This review is for both the Mini and Micro, the two stand mounted models in JM Labs' original Utopia series. For any readers who may not know about the Utopias, they are among the world's best speakers. Many reviewers consider the huge, top-of-the-line Grand Utopia the best speaker ever made and the small Utopias among the handful of best small speakers available.
The Micro, described above, is a 2-way bass reflex speaker with an inverted dome tweeter and one bass/mid driver. The Mini, which I ultimately chose, has a taller cabinet and two bass/mid drivers. The Mini came out a few years after the Micro. Costing >$2,000 less, the Micro sounded so good it put a dent in the Mini's sales. The Mini is overall slightly more coherent and its bass is tighter (but not deeper - both go down to 40 Hz). But the differences are not great.
Like all the Utopia models, these speakers have phenomenal transparency and exceptional neutrality. I've never heard speakers so devoid of coloration, or with such crystal clear high frequency resolution without any trace of edginess. Their frequency response is ruler flat. Their imaging is vivid, with every instrument and voice so clearly positioned across the sounstage that the speakers themselves seem to disappear. They throw a wide "sweet spot," and work well placed any which-way, but it's worth experimenting a good deal with their placement to find the "perfect point" where the imaging becomes highly 3-dimensional.
The best thing about these speakers is that they're obsolete! The new Utopia "Micro Be" with a Beryllium tweeter and major innovations in the magnet structure of its mid/bass speaker is even better. So the previous generation of Micros and Minis will be showing up with increasing frequency here on Audiogon and will be about the best sound/dollar around.
Associated gear:
YBA 1 preamp with separate power supply
YBA 1 high current amp
Marantz SA-1 SACD player
VPI HW-19 upgraded to TNT level
SME 5 arm, Koetsu Rosewood Signature cartridge
YBA Diamond and VeraStarr cables
