In my experience, all these factors play in to how the listener “connects” with the system. But because of other factors such as aesthetics, pride of ownership, etc. Not simply because of subjective performance. However, when possible, it is always best to demo speakers in your own room. As you will see, objective measurements can provide a lot of insight in to how the speaker will perform in your room. Simply put: if the measurements are taken with care and you understand them, you can rely on data to help paint a more accurate description of performance than a few adjectives from your favorite reviewer (myself included). Objective data is the key to accountability. Though, odds are if they do measure the same then a huge subjective difference is most likely attributed to other issues such as setup conditions, bias, etc.
Not to say two similarly measuring speakers cannot subjectively sound different. It's hard for a reviewer to legitimately bash one product but elevate another when the two measure practically the same in every regard. Notably, objective data keeps reviewers honest. With objective data you can begin to understand why the subjective review turned out the way it did. Unless there is objective data you can use to get an idea of the performance. This means when you read another's subjective-only review you are left to resolve those variables on your own. Additionally, the room will impact the performance and therefore what the listener hears. What one person wants or expects may be opposite of another. Others know what they want to hear based on their own preference (i.e., some prefer extended bass, some prefer more midbass punch between 120-150Hz, some prefer a response with a dip around 4kHz, etc., etc.). If you have seen my past reviews, you know that I am of the mindset that objective data is at least as important as someone's subjective evaluation of a speaker. Now, let’s get to the data so you can see why I heard what I heard.įoreword: Subjective Analysis vs Objective Data (click for more) The Neumi is the same price as these Micca speakers and the Neumi performance is leagues better than the Micca. Though, I suggest you buy the Neumi BS5 if you are in the market for a sub-$100 bookshelf speaker. At any rate, if, after you read this review, you still want to purchase a set, you can help the site by purchasing through the link below which earns me a small commission. It is no surprise this speaker does not get my recommendation. I even went so far as to use my Dayton DATs to sweep both speakers to make sure the impedance curves matched because I thought maybe one of them was damaged but that wasn’t the case. There’s truly nothing positive I can say about this speaker. The response curve of the Micca MB42X MKIII is extremely non-linear exhibiting as a wholly recessed midrange, a prominent bump between 1-2kHz and poor linearity above 4kHz.
When I later tested the speaker and looked at the objective data, I realized why I hated their sound. Unfortunately, my listening session resulted in me turning off the speakers about 7 tracks in to it and I walked away rather disgusted. This speaker is quite a bit smaller than the Neumi, which I discuss in my video above, but I was optimistic about its performance based on many other past reviewers’ positive impressions. I purchased this speaker to compare against my recently reviewed Neumi BS5 ( link here). You are bound to find one there!Īs always, please click on the link above the p hotos to be taken to the original tutorials.If you want help understanding what this data means, watch the video below. If you don’t have a bookshelf sitting around just waiting to be repurposed, hit up your local thrift store or garage sale. Do you have an old bookshelf that you are planning on throwing out or donating? Wait…before you do that, check out these Repurposed Bookshelf Ideas that may have you think twice.