Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne loudspeakers

[KeithR]

When I demo'd the MicroOnes, they were toed in behind my head by the dealer.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

When I demo'd the MicroOnes, they were toed in behind my head by the dealer.

I've set them up at shows before and spent many hours in a number of systems with them. what seems to work best is to start with the seating position and the speakers (tweeters) in an equilateral triangle with the speakers aimed at the top of a few inches in from the outside of your shoulders. then depending on the room effect slight experimentation in and out until you get lock-in. the Micro One's are sensitive to level (tweeter aiming) for optimal performance. footers ( Wave Kinetics 2NS work well) matter too. they are a high resolution device.

enjoy!

 

[reverendo]

When I demo'd the MicroOnes, they were toed in behind my head by the dealer.

Thanks, Keith. Will try that and take it from there.

I've set them up at shows before and spent many hours in a number of systems with them. what seems to work best is to start with the seating position and the speakers (tweeters) in an equilateral triangle with the speakers aimed at the top of a few inches in from the outside of your shoulders. then depending on the room effect slight experimentation in and out until you get lock-in. the Micro One's are sensitive to level (tweeter aiming) for optimal performance. footers ( Wave Kinetics 2NS work well) matter too. they are a high resolution device.

enjoy!

Thanks Mike,
What do you mean by lock-in?
Tweeter aiming would be similar to rake angle? Should I be aiming for ear level?
Will take a look at the footers, too, but don't want to overspend.

 

[LarsS]

Will take a look at the footers, too, but don't want to overspend.

Footers (very affordable Soundcare superspikes) made a big difference for me when I had the Microones, now stored awaiting my son moving to his own place.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Thanks Mike,
What do you mean by lock-in?

there is a point of the toe-in/toe-out adjustment where the balance occurs between the height, width, and depth of the image and where the music focus and tonal balance seems optimal. I find that the dynamic energy level and tonal balance kinda 'locks-in'. the opposite of that would be lack of focus or substance. we are talking very small angle changes. a laser pointer tool is handy for small incremental adjustments. hang a piece of cardboard on a tripod behind the seating position, find the true center, estimate the listening shoulder positions to find the resulting points on that cardboard as a starting point, a useful demo track to use, and go to work.

the great thing is with a small form factor (not light weight) speaker like the Micro One's it is not a logistical challenge to experiment.

Tweeter aiming would be similar to rake angle? Should I be aiming for ear level?

you want both speakers to be aimed on the same plane horizontally. if one speaker is aimed differently than the other even slightly that will be audible and hurt the performance. obviously this is important for any speaker system.

and yes; depending on how close you sit height becomes more critical. the smaller your equilateral triangle the closer to exact tweeter level your ears need to be. ideally your ears should be at the same height as the tweeter. but if that would not be feasible then you can aim the tweeter up or down by changing the level of the speaker. small spaces sometimes require out-of-box thinking.

consult with Evolution Acoustics on minimum listening distances if you get real close.

Will take a look at the footers, too, but don't want to overspend.

the 2NS are not cheap I agree; I use them on my MM7's. I've heard what they do for the Micro One's and so therefore recommend them. the Micro One's play in a league quite a ways above their price point so when you start to consider optimizing them using high quality tweaks can pay big dividends. you might investigate getting a set of 2NS on demo to see whether it earns it's keep in the context of your budget. it just might do that.

overall the Micro One is a fun speaker to set up since it's easy to handle, and it rewards precise set up handsomely as it very highly resolving. you will get the benefit of your efforts.

 

[reverendo]

the Micro One's play in a league quite a ways above their price point so when you start to consider optimizing them using high quality tweaks can pay big dividends. you might investigate getting a set of 2NS on demo to see whether it earns it's keep in the context of your budget. it just might do that.

overall the Micro One is a fun speaker to set up since it's easy to handle, and it rewards precise set up handsomely as it very highly resolving. you will get the benefit of your efforts.

Thanks for all the info Mike. I share your view in believing that they punch way above their price range. I had budgeted for three times more and still preferred them over all the other speakers that I was auditioning (I got mine at their first price). They have an incredible tonal balance and a coherent and wide frequency bandwidth, a trait that is extremely important in order to reproduce each sound's harmonics correctly, which results in above average texture and timbre reproduction in this price range. Their speed is, in my opinion, probably their greatest strength, which results in a very resolved and clear reproduction.
I'll try to play with speaker placement in order to see if I can get the depth that I believe that they can deliver. I'll probably have to find longer speaker cables, since mine are stretched to the max.
I'm very, VERY curious in regards to the MicroTwos.

 

[reverendo]

Footers (very affordable Soundcare superspikes) made a big difference for me when I had the Microones, now stored awaiting my son moving to his own place.

I remember you mentioning them, LarsS. Thanks for reminding me.

 

[KeithR]

I've set them up at shows before and spent many hours in a number of systems with them. what seems to work best is to start with the seating position and the speakers (tweeters) in an equilateral triangle with the speakers aimed at the top of a few inches in from the outside of your shoulders. then depending on the room effect slight experimentation in and out until you get lock-in. the Micro One's are sensitive to level (tweeter aiming) for optimal performance. footers ( Wave Kinetics 2NS work well) matter too. they are a high resolution device.

enjoy!

Interesting, thinking more about it Ed aligned them a few inches outside my shoulders where my sofa cushion ends---this also correlated with a laser point behind my head around 2ft on the wall. We couldn't bring them in the room as much as we wanted to (around 3' max) and that might have been why.

