Monitor Audio: audiophile quality?????

I had read about them many years ago in Home Theater Magazine, but don't know of anyone that uses them for 2 channel listening. I've never heard them myself.

Could be...
I listened to some Monitor Audio Gold speakers last year at a shop. The shop also carried Paradigm and I found these more to my liking. Even discounted, the Monitor Audios were not a great bargain for the sound I was hearing. They may sound better in the right system.

Some better alternatives in my opinion:
I ended up buying a set of Energy Conniseur C-5 speakers. These seemed to give incredible value for very little money. They fit my budget. After taking them home I ended up putting nerf balls in the base ports, but with this tweak they sound great. Another speaker to consider would be the Dynaudio Audience line. These give a glimpse of the hi-end Dynaudio sound for a bargain price. I liked them, but wanted an 8 ohm speaker (Energy) instead of a 4 ohm (Dynaudio) and the price of the Dynaudios was quite a bit more than the Energy speakers.

Energy is also not mentioned very much in audiophile circles. Let your ears tell you what works for you and the music you listen to in your system.

I have a pair of the S1s from the current Silver series. For $600 these will give anything under $1500 a run for the money IMO. They are quite dynamic and musical all while having detail and top end smoothness. I plan to try the GR10s at some point as I would suspect they offer more of the same...

Audiophile and music lover quality!!

Monitor Audio used to be more of an Audiophile speaker line. Their older
line, the Studio series, were truly wonderful speakers. I have a set of Studio
60's, which was their cost-no-object top of the line speaker. These are
fabulous, fabulous speakers. Coherent, they do the disappearing act --
everything you want. I have been out auditioning lots of high end speakers
and have never found anything like them. They still make nice speakers and
IMO, are a pretty good bang for the buck. I believe they still make their own
drivers. They are now targeting home theater and higher volume. You find
their speakers in places like Good Guys and Tweeters, which costs them in
the audio prestige department. I believe they are very competitive in their
niche and I would suggest an audition if you are shopping in their price
range.

I have a pair of Gold Reference 20s running off an Aragon Aurum pre and Aragon 8002 amp. Source equipment inlcudes a Cary 303/200 CD player and an oldish Michel Focus 1/Linn Basik/Nagaoka MP50 vinyl set up. The GR20s replaced a pair of the sometimes referred to legendary Celestion SL6Ss. Listening to Classical music and Jazz/fusion mostly. I am very pleased with the sound quality, transparency and imaging of these speakers. They are well engineered and beautifully finished, living up to Monitor Audio's well-deserved reputation for excellent cabinet construction using real wood veneers. I suspect they are designed primarily for the audiophile 2 channel market, but have found their way (in the N. American market in particular) into larger HT systems as well. They are in a different class altogether from the Paradigm/Energy class of gear IMHO. Visitors to my home are 'blown away' by the sound quality, although admittedly most have probably never heard a decent system.
Check out reviews in UK sourced Hi-Fi publications such as Hi-Fi Choice et al.
cheers