Monitor Audio Owners Thread

I recall seeing an owners thread at one point. I have had the RS6s and the LCR for about a month and am very happy with them. Currently using a NAD T753 (70w) to power them. Question. If I get the itch to upgrade, would adding a 200w amp make an incredible difference or just a noticeable difference? 70% music, 30% HT. Also waiting for the SVS pb10s in black to start shipping.

I also own the RS 6 in the Cherry. I'm currently running them on an HK 635 with Straight Wire Symphony cable, bi-wired. They are awesome to listen to and just as great to look at. They nail the 'wife factor' and they sound awesome for having such a small footprint. I am in the process of having a Bryston 4B modified and upgraded, that will soon power those speakers. Anxious to hear them with 200 watts pumping their way.

RS6/RSLCR owner.
right now paired with a denon 3806, next upgrade is RSFX, & a sub. After that, I hope to upgrade to seperate pre/pro then upgrade to the GS range

I have a set of Cherry RS6/RSLCR/RSFX with a Velo SPL-1000R, driven with a Denon AVR4306. Couldn't be happier for four times the price. The bass from the RS6s is hard to believe from drivers that size.
Looks like the Brits are still making a few good things besides cricket bats and Harris Tweed.

I'm thinking of picking up a pair of RS6's and maybe a sub to go with an HK 3480 for now... Just looking for 2.1 music and to have "stereo" sound for sports... Nothing too fancy right now.

Think that 3480 with the 120 X 2 rating will push those RS6's very well? I know that it's more watts, but less amps than a 635...

Will the 6ohm impedance of the speaker make the 3480 run hot?

any recommendations for a sub?

My other system is a full def tech mythos and a supercube sub running on an avr 635 for home theater...

I've always been a fan of HK sound... and the price was great... Just hoping the HK gear will pair up well with Monitor Audio...

THoughts?

I have a pair of RS6 right now powered by an Integra 6.5 receiver and a Velodyne 5000R sub, I also have a pair of old speakers as my surrounds for now. I plan to add the RSLCR center and a pair of RS1 for my rear surrounds, For my sides I will be going with a pair of Axiom QS8.

I have had my speakers for a little over a year now and absolutely LOVE them. Wonderful to look at and the sound is even better. When I was demoing speakers, I listened to many speakers in the same price range but found the RS6 to be the best. I have absolutely no regrets.

Gold Reference 10 mains, Gold Reference Center, Silver FXi side surrounds, and Bronze B2's for back surrounds...all driven by an upgraded B&K 307.

2+ years into them and couldn't be happier.

Dan

You have Gold fronts and Bronze rears, how do you like them? You just gave me an idea that instead of using the silver RS1 for my rears, I could use a pair of Bronze for my rears.

Thanks for starting this thread AA. I have had an MA 5.1 setup for the past two years. Started with the Silver S8's, SLCR, S6's with a pair of S1's in there for good measure. I upgraded to GR's about 8 months ago. My room is difficult and due to 20' ceilings and large openings will never be acoustically correct. Despite this, the system sounds great for 2 or 5 channel music and HT. I'm about 50/50 in terms of music to HT use. As you can see from my equipment list, I have gone for power and full size loudspeakers to fill the large space.

I'b be interested in anyone who has the new Signature line and could compare/contrast to the GR's.

My setup is:

Monitor Audio GR60 (Mains)
Monitor Audio RSLCR
Monitor Audio GR 60 (Rear Surrounds)
Revel I30 In-wall
JL Audio Fathom F113 (two)
Parasound C2 SSP
Sunfire 400/5 amp
Denon DVD 3910
Toshiba XA1 HD-DVD

Gold R 20's fronts,RS-8's surr, RS -2's bk Surr, RS LCR center.
Using a HK 635 as a prossesor with Parasound 1205 A Amp.
Might be adding a Gold R LCR in future.
I have made " hanging shelves" for The RS 8's which are used as surround speakers.They are laid on there sides, tilted down at 30 deg. GR 20's coupled with the RS-8's sound marvelous on surround music formats.

