Barefoot MicroMain26

“Just as I knew that within 30 seconds of hearing the MM27s I had to have a pair, the same held true for the MM26s. The sonic clarity, punch and ability to hear (and therefore mould) frequencies, transients and low end is superior to any other speaker in its class. The MM26s add an enhanced midrange which gives them super 3D detail in your vocals, drums and guitars. I absolutely love them.”
– Rik Simpson, Grammy award winning producer, engineer, mixer & musician (Coldplay, Jay Z, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club)

The Barefoot Sound MicroMain26 is a 4-way active system with 6 drive units housed in sealed enclosures spanning 30Hz to 45kHz with vanishingly low distortion, breathtaking dynamic range and ultra-fast transient response. The ring radiator tweeter of the MM26  is incredibly detailed and produces very wide dispersion out to its highest frequencies. The 2.5” aluminum cone midrange  is housed in a cutting edge 3D  printed waveguide enclosure. The 5.25″ woofers feature a phalanx of advanced technology, yielding upper bass and lower midrange detail that rivals any driver on the planet. Barefoot has teamed up with the brilliant Bruno Putzeys of Hypex to develop the powerful and completely transparent amplifier stage used in every Barefoot monitor.  Melding the system together is a groundbreaking new DSP crossover that took Thomas Barefoot more than 4 years to develop. With beautifully designed high end converters and cutting edge proprietary filtering techniques the MM26 sound stage is seamlessly coherent and deeply revealing.

MEME™ TECHNOLOGY

Despite the advantages of high resolution monitors, Thomas Barefoot realizes that many engineers still use their NS10M’s † and mix cubes as secondary references. These speakers have long traditions and people find them familiar and useful for focusing in on certain aspects of their mix. However, crowding one’s console with those extra boxes degrades the sound field of the primary reference monitors. Not to mention, they are no longer manufactured, they need amplifiers, cable runs, and they consume more studio space. The solution is to make the MM26 sound and translate like those speakers. With the turn of a knob one can switch from the MicroMain26′s brutally revealing “Flat” response to the warmer and sweeter “Hi-Fi” setting, generically emulating the sound of some high end consumer audio gear. More specifically the “Old School” setting closely emulates the sound of the NS10M nearfield, while the “Cube” setting emulates the mid-centric sound of classic mix cubes The idea is not to perfectly replicate every subtle quirk of these venerable old speakers. That would be impossible.  But the MM26 can capture the essence of how they behave and translate, modeling their frequency, phase and transient responses, dynamic compression and even specific distortion components. If you know how to work on these speakers you will feel very comfortable working on the new MM26′s emulation settings.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Controls: Analog/AES3 input select, AES3 L/R channels select, Input level stepped attenuator, Subwoofer level, Emulation voice select
• Input Impedance:  50k Ohm
• Frequency Response:   30Hz – 45kHz (±3dB), 40Hz – 40kHz (±1dB)
• Bass Response: -3 dB @ 30Hz, Q = 0.707
• Slope = 12 dB/octave
• Cabinet: 32 liters total internal volume, Sealed subwoofer, woofer and mid enclosures, Machined aluminum baffle plate, Aluminum subwoofer frames function as lateral cabinet bracing, Long fiber wool acoustic damping throughout
• Crossover Frequencies:     100 / 800 / 4000 Hz
• Tweeter:  1″ ring radiator, Advanced geometry motor, Rear waveguide chamber
• Amplifier: 180W Hypex
• Midrange:  2.5″ aluminum cone, Advanced geometry motor, +/- 2 mm linear excursion
• Amplifier: 180W Hypex
• Woofers:  2 x 5.25″ poly/paper cone, Advanced geometry neodymium motor, +/- 5 mm linear excursion
• Amplifier: 250W Hypex
• Subwoofers:  2 x 10″ aluminum cone with high linearity motor, +/- 13 mm linear excursion
• Amplifier: 500W Hypex
• AC Power Input:  Nominal 115 VAC or 230 VAC selectable
• Power Consumption:  Idle: 30W, Maximum: 650W
• Weight: Speaker: 71 lbs each (32 kg)
• Shipping: 83 lbs each (38 kg)
• Dimensions HxWxD:  Cabinet: 20.5 x 9.5 x 15.5 inches (521 x 241 x 394 mm)
• Overall: 20.5 x 10.5 x 17.4 inches (521 x 267 x 442 mm)