Going to take the plunge on JM Lab Micro Utopia Be

You can order the Caravelles and listen to them for a month and return them for a full refund if you don't like them. You may only be out the shipping expense back. I am not an owner, but a local friend has them and they are the best deal in audio. I have Wilson MAXX and they do things my MAXX can't. They have a superb, deep, three dimensional sound stage and a smoothness that is above their price. Warren's description of the tweeter is exactly right. And the bass quality coming from the 8 inch woofer is amazing. This speaker should be selling for a least what the JM Lab Micro Utopia are. It they were distributed through retailers you can be sure they would be. They come with stands too. What do you have to lose except some of the shipping cost back?

Well I don't know about the Micro Be's but I have the JM Labs Mini Utopia. I had used them with an older McIntosh pre amp and amp. I would be surprised if the the newer Mac gear wouldn't sound just fine. I'm using Herron electronics and they sound very nice. I have also heard that Conrad Johnson gear mates very well with the JM Labs.

Hifimaniac, thanks for the reply, but I'm not interested in paying several hundred dollars each way shipping plus 20% customs on speakers I don't know if I'm going to like. You're talking about a potential investment of at least 40% of the actual speaker cost just to test them. I'm happy with my choice of the JM Labs. What I'm really asking here is what kinds of electronics are compatible with them. I have access to a fair bit here--Chord, Levinson, McIntosh, BAT, Plinius, Antique Sound Labs, Gryphon, Musical Fidelity (somewhat), and a lot more, many of it used. I thank the others though for providing some useful tips on some of this equipment.

Dweller, the Plinius is available here on sale, so I'm going to check it out. Thom_y, thanks for the recs on SimAudio and Rowland. I can find both here. Plato, the VMPS monitors aren't available here.

Do you folks ever listen to the work of Fennesz or the Erstwhile music label out of NYC or to the Tokyo onkyo scene, or noise? I need equipment that can handle that kind of stuff. I've tried all kinds of speakers--Dynaudio Confidence, Thiels, Harbeth, Martin Logan, Sonus Faber, you name it. The JM Labs beat them all on this music. I actually heard streams of sound slicing up through the room. The most generous imaging I heard from any speaker. Now maybe the Caravelles are better, but at this point, I'm not really interested in finding out. Too much hassle, too much time.

Panderso, you bought the 927 Bes? How do you like them? I auditioned them with the 907 Be's last week and found the latter better. The 927's lacked a synergy between the cones that I found in spades with the Diva Utopias. I was quite disappointed in them. Heard the 907's with an AVI integrated and the Meridiem G08 and they really sang. Beautiful speakers, too. But the Micros are even better.

Well, I like them very much, but I'm still not sure that they are better overall than a really good small monitor for my smallish room (11'x 16'; 8'ceiling; wood floor, drywall); given my musical taste and preference for moderate to low volume listening.

That is why I am very interested in your comments on the 907 which I intend to follow up. In this room, the 927 Be's sound very full range to me and the bass articulate and detailed, imaging is excellent compared to the Electra 906 I had before, and the reference 3a Dulcet I home auditioned, as well as my old Totem Sttafs. High treble detail excellent. Subject to glare if the electronics aren't compatible. I have a big new amp bought within 2 or 3 weeks of the 927s, so assessing different variables is a work in progress.

I've sent you and email Bash. Incase you're wondering I've compared Gryphon to Classe, McIntosh, Edge, Essence, Krell, Levinson, Bryston, Conrad Johnson, Bel Canto, Jeff Rowland, Spectral, Copland, Audio Research, and Innersound. To me they have the most refined sound out of them. Classe, McIntosh, and Rowland would be next in line for me. I haven't heard the JM Labs, but, I'm pretty sure the Gryphon would be a good match.