CES 2012

Evolution's MMMicroOne

John Atkinson  |  Jan 20, 2012

I missed this tiny jewel of a speaker when it made its debut at the 2011 T.H.E.Show, but it's now in production. As I sat down to listen to it at this year's show, I asked what it cost.

"25."

Okay, $25,000/pair is not unheard of for high-performance minimonitors; the Sonus Faber, Magico, and Franco Serblin stand-mount speakers are even more expensive.

"No, 25 hundred per pair. With the stands.

Now that is extremely affordable for a speaker that gave one of the best sounds I heard in Las Vegas, even if it is manufactured "overseas." Driven by a darTZeel NHB-108 stereo amplifier and a darTZeel preamp, with the source the new Emotion media server software from Merging Technologies (of pro-audio Pyramix fame) running on a Windows laptop and feeding DSD data via USB to a Playback Designs MPS-3, these little speakers produced a huge soundstage yet with extraordinary dynamics. The bass drum thwacks at the start of the Tilson-Thomas/San Francisco performance of Mahler's Symphony 3 were simply awesome!

System power was being sourced from two Audience aR6-TS Adept Response power conditioners. The MMMicroOne's drivers are all custom. The tweeter uses a Kapton diaphragm and is similar to an AMT type while the twin long-throw 4" woofers use a sandwich cone formed from a magnesium core with ceramic on both sides, Excursion is claimed to be 6mm, linear, 20mm total, with extension to 35Hz.

COMMENTS
Jeff0000's picture
Submitted by Jeff0000 on January 20, 2012 - 3:29pm

Who manufactures those speaker cables? It looks like they weigh more than the speakers!

 

Jeff

damballah's picture
Submitted by damballah on January 20, 2012 - 5:47pm

 

 

They look like the Evolution Acoustics house brand cable.  They're very interesting if you give them a look on the website.  

Jeff0000's picture
Submitted by Jeff0000 on January 21, 2012 - 6:50pm

I think you're right on both counts ... that they are Evolution Acoustics and the web site is very interesting. Thanks!

Jeff

Stephen Scharf's picture
Submitted by Stephen Scharf on January 21, 2012 - 10:47am

John,

I heard the Micro Ones twice, at the CA Audio Show in Burlingame and at RMAF and was blown away both times. Amazing performance from a $2500 monitor. 

They've been able to get down to 35 Hz in the right room setup. 

'Course the DarTZeel gear doesn't hurt, either...

nirodha's picture
Submitted by nirodha on January 22, 2012 - 1:10am

I am NOT dissing the Micro Ones...but with this kind of overkill you should have named the story: Dartzeel Monos (which happen to strut their stuff through Micro Ones). A superlative amp (like this one) can enlive a corpse. wink

NO ONE in the world will buy the Dartzeel monos and hook them up with Micro Ones....and NO ONE will buy Micro Ones in order to save some money to buy the Dartzeel Monos.

John Atkinson's picture
Submitted by John Atkinson on January 22, 2012 - 6:32am

Quote:
with this kind of overkill you should have named the story: Dartzeel Monos...

My beat at CES was expensive speakers, which is why I concentrated on the Evolutions. As I wrote, Michael Fremer will be writing about the darTZeel amplifiers in a future issue of the magazine.

John Atkinson

Editor, Stereophile

nirodha's picture
Submitted by nirodha on January 23, 2012 - 10:24am

Hi John,

I know. But it raises an interesting question: is it ethically right to hail a component when its merits are so dependent on superior components making it "sing"? Maybe a nice topic for a future Stereophile ;-)

Love yer work and magazine John.

Wim

John Hall's picture
Submitted by John Hall on January 26, 2012 - 5:19pm

Yes, it is overkill to match those components together, but i felt it was done to show how well the speakers will hold up with eguipment that is ultra resolving. If they weren't up to snuff, i'm sure the word would have gotten around by now. These are speakers with the looks and performance that makes them very interesting. Gotta go play the lotto now......i got a dollar and a dream!

Dan Moroboshi's picture
Submitted by Dan Moroboshi on October 30, 2012 - 2:42am

Hey John Atkinson,

I just heard its higher brother at show in Brazil last week MM3.

But this little brother looks like amazing.

Would I suggest you to review at Stereophile? This is a product that I think you personally would be interest based on the previous review of 'tiny' loudspeakers back on 2 or 3 years ago.

es347's picture
Submitted by es347 on December 18, 2012 - 3:09pm

..you guessed it..CHINA

X