As a fellow Dad, who is passionate about audio, technology, community, and family...I love his channel. His combination of quick - wit and supreme dry humor ticks my phunny bone. Keep it really Randy my dude!
I got these refurbished a few months ago for $80. I use them in my living room in lieu of a soundbar. They needed to be under 8" deep for my location too. These are AWESOME! I am very impressed with the bass they produce. It's not huge, but it exists.
Great review. I love the throwbacks, too. It's amazing how a 1,000lb plus animal can be such a great escape artist and brings back memories. They also always knew when its the most inconvenient time to escape.
Big Trouble In Little China with Kurt Russell is an absolute classic. Kurt was also in The Thing as another memorable Carpenter classic. As far as the Micca MB42X is a great little speaker even the original models were pretty good for surrounds. I like them but I'd put them a step below the S801s as the Jamos are clearer to my ears but YMMV on them as I got a set of the Miccas on sale and refurbed for around $80 from Amazon last year. Another cool video thanks Randy.
I have the previous generation MB42X versions which I've been using as a desktop solution with that old Tri-path 2020A+ generation Lepai cheapo amp. More than does the job. They were $80 at the time, but I got them used from a friend for $20. Talk about a budget system: Lepai $20 + Micca $20 = $40. Who can complain. Fantastic for that price!
Big trouble in little China, an all time classic. My first blu ray purchase. "If I'm not back in 30 minutes, call the President!" Thx again for a fun review CAM!
Good review. I loved the neighbor's cows herding story, too. Brought back very similar memories, except Dad and I were usually driving the neighbor's pigs back down the road. With our basset hound. Get 'em, Pansy!
man, i dont know...my RB42's are the 1st pair of bookshelves that actually made me smile while i turned them up. they kill it for their size. sound amazing!
I bought a pair of these and like them. I was a fan of the originals in their day, but they were a bit bright and other budget speakers have passed them by. This revision puts the MBs back in the game. I'm listening to mine on an Ayima 320 watt and and a nice sub, and they sound very good, larger than what they actually are. Possibly the best $100 speakers out there and very competent at higher prices.
Please make a 4 inch driver speaker shoot out. Dali, Wharfedale, Klipsch, etc. Bought myself a Spektor 1 and was surprised by the little speakers. Granted the bottom frequencies are practically inexistent however can be easily supplemented with subs but these small speakers are something special. Works great for small spaces.
I just picked up a pair of Edifier R98s and I'm surprised at how good they sound for the size and price really great set of small speakers for 100 bucks can't go wrong
Big Trouble in Little China. I love that movie! Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake.
Ho-ly SH$T these are good! Needed an unobtrusive speaker for the living room to match up with a vintage Superscope receiver… hooked ‘em up and ended up listening to half a dozen LPs bc they’re. That. Good. Randy for the win! Cheers mate, what a simple pleasure… (and don’t even need a sub for my application!)
I just stumbled onto this channel, thanks to the RU-vid suggestion sidebar. If I didn't already have my "forever" audio systems in place, your advice would guide me in future purchases. In any event, it's entertaining to see new cheap impressive stuff trotted out by the truckload. If I ever have a disastrous loss of gear and need to acquire new audio things, your videos will guide me in the hunt...
Yes, you did it! Now I don't have to do a review video of the rb42's like you had suggested just a short time ago. Knew you wouldn't leave it out, no one wants to see me doing speaker reviews...
Same size and similar drivers to the good ol' Wharfedale Diamond 9.0's. I find those woven drivers combined with large silk dome tweets make for a musical enjoyable sound with little to no fatigue.
I just picked up a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 9's yesterday. I didn't need a 11th pair of speakers but they were only £20. They came without grilles and a minor dink on one of the bottom rear corners but otherwise in good nick. I can't resist bargains. I was shocked at how good they are. They're pretty good at pacing and quite airy and unfaiguing at the top. They try to image. It feels like the upper bass is boosted to make up for what is lacking in deep bass. They like world music, electronic music and acoustic stuff where they can pick out details and dynamic shifts.They were a bit just OK at classic rock. They have a very similar character to my Mission 780's which are a similarly sized ported 2 way (Mission made 2 very different speakers, both called 780). The Missions are better in every regard, but were several times the new price back in the day. At the moment the Diamonds are working with an SMSL 36A amp (£30 new) running high level into an old bottom of the range 8" Mordaunt Short subwoofer (£25 2nd hand).
@@leetaylor13 Yep, they're not perfect and have that bass thing going on but very hard to beat for the money and I like having some slightly characterful speakers that play most stuff ok. Not Rock speakers though thats for sure. I feel like only big paper cone drivers can do rock music justice.
Still use pioneer Andrew jones speakers, have 5.1(have one axtra). Love them. Got them for $117 a pair with role of 14 guage speaker wire and banana plugs
Those are great speakers. I still have the whole series. I don’t really use them anymore but I’ll always keep them because they were the OG unicorns that made all manufacturers up their game on affordable hifi. The 52’s are real gems!
I still use them in my bedroom with a Harmon Kardon 5.1 AVR. Smooth and buttery they still sound...Andrew Jones killed it with these speakers price to performance wise...
