Micca RB42 Reference Bookshelf Speaker with 4-Inch Woofer and Silk Tweeter (Dark Walnut, Pair)

Let me start off by just saying that either the fine folks over at Micca just want as many of us "ordinary" people to be able to enjoy quality sound or they are simply crazy for offering such a fine little speaker at the price they are selling them for. (Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.)First of all, a little background: when I ordered the RB42s, I wasn't expecting them to be as good as they really are. In fact, my initial plan was to use them as a step up from the speakers I am currently using for my PC. You see, I have an older Logitch 5.1 speaker system and while it is pretty good (I like having better sound quality, mostly for gaming, but I also listen to quite a bit of music, watch videos, and even watch the occasional movie or TV show) the system (the speakers all plug into the little subwoofer) is beginning to show it's age and has started to occasionally short out (no sound comes out due to some faulty wiring and the amplifier gets warm and shuts the whole system down). So, I ordered the Micca RB42s just to see how they sounded before I took the plunge and bought another pair (for the surround speakers) along with the center channel version of the RB42 (the RB42-C). (Along with finding a suitable subwoofer, either getting a better one for my home theater and using the old one with my PC or just scrounging one up online that wasn't completely terrible).Let me tell you, I LOVE THESE TINY SPEAKERS! I was simply amazed at how much sound came out of such a tiny package! And make no mistake, QUALITY sound, at that! And while I do still plan on using a subwoofer, I was surprised at how much bass these little boxes produce! While they might not shake the walls, they still have some respectable (for their size) punch and rumble to them. So, I am comfortable saying that I will definitely not be having any trouble integrating whatever subwoofer I end up using with these speakers. I was afraid that I would have to make the sub crossover frequency go higher in order to fill in an audio "hole" which would make the sub more noticable. Something you definitely don't want you subwoofer to do. Like I said, I'm not going to have to worry about that.Now, I haven't pulled off the back to take a look-see at the components/circuits used in the crossover, but the sound alone confirms that what I saw in the pictures is certainly at least close to what's inside. I'm still going to take a look at what's insides of these little beasties (I just can't help myself!), but I'm certain that I won't be disappointed. It just goes to show you what using quality components can do for the resulting sound.Speaking of quality, I have to mention that the cabinets are very solid (knocking on them sounds like knocking on a solid block of wood and not a hollow box) and the dark wood venere finish is very subdued without being overstated or "Look at me! Look at me! I'm a speaker over here!" flashy. Very nice, Micca. Very nice.I should also point out that these speakers have some physical depth to them, so if you're planning on putting them on a bookshelf, make sure your positioning plan has enough space availabe for them. They are ported in the back and seem to like to be a little ways out from the wall (experiment to find a sound that's nice to your ears). They are 7.9 inches deep, so keep that in mind.I also highly recommend driving these speakers with as much power as you can give them (up to their rated wattage, of course). I'm pretty sure they'll sound just fine with less amplifier wattage, but you will be nicely rewarded if you can give them plenty of juice. When I first hooked them up, I happened to be using a vintage Carver TFM-35x amplifier which is rated at 250 watts into 8 ohms, but that's just because I had it sitting on my work table. (I'm currently assembling a veritable Justice League of vintage amplifiers that I am going to refurbish and use in my home theater.) Once I'm ready to put these speakers in position, I plan on using a 100 watt amplifier. However...Now that I've finally heard these speakers, I'm happy to say that I'm going to be moving them (along with a RB42-C center channel speaker which I now have on order and am VERY excited to hear!) into the surround position of my 7.1 home theater system! So, now my current home theater surround speakers are going to be moving to my PC speaker system instead. THAT'S just how much I REALLY LOVE these speakers! And they are MUCH smaller than my current surround speakers, so it's a win all around!OK, I'll quit talking now. Just know that you'll be making a good decision to purchase these speakers for whatever your application is. In my travels around the Internet looking for information about these speakers, I saw people mention that they sometimes go out of stock, so get them while they're hot! You will definitely NOT be disappointed!UPDATE: I spent a lot of time searching for a suitable stand for these speakers. Let me save you a lot of trouble by pointing you toward Kanto SP32PL 32" Bookshelf Speaker Stands. They are a good compromise between quality and cost. I'll let you know how they work out with the MB42s.

