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b&w mm-1 thoughts

post #1 of 14
5/10/11 at 6:33am
Thread Starter 

I can get the mm-1 second in a good price, should I go for it or should I spend  more and buy audioengine 5? The audioengine looks better, but it will be more expensive, and also the mm-1 has a built in dac which is a nice bonus.

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post #2 of 14
5/10/11 at 8:18am

well ive not heard the ae5 but i have heard the MM-1 and if your getting the MM-1 so cheap thats less than the ae5 then id say jump on the MM-1

 

 

 

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post #3 of 14
5/10/11 at 8:32am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mark2410 View Post

well ive not heard the ae5 but i have heard the MM-1 and if your getting the MM-1 so cheap thats less than the ae5 then id say jump on the MM-1

 

 

 

Thanks for your response.  From your impression, do you think that the mm-1 headphone output is good enough for my hd598 that I have (in B&W site it says that the headphone output is high quality because the audio is enchaned by the built in dac in the speaker)

 

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post #4 of 14
5/10/11 at 9:41am

well i only heard them as speakers so i really couldnt say how the headphone socket is

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post #5 of 14
5/10/11 at 9:56am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mark2410 View Post

well i only heard them as speakers so i really couldnt say how the headphone socket is



So can you describe their sound, for what generes are they good for? How is their imaging, soundstage etc? 

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post #6 of 14
5/10/11 at 1:45pm

well it wasnt a huge listen to but i found them quite balanced, articulate treble and the bass was very good for its size, not too deep but it didnt have the midbass hump i expected to compensate.

 

cant you demo? 

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post #7 of 14
5/14/11 at 6:04am
I have the MM-1, Zepellin, 803S, mcIntosh amps, Audeze LCD2, and much more. I seek quality and value. The MM-1 is simply amazing for it's designed purpose. SQ is the best I've heard and trumps the other brands. Wonderful with jazz, classical, rock. You get a dac, nautilus tweeters, 4 drivers, 4 amps, dsp, headphone jack (very good), astounding clarity and range, good bass which is fast and musical instead of 1-note booms, excellent form and build, and it's a B&W. All this for $500 is a steal.
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post #8 of 14
5/14/11 at 7:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluemonkeyflyer View Post

I have the MM-1, Zepellin, 803S, mcIntosh amps, Audeze LCD2, and much more. I seek quality and value. The MM-1 is simply amazing for it's designed purpose. SQ is the best I've heard and trumps the other brands. Wonderful with jazz, classical, rock. You get a dac, nautilus tweeters, 4 drivers, 4 amps, dsp, headphone jack (very good), astounding clarity and range, good bass which is fast and musical instead of 1-note booms, excellent form and build, and it's a B&W. All this for $500 is a steal.


Wow it sounds too good to be true... Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I really think that I will buy the mm-1.

 

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post #9 of 14
5/14/11 at 8:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ballcall2 View Post




Wow it sounds too good to be true... Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I really think that I will buy the mm-1.

 

 

You're welcome.  If you get a MM-1 used in good shape and for some reason don't like it, I might just take it off your hands to give to my business partner.  

 

For near-field listening utilization for which it was designed, its SQ is truly wonderful.  It will not, however, serve as a whole room music source.

 

I also use the MM-1's headphone jack with my Shure SE535, Etymotic ER4P/S, and Audez'e LCD2 phones and I'm always very pleased with its performance.  Via its USB connection to your computer, it bypasses the computer's DAC. It takes the raw digital signal from your computer which it then digitally processes (DSP), converts to analog (on-board DAC), amplifies, and sends to its 4 speakers or its headphone jack.  This way, you get all its technological goodness whether using the MM-1 speakers or headphones/earphones.  

 

The MM-1 is beautiful on my desk top and beats my Zeppelin for near-field listening.  The Zep beats the MM-1 in terms of filling my office.

 

BTW, off topic and at the risk of being flamed for audiophile purist blasphemy, I tried the SRS Labs iWOW (free download and 1-week free trial from their web site) and liked it so much I bought the software plug-in for my computer, 3 plug-in licenses to give to my family/friends, and the iWOW-3D iPhone/iPod module for my iPhone...the best $40 (SRS Labs web site) and $47 (Amazon) for tweaks I've ever spent and works great with my external speakers and all my phones.

 

 

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post #10 of 14
5/19/11 at 3:32am

Just thought I should make this point clear as I only found this out after buying them from apple a couple weeks after their release:  the built in DAC is only capable of projecting a 16-bit, 48khz output so if you plan on using the headphone jack for 24-bit 96khz audio like I did your wasting your time.

 

That being said they are still the best pair of desktop computer speakers I've ever heard. Persomaly I'm not a bass head, although I do listen a lot of rock to metal music and the speakers handle it better than expected, and for the $699 price tag they should.  Although listening to some classical (e.g. Bach, Mozart, etc) they sound almost as good as my full sized loud speaker set-up for audiophile listening.

 

If your still intending on buying these second hand, just check where the ports are on the right-hand speaker that there is no 'oxidation' there of any sort.  I've that there can be some kind of leakage for one of the componets internally if knocked about frequently. I don't really know much more about the subject, but it's just something to keep an eye out for I'm told.

 

Hope all this helps

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post #11 of 14
2/16/12 at 10:56am

I just ordered these! Discounted of course. Any other reviews? I eagerly await to see its performance.

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post #12 of 14
2/19/12 at 9:23pm

I just bought the B&W MM-1 (having had the Audioengine A5 previously for about 25 days), and they have quite a BIG bump at the low-100hz range, I'd say 115-105hz. They sounded better at the store, maybe my pair is defective...

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post #13 of 14
3/2/12 at 12:30am

I agree with the other reviewer, truly great for near field listening.  Definitely not a room filling speaker.  Vocals are pretty stunning and bass is balanced very well IMO.  Not bad for the $$ especially if you are getting a good discount.

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post #14 of 14
3/2/12 at 1:31am

I've tried these out at the Mac store and from what I could tell they sounded really nice. I'd actually prefer them if they weren't so prohibitively expensive.

 

One issue though is that the right speaker thats powered gets really warm, maybe because its been left on all day but maybe just how they run. Maybe other owners could chime in?

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