Mini Monitors - Dynaudio and JM Labs


After 11 years with my Thiel CS22 floorstanders, I’m ready to make a change and have decided to try out some mini monitors because of room size 15’x17’x7.5’ and the fact that I have a REL Stadium III to take care of the low end. I’ve narrowed my search down to two brands, Dynaudio and JM Labs. I’m looking at the Micro Utopia Be and either to the three Dynaudio models, Confidence C1, Special 25, or Contour 1.3SE.

I listen to pretty much all types of music but the majority being Jazz, Rock, and Alternative. One thing about the Thiel’s that I have always had a difficult time dealing with was that the listening position was extremely critical. The way that I have my speakers positioned, only one person at a time could truly enjoy the music from my Thiel’s. I’m hoping that I can improve my predicament with the speakers listed above as well as moving a step up in the quest for the absolute sound. I believe I have plenty of power to drive any of the speaker listed. A list of my associated equipment is listed “my system”.

Please, your recommendations or comments are welcome if you have compared or owned any speakers listed above.
islandflyfisher

Showing 5 responses by saki70

What timing here !
I just listened to the Micro Be's and came away quite impressed with tweeter . I had originally gone to audition some Mac stuff and changed my upgrade path !
I did not think that they needed a sub . I even turned up the base , on the Mac pre , and felt that flat was fine .
I have started a thread to find another speaker with this caliber of performance for less money . Does it exist ?

Also , what are you Be owners using for amplification . The Mac stuff , tubed pre & SS amp , sounded pretty good .

Thank You
Very informative response Liuhao . You seem to share the same admiration for the Micro's .
What made you change from the Triangles ?
Have you had a chance to try any other amplification ?
Thank you .
ALDOG & Nolitan ; The comment about another veil being lifted is exactly what I felt when I heard the Micro's ! It was as if all of the other box speakers had something covering the tweeter . The closest to a stat/panel sound that I have found .
However , I have owned a couple of JM Labs speakers from the Electra line , without the Be tweeter . I also felt like something (life,heart,sole,musicality etc.) was missing from the presentation . At first I thought it might be bass , hence my move up the line . I then tried adding a subwoofer which did not 'fix' it either .
I was so captivated with the openess of the tweeter that I did not evaluate this aspect , of the presentation , during my short audition of the Micro's . Due you , or any other owners , have this sense of something missing ?
There was also a statement made that the Dyns need an abundance of SS power . While auditioning the Micro's , the salesman stated that the Micros were previously demonstrated using a Mac tubed integrated amp . They then moved to a Mac tubed pre and a Mac SS amp (c220 & 252) and he stated that the Micros "really opened up"!
Can you , and other Micro ownwers , tell me what you are using to drive them ?

Thank you .
Nolitan ; I somewhat agree with the light duty midrange thing . I have had JM Lab speakers previosly and found them to be lacking in "toetapping-headbobbing" ability .
This may be attributal to your midrange findings with the 'french sound' especially since adding a sub did not help .
I don't think that amps are an issue as I have heard the JM Lab stuff with some respectable equipment not the least of which was MacIntosh which is known for its musicality .
This aspect is one reason that I am looking at different manufacturers that have the Be tweeter sound such as Usher.
Incidently , I have been told that Usher has now developed a Beryllium midrange driver !
I wonder if anyone at the show has heard it ?