Let me say first that these look and sound amazing! As mentioned by others, the bass response for such a small speaker is nothing short of astounding! These are very pleasing to listen to even without a sub, and I am one who likes bass. Not subwoofer type bass that rattles your butt cheeks, but very pleasing and natural sounding bass. They are also extremely well balanced; the treble and midrange is very smooth and the sound stage is excellent. The cabinet is rock solid and just gorgeous for a speaker of this price point. The magnetic grill is a nice touch as well. Compared to their brother the MB-42X, these have far better bass and a much flatter response, as well as being a far better looking speaker. I have zero bad to say about the sound or the appearance of the speaker, both are excellent, and simply unheard of at this price. Seriously, these are the best sounding small speakers I've ever heard at any price. Very full and rich.Now for the possible deficiencies, and I say possible because they won't be deficiencies for everyone. To get this kind of bass response out of such a small speaker, you have to fools the laws of physics somewhat. They did this by using several means; they designed an excellent cabinet, a tuned port that works very well, used a very long excursion woofer that pumps a LOT of air for a 4" driver (if you're a car guy, think stroker). But here's the one that can be an issue under certain applications; they used a crossover design that attenuates the tweeter, so the tweeter plays less loud in comparison to the woofer. Put another way, they turned the tweeter down so the woofer will play louder. This can cause two issues; 1) it hurts efficiency which means it needs a lot of power to drive it to volume, and 2) the woofer is pumping so hard at even moderate volume, it can bottom out (over-excurse) very easily when you give it the gas.To be fair, this is not a new thing and many other speakers besides Micca use this trick. And it's only a problem if you are going to expect very high volumes out of this speaker. If you're using it on a desktop, it will work beautifully (and that's actually a great application for it). For a small or medium sized room, it should be fine. But if you have a larger room or like to play it very loud, the woofers will run out of travel and bottom out. That's ugly sounding and will damage the speaker before long.Also, if you're using these with a sub and taking the low bass off, they should be fine and will be able to play louder. I did play them with a sub and they sounded stunningly good! And they can play louder because taking the low bass of them tames the woofer travel somewhat.So if you're using these for near field or in a small to medium room, they are 5 star speakers, especially given the price. Just don't expect them to produce very loud volumes and you'll love them.I'm not sure what I'll do with them yet, I'm one of these people like Zeos who buys speakers when I don't need them because I have a love affair with speakers. I seriously have speakers out the wazoo. But I like these so much I'll keep them and find a place. Maybe in my bedroom, that would be a great place for them, and being small my wife will be happy (Happy wife=Happy Life, right?).Good listening!_____________________________________________________________________________________________Update 12-2-19I was playing around with these some more tonight, and put a 10" Polk sub back in the circuit with them. I crossed them at 100 hz, and this really helped with the over-excursion problem. Now I can throw some power at them without bottoming out the woofer. Micca has done a great job at getting bass from a 4" woofer, but the trade off really limits these speakers. Add a sub and take that abnormal strain off them, and they sound amazing! With the sub, I can get some pretty good volume levels from them.So bottom line...these are great near field or small room speakers by themselves. But for any real volume, you'll need a sub. That begs the question, are these worth the extra cost over the MB42-X's? For applications without a sub, absolutely yes. But when using a sub, maybe not. The RBs do have a more refined sound, but the MBs are a far better deal when you have a sub to produce the bass.Good listening!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Update 12-19-19I noticed it was one speaker always over-excursing and bottoming out. I switched them and the issue stayed with the same speaker. So I decided something was wrong with it and replaced them through Amazon.The replacement set is much better, I can drive them somewhat harder without the woofer hitting it's limits. Something was definitely wrong with one of the first pair, the woofer would flop uncontrollably. Maybe a porting issue. But these are better. Getting more volume out of them and haven't bottomed them out yet; I can tell there is some dampening at work. Tone quality is excellent and bass is phenomenal for such a small speaker. Very nice!