acolonna
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2009
- Posts
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Got home and found a set of Bowers & Wilkins MM-1's waiting for me at the door!
With a childish smile I quickly unboxed them and gave them a try on my MacBook Pro.
I'll get right to the point (I do intend to write a full review after a few days of listening): are they worth the money?
My answer should be YES, but bare in mind these are a very specific design: they are intended for low volume listening (as you might have guessed).
You all know these babies feature an internal DAC (which I am appreciating right now), as well as DSP. The processing unit has the responsibility of adapting the low end to volume levels, to prevent the drivers from overloading.
The results are easily audible: if you raise the volume, you loose detail on the low end, and some of the meat in the very low end. They will still produce a lot of sound, but they will show their limits: they are simply small drives!
What they do INCREDIBLY, is perform at low volumes. The amount of detail and balance is unheard of.
These speakers love human voice. Be it male or female, they are simply great with vocals. The high end is crystal clear (without overdoing the highs), the mids are rich and elaborate. The bass is downright natural and it's image is so colorful and precise, it's quite incredible.
They also perform greatly with pianos, as well as full orchestras. The imaging is very spacious and tricks your mind with ease (given you set your ears in the sweet spot... obviously).
They lack the necessary stance to reproduce intimate guitar playing, if not at the lowest volumes. And I might go as far as claiming that they sound almost "dull" with easy listening music (I'm simply too spoiled by low-end radio music reproduction to appreciate the beautiful natural sound of the B&W MM-1's with pop music).
These things really have a magic touch with orchestral music, and opera... well it's just that good!
Quite surprisingly disco music will perform well (I guess the DSP is very sophisticated... enough to give the initial "thump" of the base, while cutting off the fat before the drivers get dirty... giving you the impression of detail and power of a little subwoofer).
One issue they have is how directional they are. They do deliver acutes at wide angles, so a small room can be filled, and the experience will be good enough from everywhere, but for it to be the €499.00 B&W thing, you need to be right in the sweet spot.
The speakers about 1m apart, and each 1m from your head. You must also place your ears slightly above them, but not too far.
I am very tall, so I need to go find a couple stands to raise them of at least 25cm from the desk surface. Otherwise the listening experience when sitting at the computer is basically ruined. That's how much the sound changes.
But when you're there... OMG the image is so clear, and so spacious. And voices and instruments are so clear. Clearly in front of you.
With pianos you simply feel there, it's a Steinway & Sons a few feet from you... you can hear every indecision, every press of the foot.
Devil is in the details so beware.. with the B&W MM-1's you will definitely look him in the face!
p.s.
sorry if this post looks disorganized, I'm liking the music too much to bother concentrating on what I'm writing!!
With a childish smile I quickly unboxed them and gave them a try on my MacBook Pro.
I'll get right to the point (I do intend to write a full review after a few days of listening): are they worth the money?
My answer should be YES, but bare in mind these are a very specific design: they are intended for low volume listening (as you might have guessed).
You all know these babies feature an internal DAC (which I am appreciating right now), as well as DSP. The processing unit has the responsibility of adapting the low end to volume levels, to prevent the drivers from overloading.
The results are easily audible: if you raise the volume, you loose detail on the low end, and some of the meat in the very low end. They will still produce a lot of sound, but they will show their limits: they are simply small drives!
What they do INCREDIBLY, is perform at low volumes. The amount of detail and balance is unheard of.
These speakers love human voice. Be it male or female, they are simply great with vocals. The high end is crystal clear (without overdoing the highs), the mids are rich and elaborate. The bass is downright natural and it's image is so colorful and precise, it's quite incredible.
They also perform greatly with pianos, as well as full orchestras. The imaging is very spacious and tricks your mind with ease (given you set your ears in the sweet spot... obviously).
They lack the necessary stance to reproduce intimate guitar playing, if not at the lowest volumes. And I might go as far as claiming that they sound almost "dull" with easy listening music (I'm simply too spoiled by low-end radio music reproduction to appreciate the beautiful natural sound of the B&W MM-1's with pop music).
These things really have a magic touch with orchestral music, and opera... well it's just that good!
Quite surprisingly disco music will perform well (I guess the DSP is very sophisticated... enough to give the initial "thump" of the base, while cutting off the fat before the drivers get dirty... giving you the impression of detail and power of a little subwoofer).
One issue they have is how directional they are. They do deliver acutes at wide angles, so a small room can be filled, and the experience will be good enough from everywhere, but for it to be the €499.00 B&W thing, you need to be right in the sweet spot.
The speakers about 1m apart, and each 1m from your head. You must also place your ears slightly above them, but not too far.
I am very tall, so I need to go find a couple stands to raise them of at least 25cm from the desk surface. Otherwise the listening experience when sitting at the computer is basically ruined. That's how much the sound changes.
But when you're there... OMG the image is so clear, and so spacious. And voices and instruments are so clear. Clearly in front of you.
With pianos you simply feel there, it's a Steinway & Sons a few feet from you... you can hear every indecision, every press of the foot.
Devil is in the details so beware.. with the B&W MM-1's you will definitely look him in the face!
p.s.
sorry if this post looks disorganized, I'm liking the music too much to bother concentrating on what I'm writing!!
