The best mini monitors you have heard?

Shadorne, I don't think the Magico Mini has ceramic driver. The Kharma 3.2 has a ceramic driver, but is overall warmer than the Mini. I haven't seen/heard the MKII version of the Mini, so can't say if the new one is different soundwise. I was impressed by the Dynaudio C1 for its outstanding performance and its relative pricing. On my list for sure, but just wondersing what else is out there. Thanks to all for your thoughts.

“Ringing” is just as bad as “wobbling” which all these soft cones suffers from. The Magico's uses a sandwich cone design that reaps the best of both worlds. Extremely stiff yet well damped for its constrained layer construction and also extremely light. Quite a bit more sophisticated them most drivers on the market.

There's a few smallish speakers that im going to audition. I've talked to several people that i trust in the audio business. I've longed for a small to medium sized floor standers but there is a chance i will be in a smaller listening enviroment once i relocate so to be safe im looking at monitors as well. Keep in mind i have to build a system from the ground up including components. So im opened to Solid State or Tube gear depending on the speakers i settle on. The speakers i want to audition are as follows.

Merlin VSM
Merlin TSM
Escalante Juniper
Escalante Pinyon
Rockport Mira monitors (new)
Dyn Audio C-1
Mark & Daniel Maxiumus
Mark & Daniel Aragon

You mentioned Magico Mini fatigue from prolonged listening....you also mentioned you liked the Dynaudio C1.

I may hazard a guess that you might be finding the ceramic driver audible ringing to be fatiguing. There are a couple of ways that the inherent ringing of these lightweight rigid drivers are stiffled. The first is an aggressive notch filter so that the ringing is electrically damped. The second is to place rubber dampers on the cone (the typical dots you see on the side of the cone).

Stick to ordinary damped drivers like the C1 soft dome and polypropylene woofer (woven fabric or paper and composite designs are good too, provided they are well damped). You will have many more hours of fatigueless enjoyment without the ringing. Less rigid damped cones breakup also... but in a much less detrimental manner.

This is all quite intuitive...if you hit something rigid then it will make a noise and then ring like a bell at a characteristic frequency whereas something soft will just make a single thud (with no nasty extended breakup). If you don't believe me try this experiment; hit a pillow with a drum stick and then try hitting a cymbal.....one will give an impulse then nothing whilst the other will give you an impulse and then ringing. Now try hitting the cymbal with your hand but this time grab it exactly just after you hit it (dampen it) ....this is what notch filters and rubber dampers are doing on a rigid cone (trying to stop its natural internal tendency to ring like a bell)

IMHO, extremely rigid drivers are great in theory but fatiguing in practice unless very well controlled (exremely hard to do as you may have found with the cymbal exercise). My suggestion is to avoid them. There are very many great sounding monitors that use well damped drivers. Dynaudio C1 is already a good start.

Which Charios do you have Jaybo? I have the Academy III Jrs. Love'em

I have recently switched from an Avalon Eidolon to the Magico Mini. I bought the Eidolon over other Acouton Ceramic based systems, which, I eventually got tired of and by now, after switching to the Mini I no longer miss.
If the Minis were too aggressive, you need to look elsewhere in the chain. They are simply telling you what the rest of the system is doing. Mikelavigne is right. Other speakers will be less transparent and almost always more colored and therefore more forgiving.

I'll have to add the Mark & Daniel Maximus Ruby and/or Sapphire to the mix. I heard the Ruby. It has a huge, dynamic, clean sound. You just won't believe the quality of the bass that comes out of that 5.5-inch woofer. These speakers are definitely a cut above what you'd anticipate.

i would say both the ensemble and the chario are incredible, but mini means really small, do i'll go with any variation of the ls3/5..

Ensemble PA-1 Reference
Chario Academy 1

Both no longer made.

(No Regrets)If I had it to do all over again.I still would buy a pair of Harmonic Precision Caravelle monitors.

I will add the GAMUT L3 to the list. This is a very fast articulate speaker with good (limited) bottom end. These speakers are very easy to set up and will fit in many rooms. They are truly a ref. monitor and are superbly built. Every time I think I want to upgrade to a 3-way design, I cannot pull the trigger because I have to give up some of what they do well.

You can add the Soliloquy 5's and my current favorite the Reference 3A MM Decappos...

"Original" Linn Kans were colored, yet good. The FJ "Mini" is what I use today. Also, very nice. Try Spendor, Harbeth too. All have sane pricing.

b&w silver signatures sounded really spectacular years ago when i heard them, with exceptional speed and imaging. plus i liked the overall balance without straining to reproduce the lowest octave of bass, which would have screwed up the lack of audible distortion that they possessed. maybe they had some inherent flaws (according to the "experts") but i am perhaps not so critical, and to this day when i see a pair for sale i stop to take a long look.

Starsound Caravelles.

Oz

i just purchased the Marten 'Dukes'; a small stand mounted 2-way, for the rear channels as i have added multi-channel to my 2-channel room.

read about them here

i have not yet listened to them as 2-channel speakers but i am quite impressed by how they seem to compliment my front speakers.....the Evolution Acoustics MM3's.

i choose them because i had always thought the Martens sounded similar to the Kharma which has a similar sound to the MM3's. it uses the Acouton Ceramic mid-range.

they are not cheap at about $7500 list price including stands; but they are beautifully built and have that certain refinement typically not found in speakers in this price range.

another wonderful small monitor is the Dynaudio Audience 52se which i use in my family room with my plasma......it regularly suprises me with outstanding sound.....and it's around $1200 the pair.

additional thought---the Dukes would likely sound better on more types of amps than the Magico and are an easier load. i like the Magico but find it borderline clinical. i'm using a cheap (but good) digital amp on the Dukes and they sound natural.

Just love my Sonus Faber Guarneri's. I have a very late edition of the speaker and IMHO, they are still the mini-monitor to beat.

I agree with the above poster about the Dynaudio C1 -- a very good monitor (clearly better than the very good Special 25).

But Audiomachina's (Dr. Karl Schuemann's) Ultimate Monitors, which I just purchased and have been listening to over the last week, are the best monitor I have heard. The name says it all.

You could check out Ridge Street's Monitor
Wilson Duettes is another fine choice

My Reference 3A Dulcet sound mighty fine with VAC Musicbloc tube amps.

http://iar-80.com/page65.html

I have to say I heard a few and in my apt the Proac super tablettes were to me just the ticket. The best imaging I ever heard just floating in space all hocked up to a pair of quicksilver 8417 original monos.