Potential upgrade from Microlab SOLO6Cs

GeorgeStorm · 28 Jan 2025 at 17:05

Hi all,
I've had a pair of Microlab SOLO6Cs for guessing 10+ years and they've been great, no real issues with them, survived multiple house moves and desk changes etc. However they are quite big, and part of me is considering selling them (would they be worth anything?) and buying something smaller to replace them, but would probably be <£100 as other than the size I don't really have any reason/need to upgrade.

I use them for my PC, for some general music listening and gaming, plugged into a Fiio E9/E7 combo.
I've seen various edifier models recommended, although one shame about smaller speakers or those which are angled is losing out on being able to put things on top of them (not sure how much that's negatively impacting the sound if any) as I have my headphones and dac there so any space saved with smaller speakers might just be lost again if they have to go elsewhere.

Thanks,
George

Ormy1 · 30 Jan 2025 at 10:41

Not sure edifier would be much of an upgrade to be honest.

Looks like the microlabs are selling in the £50-100 range on ebay.

Putting things on top of the speaker shouldn't affect the sound much assuming whatever is on top doesn't vibrate or stick out further than the front of the speaker.

If I was in you're position I'd wait till I had a budget nearer £300 for a higher quality upgrade, or stick with the microlabs and spend the money elsewhere (either a subwoofer or a non-audio upgrade).

GeorgeStorm · 30 Jan 2025 at 11:01

Ormy1 said:
Not sure edifier would be much of an upgrade to be honest.

Looks like the microlabs are selling in the £50-100 range on ebay.

Putting things on top of the speaker shouldn't affect the sound much assuming whatever is on top doesn't vibrate or stick out further than the front of the speaker.

If I was in you're position I'd wait till I had a budget nearer £300 for a higher quality upgrade, or stick with the microlabs and spend the money elsewhere (either a subwoofer or a non-audio upgrade).

I mean if it wasn't going to cost me anything/too much then I wouldn't need much of an upgrade at all in terms of sound, gaining a bunch of desk space would be an upgrade itself. But yeah it was a random sudden idea I had whilst trying to move things around to improve my work area that I realised how much space the speakers take up! Probably just leave it for now then thanks.

iostream · 30 Jan 2025 at 11:41

How about wall mounted speaker brackets? There's a selection on Amazon, looks like £20-£30 will get you something decent.
That would certainly get you some desk space back - and as an added bonus they could be mounted at ear level.

GeorgeStorm · 30 Jan 2025 at 16:36

iostream said:
How about wall mounted speaker brackets? There's a selection on Amazon, looks like £20-£30 will get you something decent.
That would certainly get you some desk space back - and as an added bonus they could be mounted at ear level.

That isn't something I've considered in the past, and again as these speakers are so big (at least in my opinion) not sure if that's look a bit out of place/would limit later upgrades as whatever I eventually replace them with will be smaller but I'll have a look thanks!

iostream · 30 Jan 2025 at 16:52

Yeah fair enough, they would probably jut out a bit. Slimmer speakers with wall mounts may be your winning combo in the near future

ATIorNvidia · 30 Jan 2025 at 23:22

Edifier MR3/MR4s are good but you'd be sacrificing a lot in terms of SPL/output capability.

GeorgeStorm · 11 Feb 2025 at 09:58

iostream said:
Yeah fair enough, they would probably jut out a bit. Slimmer speakers with wall mounts may be your winning combo in the near future

Definitely.

ATIorNvidia said:
Edifier MR3/MR4s are good but you'd be sacrificing a lot in terms of SPL/output capability.

As in volume? I sit less than a meter from the speakers, never have I wished they were louder, if anything I end up having to manually turn them down from their default volume level as I can't lower it within windows any more.

ATIorNvidia · 17 Feb 2025 at 22:56

GeorgeStorm said:
As in volume? I sit less than a meter from the speakers, never have I wished they were louder, if anything I end up having to manually turn them down from their default volume level as I can't lower it within windows any more.

Sure, but their size is a contributing factor to their sound quality, even at lower volumes. They will (likely) have less distortion at any volume level compared to most £100ish speakers. The MR3's do have a really good frequency response though, you may like it better.