Seems like a consensus has been reached. Remember Dorothy!
Am I missing something?
I have a system that I consider wonderful. It consists of Musical fidelity A3.2cr amp/pre, cambridge audio d300se cdp, Music Hall mmf 2.1 turntable, and Monitor Audio Silver 4i speakers on custom stands. I know it is mostly a budget based system, and I have never heard of anyone else saying anything possitive about these speakers, but I couldn't point out a single thing that they do wrong. I have heard Martin logans, sonus faber, vienna accoustics, paradigm, athena, and some others, and I know this sounds crazy, but I like my $850 Monitor Audio Silver 4i's better than them all. I have a very long listening room (almost 30ft by 13ft, speakers on the short wall) and they fill the room with a very pleasant sound. I know there are better speakers out there, but if I was unsatisfied with the other speakers I mentioned, what speakers do you think would fit my listening taste? I know stereophile auditioned my amp/pre with Sonus faber cremonas and said that the combo was "one of the best", and I didn't get a chance to listen to the cremonas, so these may be a good choice. Any other suggestions?
- ...
- 17 posts total
Sks ... Sometimes you just come across the product that does it for you ... all that you need to do is to tell the voice inside of your head to keep quiet. Back in 2000, accessories4less,com was liquidating the entire line of the 1995 Acoustic Research 303 series speakers for 25 cents on the dollar and the 303 model had been rated Class D and the AR-1 (from the HO series) were rated Class B. Not shabby. Great speakers, but the line was not a success and my guess is that the AR name and the retro, tradtitional speaker styling may have contributed. I went with the AR 302 at $250 a pair ($1100 list), which were the way to go. The 10" woofer, which goes down to 35hz, does not produce the bass over tones that the 12" woofer in the 303 does. Check out my Main/Living Room System for a picture. In 6 years of listening to other speakers, at the same list price and much more (Vandeys, Totem, Thiel, etc,) only a $3000 pair of Focus FS78se has ever tempted me mightily to jump. But $250 versus $3000 .... geez, I think that my brains are still intact. Of the new products made today, I feel very strongly that the Prima Luna tube amplifiers are in this bargain, hard to beat category. Stay with your Monitor Audios. Their budget line Bronze series (#4's) received a ton of positive reviews in the British press about two years ago. The Silver Series are reputed to be much better. The MF 3.2 is a very elegant sounding, musical, and detailed sounding amp. If you feel like you must spend money (it happens), the Music Hall MMF CD25 cd player would be a nice, cost effective, and sweet sounding upgrade. But why ... you're essentially satisfied. Someday I'll know that I will change my speakers ... the day has just not come yet. Regards, Rich |
I don't think you are missing a thing. I have an old pair of Monitor Audio MA700 Gold speakers (6.5" two-ways with the gold tweeter). They are great. I have had them for about 12 years and never was really tempted to upgrade that part of my system. They are astoundingly good. Recently a woofer started to go bad on one. I am not sure what I will do......in checking with MA the only option sounds like replacing both woofers at about $350 just for the drivers since the original speaker is no longer manufactured. This may drive me to change speakers, but without the "help" I would not consider changing them. I would probably have to spend at least $2-3k top make any real tangible improvement other than reinforcing the lower octaves. My opinion? Enjoy your good fortune in building a dynamic system that works. |
- 17 posts total