the micro/macro dynamics, speed and transpareny of the speaker even though the electronics may be of a lower grsade.

Moreover, in my experience, most decent low-priced electronics are much better than you think. I believe, through experience, that speaker quality is much more critical than the the quality of the electronics.

At the end of the day, you want a speaker that sounds great with high priced electronics irrespective of the fact that you may use lower-priced electronics. My two cents.

Andrew

I definitely agree with Byroncunningham’s 4 observations and comments. I’m a recent owner of the MMMicroOne having taken delivery last week. I would add a 5th comment to his list.

5. Lack of transparency, lack of trustworthiness and deception damage trust.

I live in Tokyo, Japan and ended up having to pay $925.00 USD to have these shipped to me. That’s not what I thought I was getting into and led to believe. $925 shipping for a pair of $2500 speakers is mightily outrageous and I would not have done that had I know clearly upfront. But by the time it became obvious it was too late.

When shipping was invoiced to me I asked Jonathan if that was door to door. He indicated he thought it was and would check and call me back if it wasn’t. Anyway, I never got a call, the speakers arrived in Tokyo and that was when I was informed by the local shipper that the goods had been shipped only to the airport and I was liable for the delivery to my door.

I called Jonathan, sent numerous emails and he then indicated that apparently his agent decided in the last minute to charge only to the airport as apparently it would be cheaper for me to pay delivery from the airport versus having that included from the start.
This is exactly what he was supposed to check for me, but he obviously did not or he knew the charges would be large and decided to withhold the information such that I wouldn't pull the order.

I feel I was deceived and at a minimum, if that wasn’t the case, he did not follow through on his promise to validate the total shipping charges for me. I also found it odd delivery would only be charged to airport. I have purchased a lot of things overseas and shipping charges were always door to door.

I wonder if EA and their shipper are in cahoots and making unnecessary margins on shipping and deceiving perspective buyers. I bet had this been shipped by FEDEX or DHL the door to door charges would be a lot less than $900.

Anyway, on a scale of 1-10 I rate the customer service as a 1. Especially after the shipment invoice was paid and leading up to the shipment and during this payment crisis many many emails and phone messages went unanswered.

No matter how good a product might be, customer service and trust comes first and had I know it would end up this way I would not have purchased these speakers.

I caution all overseas buyers to look at your shipping charges very carefully and ask for DDU or DDP charges that pay for the charge door to door.

All,
I would like to set the record straight on a few things.

Firstly, after re-reading my comments about Evolution Acoustics and Jonathan I have to admit that they were too harsh, very negative and accusatory beyond the line of professionalism. For this I apologize openly to Evolution Acoustics and Jonathan and to the readers. These comments don’t really represent my general view but were derived out of acute frustration over a couple of days at the time and after the speakers were shipped and the issues I noted were happening. All that frustration led to a very hasty and “explosive” email.

Secondly, I later realized that Jonathan had been out of town and unable to respond to emails exactly at this time, so what I understood as a lack of support was a misunderstanding and misinterpretation on my part. After he returned , Jonathan responded in force and was extremely understanding and supportive of the situation. His explanation of the details of what happened helped to ease my mind and resolved my concerns. I can understand this because I often travel and sometime go through days without being able to respond to important emails.

Thirdly, and most importantly, Jonathan and Evolution Acoustics are indeed a top notch outfit and readers should not take my particular situation too much too heart. What I didn’t say in my post was all of the good things Jonathan had done in terms of customer service. I had originally planned to buy the speakers close to one year or more ago. Throughout the wait period, Jonathan was always good to explain the status and what was leading to some of the delays. Throughout these conversations and emails I actually enjoyed talking to him and learned a few things about stereos, but especially some tips on great hard to find records, which were a little easier for me to find in Japan. I said all that to say that Jonathan is a cool guy and very good to talk to and was supportive through the process.

Having started a joint venture in China over the last two years I can certainly understand the potential for delays! You will be promised the world, but things get done “when they get done”. The delays on the speakers were understandable, and I hung on for the entire period waiting for them. It was worth the wait.

They are still breaking in, but I can say that these are truly special speakers. The fit and finish and manufacturing quality are exceptionally good. But the sound, is the real thing. You get A LOT of speaker for the money. They are extremely dynamic (macro/micro), very clear, transparent and open across the range. This adds up to very lifelike presentation. The bass is actually pretty good and surprising for the size. I expect this will further improve with break-in. The real amazing driver is the tweeter. This is an incredible unit that seems to cover a large range.

Also, for those worried whether or not these will sound good with inexpensive gear, you need not worry. I’m using a $1,200 integrated amp (Exposure 2012S2) and it sounds amazing. In fact I believe that these speakers will greatly elevate the quality of most inexpensive systems.

Anyway, I’ll report back after more break-i n. But I wanted to say thanks to Jonathan for his comments above, to retract my concerns about customer service, and to thank them for their support through the waiting period and for such an exceptional speaker. Even though the shipping was expensive, this was one of the most worthwhile investments I ever made. Trust me and the others, you will not be disappointed with the sound of these speakers.

Hello folks,

I have been living with the MMMicro ones for a while now and can confidently say that it is a superb sounding speaker and excellent value.

It has anazing timing, coherence, resolution, and dynamics. The tweeter on the unit is a tour de force. That said the mids/bass are good to. The speaker does have good bass within its range.

The speaker defintely improves with break-in. Bass more clearly defined and deeper and the tweeter, while very hot initially is mellowing with time.

This speaker can defintely play with the big boys and improvements in quality to the front end will not be wasted.

Highly recommended.

Andrew

Glory,

I heard the Magico V2 a very long time ago. I was impressed at the time. I think this is the sweet-spot in their line and I'm not a big fan of the aluminum-enclosure speakers even though they get a lot of good press. I have heard systems at CES that the reviewers raved about which I thouhgt were excriutiatingly brigth and just horrible...one of them was the aluminum M6 or 7 (their original big aluminum speaker).

The V2 was very smooth, relaxed but very detailed and coherent. A very good speaker. To me the MMMicro-1 is more open and neutral sounding without sounding analytical.

I have heard the Magico M-1's 2-way. As far as 2-ways go, 25K or 2.5K for the MMM-1....that only takes a second of thought. I would use the difference in money in the front end.

I like full range speakers...but I would be a little cautious in using a sub with the MMM-1. My concern is screwing up some of the balance and qualities of MMM-1.

I'm not a big fan of subs. Better to get a fully integrated design as "all of the parts are meant to fit together".

The MM-1 excells at upper bass and mid-bass but don't do low bass well as they are not designed for that.

All that said, the MMM-1 is an exceptional speaker and withing it's design range I would not chose another 2-way. AND, you would have to spend a lot of money to get a three-way with the level of performance in the mid/treble.

Have fun,

andrew

Andrew

I agree with Dinder1. The MMM-1 is better than the LS50. The LS50 is nice, but does not have the lows the MMM-1 has and it also sounds "boxey". the LS50 would make a great bookshlef speaker in a nearfield situation like at your desk.

Andrew