Jayh31,
Thank you for reminding me about this thread! I am happy to give a preliminary report.
I would say that I have something like 150 hours on the MM De Capo iA's at this point, although unfortunately I haven't been keeping an exact log. What I will say is that like the Dulcet's that I had previously, these speakers really benefit from break-in time. When I first received them, they sounded a bit shut in and vocals had a somewhat "cupped" or veiled quality, but that has completely disappeared with break in time. Tone and timbre all sound really good now, and everything continues to open up and sound more refined and delicate. Tash at Reference 3A told me that he is been told by customers that the MM De Capo iA will continue to break in and improve and that they are not fully broken in until they have logged somewhere between 300 and 500 hours, and I am not there yet. So I have every reason to expect that they will continue to improve.
So how do they compare to the Dulcet's?
I am hoping to post a full review of these, as I did for the Dulcet's, somewhere down the line, but here are some thoughts.
Of course, they go substantially lower, so that music sounds that much more fleshed out and substantial. My listening room is 16 feet by 13 feet by 8 feet, and at this point I can't imagine wanting a subwoofer.
Secondly, the MM De Capo iA's will play "bigger" than the Dulcet, with greater ease. Orchestral music, for example, sounds effortless and convincing in a room of moderate size like mine.
Furthermore, I have yet to have a sense of the MM De Capo iA's sounding stressed or overloaded at higher volumes. Some of this is certainly due to the larger drivers and cabinets. Some of it I also suspect is due to the fact that they are something like six decibels more efficient than their smaller brethren.
So what do they share with the Dulcet's? The emotionally communicative ability is there in full force. Furthermore, these, too, are imaging "monsters." They are also the most holographic speakers I have ever had in my listening room. Given the appropriate source material, they will throw a wall-to-wall sound field and will utterly vanish, acoustically, as sound sources. It can be quite thrilling.
I still have great affection for the Dulcet's and would recommend them without hesitation to someone looking for a truly fine mini monitor at a very reasonable price. The MM De Capo iA clearly shares their DNA but at a greater level of ease and refinement.
Allow me to also add that I am a happy enough camper that at this point I don't have any desire to mess with my speakers. I am more focused on seeing, for example, what taming some of the less than ideal acoustics in my room or trying new speaker cables might do. I guess that says something! :-)
Hope this helps.
