Micca RB42 or Jamo S803

Speakers & Subwoofers
1

I need some major help deciding on a set of speakers to get. I believe I have narrowed my choices down to the RB42’s that get a lot of positive recommendations and the Jamo S803. I know that both sets are pretty different with different sound shapes even. I am just wondering if the Jamos for $169 are a steal compared to the RB42’s at $149. I would be using them for a small bedroom / small living room setup with a SMSL AD18 most likely. The main use would be music with the occasional movie. Any thoughts or input would be much appreciated.

Mahalo!

2

If you are planning on using an ad18, I would recommend the Jamos more because they don’t need as much power to shine

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3

That’s my thing too, the RB42 need POWER. Have you looked at the Andrew Jones Pioneers? They are excellent as well at only around $130.

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4

Fluance sx6 are pretty good as well

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5

What would it take to make the RB42s shine? A full AV receiver?

6

Just a more powerful amp, perhaps you could get away with a topping pa3. Something that might make more sense would be a refurbished receiver with around 100 wpc rms

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7

I heard them thru these at RMAF but spendy https://emotiva.com/collections/amps/products/pa-1

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8

Yeah, you don’t need that much power imo, but I would recommend over 80-100wpc in a room

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9

Thank you for you input! I have to think about it more but I’m leaning more towards the Jamos right now. Either way I think I will be happy but that might work better for my situation. Thanks again!

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10

Lol a new thread just popped up

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11

Wow I was actually in checkout at Amazon with them at $169. This was perfect timing. Thanks so much!

12

Well thank @IowAudio for finding the great deal

13

Hey alright, glad it helped someone. I’m working on my YouTube review for them now and so far very impressive. All things considered these could be honestly priced at $200. So far I’ve powered them with my Marantz SR4021 receiver (80w x2) and its enough to push these speakers.

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14

Not to hijack the thread too much, but I have Elac Debut B6.2 as my fronts right now. Would the Jamos be an upgrade to those? I know Zeos said he liked the Jamo more, but I like my Elacs a lot, so if it’s really more of a sidegrade than a step up I wouldn’t bother.

At $125 though, I could probably sell my Elacs and come out even if not a little ahead.

15

I would say it’s more of a sidegrade imo (might actually be a downgrade in soundstage and detail)

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16

I see, then I’ll just not worry about it, I’m saving for a better sub so I’ll just keep focusing on that! This forum is great but it can be very dangerous for the wallet if you have upgrade fever lol

17

If you like what the Elacs do, IMO try the UB5. They have stunningly good imaging. They’re not the most engaging pair in the world, but they’re soo refined. I’ve heard a lot of speakers all over the price range and these are still some of the best for natural vocal presentation and utterly realistic imaging.

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18

Yeah, the UB5 is pretty good for sure

19

I just had my Jamo S803 apart and was kinda baffled (no pun intended) to find an underwhelming crossover and drivers. Either way they still sound good, I was just expecting more inside. Clearly Jamo’s engineers were able to make a great speaker out of budget parts. I would not take these over the Elac Debut B6.2 though, granted they were the same price.

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20

I’ll have to keep an eye out on a deal for them. I know they sometimes discount them down to like 300ish. Do they do fine for home theater as well? I don’t run things crazy loud, but I’ve heard some people say the UB5s don’t handle that as well as the debuts because of the smaller driver.

I’m also interested for when they put out the debut reference.