Srajan, sorry to bug wanted your thoughts. My reference monitors are Alta FRM-2. Very dynamic and neutral 2-way with Raal tweeter, Morel metal 6.5", 87.5dB. 4Ω and stable. My amp is a Valvet E2se 12-watts/20-watt single transistor SE. Get plenty of volume in my small listening room. My only complaint is the Raal seems to miss something on leading edges and body like the pluck and roundness of a guitar stroke. Super refined and open though is the Raal, on some types of music it's amazing like a Quad ESL. I have been intrigued with the Kroma Mimi as being a nice potential match with the Valvet. I am guessing too with that classic ScanSpeak treated paper mid/woofer I am very familiar with, I’ll have a touch more color than I have with my Altas, tipping things in that tonal direction would be fine with me. I am also guessing max volumes to be a wash as the Mimi is 90dB and 8Ω, the Valet puts out 20 watts into my 4Ω Altas at 87.5dB. My one concern is the Altas are all there at the low volumes of much of my listening. Wanted to know as well how the Mimi were at low volumes or do they need some input to give a foundation. Thanks for your thoughts. Blink the Kroma distributor here in the USA would like the Altas in a on a trade for the Mimi in black, strongly considering doing that. Always a tough call when you can’t hear them first. Best, Paul
I've not heard your Alta but a few things come to mind. One, Mimi with its ¾" soft-dome tweeter is voiced deliberately soft in the treble. Compared to your Raal, you'll have clearly less air, shimmer and sheen. The tonal balance will shift down where Mimi is exceptionally bass endowed. Two, I think Mimi's 90dB spec is vastly ambitious. I compared Mimi to the Acelec Model One. Those rate 84dB-ish. They both played exactly as loud (I had one left, the other right and checked for any shifts on the center image). I happen to think that Acelec's spec is far more honest. I'd thus not call Mimi a real hifi whisperer. My 'baby' amp does 25 watts into 8Ω which is overkill in my room. Into 4Ω, yours will do less than half of what mine does. So that part is hard to predict. If your primary reason for considering retirement on your Alta is wispier body, the Kroma will, hands-down and guaranteed, solve that. It's a bodybuilder not speed freak. But the other comparative aspects I simply couldn't predict. Srajan