 

[reverendo]

I followed LarsS' advice and got myself the soundcare spikes. They should be arriving next week. Let's see how that goes.
BTW, I'd love to have ideas in regards to an amp with good high current, preferably on the used market, that would work well with the MicroOnes. I'm looking to help my brother get an upgrade.
At the moment he uses the Audio Aero Prima DAC MkII (Capitole without transport) directly into a Krell 250a to drive them. I'm looking to give him a little more body and texture without losing neutrality and extension. Budget is around $2k used. I'm aware of the Job, but am not sure that it'll help achieve the specific goals.
Thanks in advance

 

[edorr]

I followed LarsS' advice and got myself the soundcare spikes. They should be arriving next week. Let's see how that goes.
BTW, I'd love to have ideas in regards to an amp with good high current, preferably on the used market, that would work well with the MicroOnes. I'm looking to help my brother get an upgrade.
At the moment he uses the Audio Aero Prima DAC MkII (Capitole without transport) directly into a Krell 250a to drive them. I'm looking to give him a little more body and texture without losing neutrality and extension. Budget is around $2k used. I'm aware of the Job, but am not sure that it'll help achieve the specific goals.
Thanks in advance

I am using the Job 225 with my EA Center Channel, which is essentially a flipped MMMicro One. Works beautifully although I have not compared to other amps.

 

[asiufy]

reverendo,

I've been particularly impressed with the Hegel integrated amps. Very solid construction, made in Norway, no bling, just great sound, and funcionality.
They all come with DACs, and the intermediary model in the line even comes with a streamer!
The entry level H80 is right into your budget...


alexandre

 

[audio.bill]

Alexandre - I agree with you about the excellent performance and value of Hegel gear. However if I may correct you on one point, while they are designed and engineered in Norway they are custom built for Hegel in China. This has been confirmed by Hegel US.

 

[asiufy]

I stand corrected then!
It only makes sense. It would've been an economical miracle to have these made in Norway.

 

[Audio_Karma]

Did you all see the Stereo Mojo review on these speakers....

http://www.stereomojo.com

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Did you all see the Stereo Mojo review on these speakers....

http://www.stereomojo.com

yes we did.

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...roOne-Wins-2014-Stereomojo-Maximum-Mojo-Award

 

[myrman]

Are the any UK based members on here that own a pair of MicroOnes?

 

[LarsS]

Are the any UK based members on here that own a pair of MicroOnes?

Hi there,

Well, close enough maybe - Sweden/Stockholm. Bought mine from DarTZeel Switzerland a few years ago. Nicest man on earth to do business with.

Drove them with nCore NC400 monoblocks initially, extremely bad match. Later replaced the Hypex nCore's with a hybrid amp that could deliver enough current (which the speakers require). Sound acceptable/good then.

Only had them operational for a year or so, now boxed up since a few years awaiting my son to move into his own apartment (next week!). He'll most likely love them.

My one issue with the Evolution Acoustics MicroOne speaker is the cabinet. It seems to be made out of a very Soft Density Fibre, I've lost a couple of driver screws that has loosened from the cabinet. Upon replacing them I noticed the sub par quality of the material used for the cabinet. Impossible to really tighten driver screws.

Anyways, sound good with the right amp.

 

[asiufy]

Agree, amp matching is extremely important, not only with the MicroOnes, but all the Evolution line.

Tube amps generally work great, as long as they have at least 50-60Ws. The 2nd best sound we got out of the MicroOnes was with a McIntosh 275, truly lovely, and shows how much the speaker will change character, depending on the amps used...

 

[MRJAZZ]

Hi there,

Well, close enough maybe - Sweden/Stockholm. Bought mine from DarTZeel Switzerland a few years ago. Nicest man on earth to do business with.

Drove them with nCore NC400 monoblocks initially, extremely bad match. Later replaced the Hypex nCore's with a hybrid amp that could deliver enough current (which the speakers require). Sound acceptable/good then.

Only had them operational for a year or so, now boxed up since a few years awaiting my son to move into his own apartment (next week!). He'll most likely love them.



My one issue with the Evolution Acoustics MicroOne speaker is the cabinet. It seems to be made out of a very Soft Density Fibre, I've lost a couple of driver screws that has loosened from the cabinet. Upon replacing them I noticed the sub par quality of the material used for the cabinet. Impossible to really tighten driver screws.

Anyways, sound good with the right amp.

Surprised a speaker of this pedigree doesn't use threaded inserts for the driver screws.

Cheers.....

 

[mauidan]

Hi there,

Well, close enough maybe - Sweden/Stockholm. Bought mine from DarTZeel Switzerland a few years ago. Nicest man on earth to do business with.

Drove them with nCore NC400 monoblocks initially, extremely bad match. Later replaced the Hypex nCore's with a hybrid amp that could deliver enough current (which the speakers require). Sound acceptable/good then.

Only had them operational for a year or so, now boxed up since a few years awaiting my son to move into his own apartment (next week!). He'll most likely love them.

My one issue with the Evolution Acoustics MicroOne speaker is the cabinet. It seems to be made out of a very Soft Density Fibre, I've lost a couple of driver screws that has loosened from the cabinet. Upon replacing them I noticed the sub par quality of the material used for the cabinet. Impossible to really tighten driver screws.

Anyways, sound good with the right amp.

Had the same problem with some Pioneer S-2EX speakers, which had cabinets made in China.

Try sticking a toothpick or small peice of wood in the screw hole.