The Bronze B2's are REALLY great for the money. They match the rest of the system really well, too.

Mine are actually mutts now. When I was building my room, I was testing its isolation by playing some music pretty loudly in the theater while walking around the house. It happened to be a Stereophile test CD that I had in the player from some previous listening/testing. I got sidetracked and forgot that I had the CD playing in the theater. The CD has extreme frequency test tones at the end for testing equipment/rooms. Welp, goodbye tweeters.... Luckilly, I was only using the Bronze's at the time. I found a deal on some new Silver series tweeters, so I replaced the destroyed Bronze tweeters with those.

Dan

Well, I'll take a listen when I am ready to purchase, but thanks for the suggestion about using B2's for my rears instead of using R1's. If I go that route, the money saved can be used somewhere else in the theater

Nice job. I was planning on starting a Monitor Audio thread and posting pics of my new GS10s. I am currently runnig the following setup:

R/L: GS10s
C: Radius 225
SR/SL: Radius 90
SB: Radius 180
SW: Hsu VTF3MKII

All in Rosewood

Electronics:
Marantz SR7500
Denon 2910

I love the GS10s so I'd like to upgrade my Center to the GSLCR and the SR/SL to either the GSFX or another pair of GS10s. It looks like I'll probably be going with another set of GS10s, as the condo I am buying is a loft with no wall for the SR GSFX to be mounted. Down the road I'd also like to go with a separate amp. I was thinking about a Sunfire Cinema Grand 200~5, but am open to other suggestions.

Great thread... I've had my MA's for about 2yrs now:
Front: S6
Center: SLCR
Side: S1
Sub: SVS PB10 (I want to upgrade to PB12+/2)

The whole setup is in black. I fell in love with the rosewood but it wouldn't have worked with my theater's decor. I'd like to get at least one more surround speaker in the next month or so to finish out my 6.1 system. However, tracking down a decent pair of SFX's on ebay or audiogon is easier said than done. As for electronics I'm using a Marantz 5400 and it drives the system nicely.

Patherb,
I too have been looking at the Sunfire series of amps. If you ever get around to matching up your MA's with that amp be sure to report back with your opinions. That looks like a great amp and it can be had at fairly reasonable prices.

-J

Hopefully it's sooner than later. The five channel version is much easier to find on audiogon than the 7 channel that I originally wanted. At this point, based on my new space, I don't think 7 channel will work, so at least I get to save some cash.

Well, when I brought the RS6 home and opened the box, the wife told me the speakers in Rosenut are very beautiful. I am so very happy that the speakers sound even better after that. Everyday when I come home from work, I found the wife playing her piano and voice collection of tapes and CD, and I have been very impressed by the sound of music coming from just 2 floorstanders - I had my sub turned off for music listening.

Proud Monitor Audio owner here. RS6, RSlcr, RSfx, RS1 powered by a B&K AVR 507 S2 and SVS PB12-Ultra/2.

Nuz

Another MA fanatic. Buying these speakers has really got me interested in improving my whole system. Currently I have GR60's for fronts and the Gold Ref center. Don't have MA for the surrounds yet. I'm driving it with a Yamaha 2400. I have a Pioneer 563A for CD/DVD/SACD and a Denon 23F turntable.

I have Silver 5i for L/R and SLCR, SFX and a SVS Pb12+2 & Pb10 running off 200x5 Anthem. They sound great for music & Ht. I do find them a little bright on a few recordings even with a first reflection pt absorption. I would love to upgrade to Golds, but am torn as there are many good spkrs out there I need to experiment with.

I find that the 5i and likely the R6 sound better when I sit on the floor compared to sitting on the couch.

