Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 Speaker Review
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2014-05-07
·
1,894 words · ~9 min read
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the Jazz mini is a beautiful and compact aluminum stand for your smartphone that
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even holds tablets up to 8 in Click now to learn more welcome to the first in a
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series of desktop speaker reviews I've been at work on these for quite some
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time and your feedback is welcome on how we can continue to improve them so first
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up is the very famous and very sexy
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Bowers and Wilkins mm ones starting off
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we've got the I/O they've got an integrated DAC which means they'll run
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off a single mini USB connector to your PC or Mac but if you prefer you can also
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use a 3 and 12 mm analog connector which will override the other audio Source the
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left speaker connects to the right via a hardwired cable that then plugs into the
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bottom of the back of the right and routes through the rubber base of the
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speaker detachable would have been better for me on this side but I guess
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it's not that big of a deal you would never run the left speaker by itself
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each speaker has a premium feeling cloth material covering the business stuff
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aluminum accents and clearly imprinted R
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andl indicators to show which speaker goes where with simple Bowers and
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Wilkins branding and a grippy rubber base that isn't going to go anywhere
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there is no doubt that they're stylish I actually didn't appreciate how great
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they look until I set them up I am doing
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all of my listening tests on my xps2 2in1 Ultrabook and then when you combine
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one sexy minimalistic piece of hardware with another one it gives you a much
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better appreciation for the thought that went into the design of these things
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with style out of the way though I don't feel ergonomics are a very strong point
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the right speaker contains the DAC amp and controls but while I appreciate its
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Simplicity and clean looks I feel like some of the functionality is compromised
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I mean the headphone Port is actually behind the speaker on the back and the
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power button which also serves as a mute button and volume control while being
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sexy and built into the aluminum strip that goes around um when you push on the
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sides you actually physically move the speaker so I found that you'll pretty
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much have to use the fortunately included handy dandy remote if you're
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making any changes to you know volume or power or actually you can change tracks
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and stuff on it as well so that's a fairly nice inclusion now getting into
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the listing tests uh maximum volume is a weak point of the mm1's cranking them
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past around 70 to 75% volume on my PC tanks the sound quality I mean it's not
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crackling or something other kind of obvious Distortion and I'm not sure if
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it's a power limiter or something else but the mids seem to completely
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disappear and the effect actually persists if you quickly lower the volume
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to a more reasonable level it takes a few seconds to recover and then they
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sound good again they're fine for sitting at your PC listening to music
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while getting some work done but if you're expecting to bother your neighbors with them then you better
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sneak into their house tape the mm1's to their unsuspecting heads and then start
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rocking out if you want it to to have that sort of effect more listening tests
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where I really felt like these sha for me was their stereo Imaging when
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listening to music coming into this series of reviews my experience has been
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with mostly computer speakers notably the clips promita Ultra 5.1surround
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like it's coming out of an imaginary centered Channel well now I know they
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perform in incredibly well in that way and it really surprised me that I was
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getting a sound like that out of something this small speaking of sounds
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out of something this small the base performance of the mm1's actually
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surprised me as well it does feel a bit
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one-dimensional as if a lot of engineering went into reproducing a
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limited albeit well controlled and Punchy range of lower frequency sound
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but that they just couldn't do more than that due to the size and design
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constraints I mean this was expected though size trun all when it comes to
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making big sounds and low frequency sounds but it just ended up being
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disappointing sometimes because the highs sound so clean and detailed that
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in quieter parts of the track as it builds towards the crescendo you know
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and the hair start to rise on the back of your neck and you're expecting a wave of immersion in the music and then they
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fall short in that way it's like a sneeze that's coming and doesn't I mean
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I don't know my music just sounds less full than I'm used to hearing it and
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forget about action games and movies there's simply no Rumble to them so I
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guess this negative point and it is a negative point but could also be seen as
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a positive point though I mean I'm criticizing a product for being
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dramatically better than I expected in one area which Drew my attention to its
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shortcomings in another where it would have been physically impossible for it to really be much better so it might be
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unfair but it just doesn't change the listening experience other than the
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aforementioned power limiter issue mids and highs performed very well and at
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reasonable levels they really do sound great with a wide variety of different
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music he's in particular again we're just playing clearer and more accurate
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sounding than anything else in my upcoming review series female vocalists
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just sing through these I I mean du they're singing But but they sound
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really good as my point uh males do get lost a little bit by comparison and if
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you want to get the most out of your WAP collection then you might want to grab
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some Bose Companion fives instead but that doesn't change that the mm1's
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really surprised me all right so we're getting close to the end now but before I get into the conclusion I do want to
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address something I've seen many comments about in user reviews of these
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speakers Earth to the people buying these yes the right Speaker gets warm on
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the top and it's okay who cares I mean
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what are you doing licking it it is smart design to use a stylish aluminum
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construction as a heat sink and that's all they're doing here there's an amp in
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there so anyway there are much more valid complaints to make about the mm1's
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the most important of which are their dated feature set and that bizarre power
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limiter feature that limits them to about 75% volume so I think the real
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conclusion for this product comes down to how you're going to listen to them um
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whether they live in an apartment or not
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some people don't itch to turn the volume knob clockwise some people want
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what looks good next to their MacBook and will pay handsomely for something
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that does and if it also performs pretty well then great but while I understand
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I'm not the Target customer for the mm1's and dropping $500 on something
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that doesn't have a subwoofer in the name of getting something that delivers
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accurate well balanced sound very little cable clutter and admittedly beautiful
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ID and a super tiny form factor is just not my thing I do see why someone would
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want the mm1's and actually be very happy with them for those folks I will
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say this though the simple audio listens are also worth a look they are bigger
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and subjectively not as good-looking but they perform similarly in the mid-range
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deliver stronger and more detailed BAS and while they and everything else in
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this Roundup lack the same crystal clear detail in the highs they sound Fuller go
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much louder without strange behavior and are a more modern design with their
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touch sensitive controls and built-in Bluetooth connectivity with that out of
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the way there are other combinations that the bang for the buck crowd will be
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interested in for about $500 compared to either of those two but I'm going to
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make you stay tuned for the rest of the series if you want all of the answers
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there that was my joke Hulu Plus hooked me up with an extended trial normally
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now or did I but anyway I think the
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bottom line is at $7.99 per month it is a lot less expensive than all the Doctor
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