At this stage of the narrative, Mr. Seo, via our go-between translator, Korean hifi blogger Seungyoung 'Sam' Oh, changed tact. Quoted ship fees from Seoul to Dublin and back caused convulsion then conversion upon learning of my 2×15" cardioid sub and its active analog 80Hz/4th-order hi/lo-pass filter. That would transform his Mini into a 25Hz full-range monster. So back I was to reviewing mon ami, the SuperMon Mini just as I'd originally suspected and for that reason. Lower back to brain: smart move!

Obviously anyone who designs/builds something as heavy as the bigger Isobaric, aims at global sales then balks at real-world ship rates merely suffers self-inflicted pain. But the intense wallet grab too had lost a zero shrinking back to €2K/pr. Since I didn't want to end up with a mismatched stand like that of the previous page, I asked for one of the correct height with suitably small top plate. There's nothing wrong with heavy metal if it remains proportionate. I had stands for regular monitors. Unlike Sam, I simply had nothing really appropriate for such ambitious micros.

With my marching orders in hand, I actually had four test beds for the incomer: my desktop shown below with Jern's 15H; my main downstairs system; the upstairs system with Dynaudio S18 2×9½" force-cancelling sub; plus an upstairs mini rig. That latter and the desktop would check full-range worth in the nearfield where a small widebander of petite size is most appropriate. Subwoofer integration via mirrored filter at an appropriately high 80Hz would report on what then is perfectly sufficient for the job of mains even in bigger rooms: a top-quality micro monitor good to ~60Hz.

Here is my upstairs nearfield zone. It's a mere room corner where I sit at 1.2m or closer and the set sits close to the front wall. This drastically shrinks what's even appropriate. It'd make for another ideal test bed when sailing the Mini solo. The same Simon Audio i5 integrated from Seoul I'd used on the Danish speakers seemed tailormade to drive them in either location. Plans. I had mine sorted. Off went my shipping address to Daegu. For communications direct with Mr. Seo, I now used Google translator, short sentences and simple words. I always dislike going through middlemen, especially PR firms. Those best informed about a product and its company's background/history are invariably the owner and chief designer. Now I heard from Young Byun, CEO of Novawear Inc, who introduced himself as "distributor and partner for North America and Europe of MonAcoustic".

€2.5K 4" active two-ways with SB Acoustics drivers and twin passive radiators (one front, one back) in aluminium enclosures.