I cannot find the MB42x G2s but own the MB42x. I'm listening to Aja, Home At Last, on vinyl through a Sansui 771 recapped amp. I will tell you that the sound on the original Mb42x is such that I feel like I'm right in the studio listening to the performance. The guitar on sounds like I'm in front of the amp, clear and defined. Bass is clear and the bass line on this song is powerful and melodic. I do have a SW on it as I feel a SW on a 2.1 system just adds spreads the bass and adds more clarity. I can't wait for the MB42x to be in stock somewhere so I can put those on my system. However, I'm more than excited using the originals :)
@@cheapaudioman Really should be a disclaimer that the helmet is not at the same focal distance as the speaker, leading to a distinct loss of visual parametric fidelity.
Realism is a must. My ears ain't so great, so I gots to go with what I can hear. In the late 90s I bought a pile of Sherwood receivers from a closeout table at REX (a long-defunct regional electronics chain). They still power my shiz today. On my desk are a pair of 80s Klipsch road-case Heresys, purchased by the spouse when she was the singer in many local rock & roll bands. Since she was the female (and thus most reliably employed) she bought them and retained them. Cut to the present day: My RD-7103 Sherwood receiver powers these Klipsches with no trouble, so that's my desktop system. I edit video and compose MIDI music with this setup - since about 2005 - and to my ears it still sounds like Heaven, so that's what it is. Meanwhile in the living room, a 2010-era TV Series 9 UA55C9000 provides video. The speakers eventually rotted out, so a few years back I took advantage of a 50% off sale and threw a then-$200 Samsung soundbar & subwoofer on it. To my ears it sounds like Heaven, so that's what it is. Having pedestrian ears can really pay off
I run MB42X nearfield. They sound Better at low volume than many speakers. Many speakers need some volume to sound good. Don't forget the Loxjie A30 also
Yup. If this is is your first speaker, and you can wait for the Sonys to go on sale, I'd go that way. If it was me all over again, I would enter at the Emotiva B1+.
I had a problem with Randy doing high end gear 😮 I take it back now 😅 .. You can pick up yamaha ns bp 301 here in UK for £150 new that's about $155 insane price it's a good speaker with great bass .
My guess is that some drinking straws (cut to the same length as the port) in a bundle inserted into the port - would both reduce the bump in the bass AND extend the bass a bit lower.
Nice to see G2 of the RB42. I own the G1 of RB42 which are powered by Aiyima T9 amp, and this is my one and only speaker system, in -near-field listening position at my home office. I have a question that may apply to these G2. Since both G1 and G2 seem to have limited performance at LF, but i'm curious if there is a way to enhance listening experience with a sub. Seems like Micca has discontinued their 8 and 10 inch subs - Do you have a recommended sub to pair with these?
Reminds me of the little Radio Shack Minimus speakers that once were the charm of the 1980s... Appears it is a little too colored if needing to EQ from the start so may as will look for more neutral speakers that are designed for more varied application settings.
Cheapaudio man you saved me musically!! You turned me towards the Sonys and I have not looked back!! You describe them as lively --- I have hearing issues and need "lively" speakers! Any suggestions for a "liveluy" speaker that is more expensive>>
Check out the Roth Oli RA1, had a pair a couple of years ago and they were amazingly good for £89 (that's UK pounds), included in the price was a simple wall mount too.
Thoughts on the DIY speakers components you can get from Parts Express... have you dabbled in those before? I'm a woodworker/maker and would like your opinion on those.
Lol nobody noticed the background debut of a certain product. At least I think I saw something you mentioned the other day you said you couldn't talk about. Maybe not.
Hey Randy, I watched your video on the smsl a300 your focus was on using it as a monoblock instead of stereo, would the a300 be an improvement over the Aiyima t9 pro?
Could you make a comparison to the NEUMI BS5 in a 2.1 channel channel setup since there is only a $10 difference currently on Amazon? I know it has been a while since you reviewed or compared the BS5, but I would think your recommendation would be the to spend the extra $10 if I like a neutral presentation from my speakers, which I do.
So Randy would this be an upgrade to the Jamo S803’s I’m currently using for our HT / Music setup paired with a Micca center channel? I’m thinking about these to match up with the center.
Whats your opinion on running a pair of Sony SS-CS5's with a the Fosi TB10D and the Fiio K11 amp/dac for a pc set up? i want the k11 for my Sennheiser HD 560 S. but i dont know if this will all play well with the Fiio feeding into the Fosi
I can not thank you enough for taking the time to transfer that thought into text. Some people curate their thoughts based on certain value judgements. I say who are they to deny us the opportunity to judge it for ourselves! Many people might have felt like this call to arms about the unidentified material on the presenter's shoulder as superfluous, violently shallow, or even a waste of time. So the courage to let us make up our minds, despite being incredibly common, or likely not the reason this comment was made, is a word I will add to this sentence anyway. And that ain't nothing, folks. Other words that exist are: selfless, heroic, disruptive, edgy, ball-heavy, altruistic, and girth. I have used them in the spirit of the same self awareness that inspired this comment, and without a millisecond of self-doubt. I have no doubt that it will be appreciated as much or more than I appreciate myself for having shared it (substantial) because that is not a question I have dared ask myself ever, in the same way that will never question the link between the refusal of the entire female gender to look upon me with favor and the tattoo on my face of interspecial coitus between a hippopotamus and a unicorn (hippopotamus on top, duh). I will end this comment now, not because I feel as though I've exhausted the possible content inherent to the subject, bit because I feel vaguely distracted by a pop-up add that will soon manifest itself in some manual gratification. You are welcome, universe!