Wow... with so many fine MA speakers mentioned above, I kind of feel ashamed to mentioned my lowly setup, but oh well, maybe I'll upgrade some day. For now, it's:

MA Bronze B2 (mains)
MA Bronze Center (center)
Mission m30i (rear)
Hsu STF-1 (sub)
Denon AVR 2801
Yamaha CDC-905
Oppo DV-971H

The MA speakers are black, but I kind of wished the drivers were black also. The white drivers are nice, but somewhat flashy and stand out too much - detract from movie watching experience, IMO. So, I end up having the grills on which is a shame because I like the look of speakers with no grills.

Pete7874,

You are just humble. I drive my RS6 with a Denon 1604, not as good as your Denon 2801.

I got a pair of Monitor Audio GR-20's. I don't have an amp yet. I have a Parasound AVC-2500u pre=amp. Anyone have any suggestions. I was thinking about either a Parasound or Rotel amp. Maybe the 1500a or the Rb-991 from Rotel. Anyone got any suggestions. Thanks a lot.

I'll add in.

I have S8 for mains, SLCR, S1 for rears, and a SVS 22-31Pci. Pioneer 56txi and 59avi driving them.

I love the sound and took me awhile before I bought them.

I really liked the golds, but couldn't afford the rest of the speakers for the theater set up. I double the system for music and movies.

I really wanted to buy a couple of RS1's or GR10's for the living room/kitchen but dealers are now almost impossible to find with the decline of Good Guys.

Has anyone here been able to listen to both these speaker sets?

I looking to buy a full set of speakers (5.1) for a dedicated home theater. I was thinking of:

B&W 604 S3 (L+R)
B&W LCR600 S3 (center)
B&W DS6 S3 (surrounds: i don't have space for floor/stand speakers and i like the idea of the dipole effect)
B&W PV1 (sub: i know there are much cheaper ones that will give greater depth, but aesthetics matter and i want a small sized sub that doesn't shake the floor too much since i live in an apartment. plus, i have heard that the performance of this sub is very precise)

The room is 4m wide by 5.5m deep.

These will all be driven by the new Arcam AVR350 (with the L+R speakers bi-amped).

However, the Monitor Audio speakers have been reviewed quite well in the press and they are significantly newer than the S3 series. Plus they are slightly more compact and, on paper, seem to out perform the B&W equivalents.

Does anyone have any firsthand feedback comparing the two directions?

For my room dimensions and planned electronics, would you recommend the RS6 AV or the RS8 AV (if there is such a combo)?

Thanks!

adeeb,

I looked/listened to the B&W 600 series, Paradigm Studio series and others in that price range. I liked the MA Silvers over them all, with the B&W being my second choice. YMMV

Kris,

Interesting. How would you characterize the difference in sound between the RS6 and the 604S3?

Also, for room the size of mine, would you suggest the RS6 or RS8 for front L+R?

Thanks.

Adeeb,

For me, it was difficult to choose between MA RS6 and B&W 603S3 after the listening to them and reading all the reviews. First, the two brands were demo'ed by different dealers, with totally different room dimensions, placement of speakers, driving amp/receiver. Secondly, it was difficult to assess their acoustic engineering from information at their website and reviews.

Speakers I auditioned include: Martin Logan, Def Tech, Vienna Acoustics, Sonus Faber, B&W, Paradigm, and Monitor Audio, from bookshelf type to floorstanders, middle of the line to top of the line speakers of each manufacturer.

To make a long story short, eventually my three picks were Vienna Acoustics Bach Grand, B&W 603 S3, and Monitor Audio RS6 or RS8. There were some unknowns: engineering, power handling (the specs are not based on the same standards), speaker aging, acoustical output. In the end I just quit comparing and told myself that comparison of speakers is not a science - what if one speaker sounds better than the other but actually does not compare to the intent of the original artist.

In the end, I threw all comparisons out the window - I just choose to confirm if MA RS6 will do, based on my music selection consisting of voices and instruments that are very familiar to me, played at the volume level I prefer (about 70-75db). No movies were considered since I have an entire 5.1 set of Boston Acoustics CR series for movies.

The verdict: I confirmed that MA RS6 is very good, based on my musical selection.

Anyone know what one could expect to pay for the GS10's?