André,
thanks for your interest.
I'll be adding a new D/A-converter to my setup next week, the NuForce DAC-9, and so I'll be glad to share some new impressions on the (total-)sound of my system once the DAC-9 has been broken in for a couple hundred hours - should you or others have any interest in this.
The Mummies are of a rather "morphing" sonic nature - depending much on the source material(both the specific recordings of music and particularly the DAC) as well as the remainder of the system - and so the addition of a new source component brings with it a substantial change/improvement in sound quality. This goes for all speakers/systems to varying degrees, but the Mummies are more promptly "lay it all bare" than most speakers I've heard, to a point almost where I've been unsure what to attribute to the speakers and what not.
This is course makes it a bit difficult to come about their sonic signature/imprinting, even to the point of uncertainty, but what I feel can be said with certainty is their outspoken speed and transient capabilities, energy, dynamics, tightness, physicality, high level of resolution, transparency, and overall coherence. While this may leave the impression of a sound on the dry or lean side on the audio spectrum, I don't find this to be the case at all: they're actually very musical in making one react emotionally to a singular presentation; they're calm, clean, and effortlessly sounding, all presented through a holistic "framework" more or less, and they thrive with complex music especially just as the intensity with "simple" music(based on few instruments, voices, etc.) is very beguiling. Indeed: they go from sweet to being startlingly direct, if so required.
So, there's no real "drag" with these speakers, no excessive fat or curtain-effect to somehow sooth or restrain the sound being presented, no dynamic hindrance to speak of, and this rather prompt directness and honesty took a little while for me getting used to - that is, about an hour or so :) Beyond that point I just appreciated progressively the variation in presentation this brought and still brings with it, and I'm guessing this quality is the more intriguing being that they don't go by the wayside to become analytical as such.
Another aspect on the sound of the Mummies is their "fullness" especially upwards, i.e. from the the lower to central midrange and up, in the frequency band. I'm highlighting this trait being that they differ from many speakers in this regard, as I hear it, and this has the trademark of making voices, instruments and other sounds in this broad register appear with physicality, presence, and a wholeness that is rather "non-hifi" in nature, if you know what I mean? It's not airy treble - it's the higher (over-)tones of an instrument or voice placed in a (non-)space; it's not midrange - it's a voice or instrument that can be startlingly affecting in its powerful and direct presence. And so on...
Not to make the above sound like they're perfect speakers. They don't cover frequencies much below 45Hz(in-room I find they're more than sufficiently capable), and the very upper echelons may sound less extended than other alternatives. I'm guessing some would find the Mummies to be too direct and lacking "bloom," especially in both extremes of the frequency spectrum, which may give the impression of a presentation lacking a little air as well as warmth in the lower registers. To my ears though this is an appealing, or even "wise" balancing of the sound, leaning more towards naturalness than compromise; way too many speakers are muddled and slow from the lower midrange and downwards(in search for the last octave, not least) - severely affecting the overall energy, speed, and liveliness of the sound - and "air" in my ears very often translates into artifacts or a pleasing trait not found in real life non-amplified acoustical music - if that is a reference one believes important.
To sum up: the Mummies offer qualities at a very reasonable price that in my ears transcends "hifi" in many a respect, and so makes me appreciate music even more for what it is: a real and affecting event, even with an element of simplicity about it.
I hope this may add to my initial descriptions above, and why I feel these speakers are worth the mention.
Best,
M
