Let's say you've been reading up on single-driver speakers and are considering further investigation. Where do you start? If you go looking through the internet you'll likely discover a world of D.I.Y. speaker enclosures as tall as NBA players with drivers that are barely larger than a compact disc. Relax. All you wanna do is get your feet wet, right?
There's a little speaker called the Avantone Mixcube. I mentioned them in a previous post about the Auratone 5C. The Mixcubes are around $200 per pair. They're 93dB efficient so you can run them on just about anything.
The main thing is that we think they sound great. They really have that "single-driver musicality". This isn't a case of "spec a driver, slap it in a box and put your name on it". Ken Avant really worked with every aspect of this thing. And the presentation is great, too. A huge improvement over the Auratone 5C, with it's pasteboard/contact paper construction.
We know several people who have Best Buy-grade surround receivers who use Avantones with excellent results. They're great for movies and bring a terrific clarity to the dialogue.
I sometimes feel like we're shooting ourselves in the foot by recommending the Mixcubes. After all, we sell speakers that cost forty times as much. But really, they're like a "gateway drug". And in side-by-side comparisons, yes, the Tocaro 40s are worth the difference (shameless plugs abound!)
I'll warn you that there's a break-in time associated with the Mixcubes just so you don't get them out of the box and wonder what I'm talking about. During the first week or two of listening, they get a good deal better every day. This is not uncommon, in fact, I guess I don't really know of any loudspeaker that comes from the factory already broken in.
Did I mention that they have 1/4" Neoprene pads on the bottom? Or that they're shielded?
I can't recommend this little speaker enough. They're a bang-for-your-buck champ.
Here's the spec sheet from Avantone.
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