Monitor Audio Silver 8 loudspeaker Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: Oppo BDP-103 universal BD player, Mac mini running JRiver Music Center, Audirvana Plus.
Preamplifiers: Marantz AV8801, NAD M17.
Power Amplifiers: Bryston 9BST, Rotel RMB-1585.
Loudspeakers: B&W 800 Diamond, Bryston Middle T, Paradigm Studio/60v3.
Cables: Interconnect: Kubala-Sosna Anticipation (RCA) & Fascination (XLR). Speaker: AudioQuest Vodka (HDMI), Kubala-Sosna Anticipation & Fascination. AC: Kubala-Sosna Emotion.
Accessories: APC S-15 power conditioner.—Kalman Rubinson

COMPANY INFO
Monitor Audio, Ltd.
US distributor: Kevro International
902 McKay Road, Suite 4
Pickering, Ontario L1W 3X8, Canada
(905) 428-2800
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
spacehound's picture

Excellent? Yes. Whether you liked the speakers or not is irrelevant. I like your reviewing style, it does not contain the so often seen 'flowery and pretentious nonsense' (You would be hopeless as a wine tester.)

I also liked your 'label collecting' comment. Some once superb British names (and not only speakers) have been 'collected' like this, as you say, and are a sad caricature of what they once were and all sound much the same, how the Chinese think they should sound, even if they have a 'token' UK person in nominal charge of what's going on. Better they were left in peace.

And you said the speakers WERE good. Very good in fact. Further evidence that if you exclude the very low priced rubbish, in loudspeakers there is no connection whatsoever between price and sound quality.

This is demonstrated by the Vienna Acoustics speakers also reviewed, don't come off quite so well at three times the price, admittedly by a different reviewer. So price isn't relevant as it is all subjective. If ANY speakers you came across were truly bad you and the presumably equally honest other guy would say so or not review them at all.

It is also true that some of the totally crazy priced speakers you have reviewed sometimes don't come out too well.

Me, I would be happy with either.

But in fact I bought the Focal Arias, also reviewed here recently. They looked good, sounded fine, and I could take them away from the (local) dealers premises there and then.

The speakers themselves?

The fact that the mid-range speaker is a different size than the bass units is always a clue that the designer knows what he is doing and that the manufacturer is willing to put in the required additional effort.

The finish? The 'wood' ones are very good, using real veneers. They also do vinyl wrapped lower priced 'Bronze' ones very well. I suspect that otherwise they might be fairly similar I have had a Monitor Audio 'Bronze' center speaker for 'AV' for three years and didn't notice this until it was pointed out in a review.

You also reviewed the 'correct' ones. The higher priced Gold and Platinum ones with ribbon tweeters can be a bit piercing! They do this to attract attention in a showroom, a common failing of British designed speakers.

I hope you don't mind my being so long-winded :)

Kal Rubinson's picture

Thank you for your comments. I generally do take the same approach to wine tasting, not testing. ;-)

Ajani's picture

Nice review Kal. Monitor Audio and Revel have been my favourite speaker brands for quite some time. So having read your Revel reviews I was interested to see if you would find Monitor Audio as appealing.

P.S. You might want to check out the just released Revel Concerta2 line, specifically the F36 Tower ($2000 per pair). It would be interesting to see how it compares to the Monitor Audio Silver 8.

Kal Rubinson's picture

I saw the new Concerta2 line and had a brief demo. They sounded nice, looked good and are very well-priced. However, I was disappointed that they are now 2.5 way speakers and not 3 ways.

Kal (somewhere over Wisconsin and on my way home)

geekonstereo's picture

Thank you for the informative review.
Did you or anyone else at Stereophile by any chance test the Silver 6 as well?
The Monitor Audio RX6 received a very favorable review on Stereophile, so am wondering what you think about the model that replaced it.
Additionally, would a 45 Watt RMS at 8 ohm amp be able to drive the Silver 8, you think?
Thanks, again.

geekonstereo's picture

In case anyone stumbles upon this and was wondering...
I did get a chance to audition the two speakers last weekend. The Silver 8 represents a significant step up from the Silver 6. But this doesn't mean the Silver 6 isn't any good.
The Silver 6 sounds excellent for the money, but if you can stretch your budget a little more, the Silver 8 is better deal.
This is all my opinion, of course. It would be best for anyone interested in these speakers to audition both themselves before making a decision.

w1000i's picture

I hope stereophile review the new monitor audio Gold 300 :)

freeextreme's picture

I hope so too :)

Robertas's picture

Anybody can advice:how MA8 sounds with Creek 100A? or anybody can advice speakers for Creek 100 A the same price range? Thank you

RanC's picture

After reading a lot of interviews, I am getting the feeling that these are the speakers I want as the crown jewel in my 7.4.4 setup. I want these primarily for stereo music listening, was thinking of running them with dual B&W ASW610 in stereo to take off some of the load below 100hz (probably an overkill, but hoping it will improve the quality of mid-range a bit without detoriating the low-end).

My main question is, for movies, would these speakers sound disturbingly different from JBL 280 towers which would be acting as the surround speakers? I am obviously looking for better sound as these will replace the 280's as front speakers, but am I wrong in thinking they would blend well enough with the 280's as surround speakers? The elements are almost of identical dimensions, dual 6" woofers vs dual 6.5" woofers, both have 4" mids and 1" tweeter. I do like it when the surround speakers make themself noticed somewhat, but not too much if you understand what I mean.

X