Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

The speakers were single-wired, and the spikes weren't used. (The speakers sat on a large rug but with hardware floors underneath.) The provided grilles remained in the shipping boxes. All the source material was from CD.

Listening
Pomp & Pipes, a 1994 Reference Recordings disc (CD, RR-58CD) recorded by Keith Johnson at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, combines that hall's powerful organ with the Dallas Wind Symphony conducted by the legendary Frederick Fennell. It includes a range of showpieces with astonishing dynamic range. They're not all gems, but the closing number, Weinberger's Polka and Fugue from the opera Schwanda the Bagpiper, certainly is. It's also a potential system killer. As I gingerly increased the volume to a level at least 3dB higher than I find comfortable, the Monitor Audio Gold 300s hung in there. There was some strain on the loudest bits, but it could have just as easily originated from the rest of the system, from my room, or from my ears. I'd be lying if I stated that the deep bass knocked me off my chair; in a room of this size I haven't yet reviewed a full-range speaker that will do that. But running full range and unaided by a subwoofer, it did nearly as effective a job as it did when I briefly fired up my Revel B15 sub to join in the fun. (The sub was left off for the remainder of my listening.)

The same was true of other bass showcases. The "Napalm for Breakfast" cut on The Apocalypse Now Sessions (CD, Rykodisc RCD 10109) offers a genuine bass challenge. In its final moments, there's a deep bass growl that holds for a few seconds then drops in pitch to what appears to be roughly an octave lower. Through the Gold 300s the drop was clean, powerful, and clearly differentiated from the frequency where it began. Some speakers blur this bass passage, but there was no overhang from the Monitor Audios. To the extent that the bass here wasn't subwoofer-like—and it wasn't—I wasn't troubled by the loss. And even though my room still hypes the mid and upper-bass ranges somewhat (confirmed by measurements), I heard no muddiness at all.

But with this recording the Gold 300s had more than just bass to feast on. The album, made by a group that called itself the Rhythm Devils—led by Mickey Hart, who also produced the recording—arose from sessions held in the late 1970s to enhance the soundtrack of the movie. It includes some of the sounds that can be heard in the film, plus others that didn't make the cut. It's pure percussion with no piano or xylophone (both technically percussion) to cheat-in a melodic line for the musicians to work around. Most of it was clearly improv and filled with both fine and big-boned detail, presented with first-rate soundstaging and depth. The Monitor Audios captured it all spectacularly well.

The original Broadway cast recording of The Lion King (CD, Walt Disney/WEA 60802-7) isn't, overall, a particularly great recording. But parts of it, particularly the opening tracks, position the soloists and musicians at various points across the stage. The Gold 300s did a superb job of precisely locating these players in both width and (at least insofar as the recording allows) depth. The center channel of my setup was of course idle throughout this review, but from my center seat, on this recording I could easily believe it was on. Center vocalists, and those in the otherwise empty space just left and right of center, were locked firmly into place.

I have no idea what Tholen's album Sternklang (CD, Cyclic Law, 20th Cycle) is trying to say. It's not really music, though the definition of music has been watered down considerably in recent decades. Music or not, this is basically a single, long track of low-frequency electronica, droning on constantly and punctuated by electronic sparks and other eruptions of various sorts. I saw a reference to it online, where it was recommended as a good test for subwoofers. But it would be equally at home as dance music for a zombie rave. Why bring it up here? Because the low-frequency drone, while well shy of subwoofer territory, could convince many listeners otherwise. On the Monitor Audios, it filled every corner of the room, with the bass and higher frequency highlights seemingly coming from anywhere and everywhere.

I could have been convinced that surrounds were involved, but they weren't. The effect was even more enveloping than any two surrounds might have provided. Whoever produced this oddity, it was seriously playing with phase. I'm not a big believer in imaging outside the boundaries of the left and right speakers, unless it's a phasing thing in the source material or an oddity in the room. While the Gold 300s never suggested a soundstage extending beyond them to the left and right on any other material, they certainly did a mind-blowing job of it here.

Live concert recordings of pop music can be a mixed bag, but Dead Can Dance's In Concert (CD, PIAS57CD) certainly isn't. The low end was solid: From my listening position the warble tones on the first Stereophile Test CD (STPH 002-2) were still strong at 50Hz, and while certainly not powerful at 31Hz were still audible. And the top end on this recording vividly demonstrated the strengths of the Gold 300's MPD tweeter. While not "ruthlessly revealing," it wasn't a wallflower either. The top end was delicate, open, airy, and detailed. This was clearly evident on a wide range of other recordings as well, including Mokave: Afrique (CD, AudioQuest Music AQ-CD1024) and The All Star Percussion Ensemble (CD, Golden String & Company GS CD005). Nor did the Gold 300's midrange leave me anything to criticize. It was free of any obvious coloration and did a superb job on emale vocals, including favorites such as Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue Raincoat (CD, Cypress Records YD 0100/DX 3182), Loreena McKennitt's Nights from the Alhambra (3 CDs, Verve), and Sinne Eeg and Thomas Fonnesbaek's Eeg Fonnesbaek (CD, Stunt Records STUCD 15082). The Gold 300's imaging, soundstage depth, and timbral neutrality strengths were clearly evident.

Comparisons
Monitor Audio's Silver 10s aren't obvious candidates for a comparison test against the Gold 300s. As noted earlier, they're one generation removed from the latest equivalent in the Silver Series, the Silver 500s (which I haven't heard), and they are, of course, significantly less expensive than the Gold 300s. But they're what I have on hand, and I'm intimately familiar with them.

It should surprise no one that, at 2.5 times the Silver 10's price, the Gold 300 isn't 2.5 times better: The world doesn't work that way. The differences are significant but far from crushing. The Gold 300s were more delicate and refined in the midrange and highs — and despite in-room measurements that showed the pricier speaker's treble to be lower in level (see fig.2 in "In-Room Measurements" sidebar), particularly at 10kHz, they sounded a trace more open and airy than the Silver 10s.

The room responses of both speakers show an elevation in the midand upper bass, a characteristic of my room that so far only room EQ can cure. No room EQ was used here, but see my comments on using Anthem's ARC on the Silver 10s in my 2018 Stereophile review of the Anthem STR integrated amplifier. Bass irregularities are endemic to all domestic spaces, though the specific issues will vary from room to room. But the bass on the Silver 10s, while subjectively a bit more powerful than on the Gold 300s and extending about as low, was less tight and tuneful. The in-room mid and upper bass on the Silver 10s, in the same speaker and listener locations, was roughly 4dB higher than from the Gold 300s. This will have the additional effect of reducing the subjective treble on the Silver 10s, even though it measures higher than that of the Gold 300s. The ear responds to the entire frequency balance top to bottom. This is why some automated room EQ can leave the audible result sounding far too lean when it flattens the bass while barely touching the top end.

Conclusions
The Gold 300s were a consistent delight on a wide range of program material. Yes, they're expensive, but in today's high-end loudspeaker market you can spend a lot more and get much less. The Gold 300s earn a serious recommendation and deserve an extended audition.

1 See here and here.