Micca MB42X Advanced Bookshelf Speakers for Home Theater Surround Sound, Stereo, and Passive Near Field Monitor, 2-Way (Black, Pair)

I was looking for a quality, but fairly compact, speaker setup for my PC. (I grew tired of buying low-quality, all-in-one speaker systems designed for PCs, like those from Logitech, Klipsch, and many others; They may sound decent for a while, but quickly start having problems.) Micca is constantly mentioned and highly regarded in many "budget audiophile" and "best-for-price" audio hardware reviews from many different corners of the web. The MB42X delivers on these promises. It does indeed seem like one of best compact speakers for the price.Beautiful build quality and attention to detail, especially in this price class. The same can be said of my OriGain AD250 amplifier, and seemingly all of Micca's products. Mine was combined with Dayton Audio SUB-800 subwoofer, and Micca OriGain AD250 amplifier (thanks to its very handy pre-out, easily connected to the sub's RCA inputs). Sounds fantastic all-together, and makes for a quality stereo setup, especially if size is an issue. Compared nicely to my larger Polk R150 speakers: a bit warmer, with more mid and high-end response and clarity (but obviously less low-end). Very nifty magnetic speaker grills. I can happily recommend this product. Bravo to Micca. I also appreciate that all relevant information is provided, cleanly and neatly, through top-notch manuals, product descriptions and photos at Miccatron website and Amazon. Small issues: Speaker binding posts seem a bit short, as they don't fit my banana plugs very securely (common Monoprice closed-screw type, fit other speakers fine).More specs and highlights: Woofer: 4 inch, carbon fiber, rubber surround. Tweeter: 0.75 inch, silk dome. Crossover: 18 dB per octave, 9-element (MKIII). Design: Ported. Frequency response: 60 Hz - 20 kHz. Sensitivity: 85dB (1W at 1M). Impedance: 4-8 ohms. Power handling: 75 watts (each). Inputs: Binding posts (5-way). Dimensions: 10 x 6 x 7 inches (H x W x D, rounded). Weight: 4 pounds (each). Color: Black (and more black).

Over the past few months I have been on a quest for the best budget audiophile bookshelf speaker system. So far I have tested the Fluance SX6's, Dayton Audio B652's, B652-AIR's and these MIcca MB42X's. The Micca are an incredible value and one of my top picks.DESIGNSome would call the design of MB42X's understated, boring even, but it's not terrible. They are your typical MDF speaker boxes with a flat, vinyl black coating. The 3.5 woofers step the look up a bit with carbon fiber. The tweeters are behind a vinyl dome and look nice as well. ONe of my favorite design elements is the magnetic speaker covers-which snap into place with a satisfying 'pop' sound. The MB42X's certainly won't win any design awards, but their understated design will look nice on most desks or speaker stands.One final note about their design, I really like the fact that they accept banana plugs. I'm not a huge fan of the spring-type wire jacks on most cheaper speaker (e.g. the Daytons). I was able to easily fit Aurum double-screw-type banana plugs into these speakers. This touch just makes the speakers seem a little more expensive than they actually are.SOUNDThis is the reason we spend hours researching the internet reading reviews such as this one. What does this speaker sound like? Is it worth dropping the asking price on it? With the MB42X's the answer is an emphatic "YES!" To date I have not heard speakers that sound this good for less than $100, let along $80! They have beautifully crisp highs and get quite low for their size. I was able to get them down to 40Hz with a little distortion, but 50Hz was absolutely spot on! I was amazed at the lows they could produce for such a small speaker with only a 3.5" woofer. I think the fact that they are ported helps a lot here. I had mine about 12" from the wall and I found that was about a close as one would want them in order to get the most out of their woofer and port.Where these types of speakers usually fail is in the mid range. Since they are basically a tweeter with a small sub they often struggle to produce accurate mid-range frequency. Although not perfect the Micca's are one of the better mid-range producing speakers I've heard for this price. Vocals are clear and smooth while tenner and baritone instruments really shine with accurate reproduction. As I type this I am listening to "Born To Run" by The Boss and Bruce's voice sounds like I imagine it would if I was in the studio. The tenner sax is clear and fills my 12x14' bedroom.Beyond this, the MB42X's produce and amazing soundstage. When I played "Royals" by Postmodern Jukebox Scott Bradlee's voice sounds like it is coming from center stage. The band sounds as if it is behind him with the piano on back right and the drum kit on back right. I can close my eyes and just imagine I am at a Postmodern Jukebox concert! Pretty impressive for a speaker of this size and price.The MB42X's aren't perfect thought. They don't get as loud as speakers with a larger woofer and box. Some may feel that they don't push the decibels as much as they would like. I am quite happy with their volume. They fill my 12x14' room with plenty of wall-shaking sound.CONCUSSIONIf you have $80 to spend on bookshelf speakers the Micca MB42X's should be on the top of your list. Don't be fooled by their size, they sound a bigger than they actually are. Out of all the bookshelf speakers I've testes so far the Fluance SX6's are my favorite, but these are VERY close second. If you don't need extreme volume save a few bucks and pick up the MB42X's.

To be brutally honest, I purchased this center channel speaker only because it fit the height requirements and the under $100 budget I had. When the 25+ year old Infinity CC-1 I had in my bedroom system decided to fail, I was stuck with the options of finding another one used or to try to find something new to replace it. The CC-1 was a solid performer, but had its shortcomings, so I decided on something new.The Micca unit I received was one of the gen3 with the 18dB/octave crossover, and quite frankly, I'm rather impressed with the performance it offers for both its size and the money. Don't get me wrong, it will never be confused with the performance of something from SVS, the ELAC Debuts or anything like that, but in the small space it fits in, it does the job quite well.It does require either some automatic or manual DSP to make up for its frequency response, but after that, I was very pleased. The first thing I threw at it after setting the SPL level and tweaking the EQ a bit were several movies that I know are infamous for having dialog that's difficult to hear in many scenes - in particular, several Nolan films. The Micca did not disappoint, and was often equal to and sometimes better than the Infinity CC-1. This center channel also handles handoffs between the Infinity RS-5s that are the front L/R channels seamlessly.In the end, if you have either space or budget constraints, this speaker works pretty well, at least in a smaller room. It handles the AV receiver having the crossover set at 80Hz with no problem, although 100Hz would probably be a better option in a larger room. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because it does require some EQ work in order to make it sound its best.