Monitor Audio Owners Thread - Page 101

yeah, "Love Scene's" is a hybrid SACD release, it has SACD surround, SACD stereo, and CD stereo tracks (or layers).

I think so. But why don't you go listen to some sample tracks on amazon to decide for yourself?

FWIW - "Into the Labyrinth" is a common demo disc for hi-fi shops here in Seattle.

I've owned both and I thought the KEF's were fatiguingly bright. The GS's are detailed and just as clean sounding as the KEF's, but rarely aggressive sounding, unless the recording is harsh to begin with.

Thanks hifisponge!!

Just wondering how much is "slight toe-in" that ppl recommend for front speakers? I have the RS6 and really not sure how much i should toe them in. I mainly use them for HT but a bit of music, should the tweets be firing straight and slightly outside my main listening positioning? less/more?

There's no right or wrong answer here-- it's a matter of preference. Your goal is to toe them in enough so that you can hear an improvement in treble extension (detail and air), but not so much that you compress the soundstage or make the sound overly bright.

Try the extremes first (straight ahead and then so the path of the tweeter fires slightly in front of you), just to give your a point of reference. Listen to the difference and choose which one sounds better. THEN, go about half way between the extremes. Does that sound better or worse than the last choice? Keep cutting the toe in angle in half until you arrive at the position that sounds best to you.

Cheers,

- Tim

Anyone know where I can find a good deal on a set of the RS6, RS1, RSCLR and a matching sub?
I think a RSW-12 might be too pricy and a bit of an over kill for a room that measures 16'w x 20'd x 8'h

What price range should I be expecting for a new set? how about used set?

Well I'm in the MA family now! Went back and forth many times over on MA Vs Mythos. Decided MA was the best for the price, so passed on the Mythos. Then was stuck on getting the RS's or a full Radius set-up, but came down everything on the wall is the best option for the very odd room that I'm going to be using it in.

Ordered 3 R250's and 4 R90's to do a 7.1, piano black (man their finish on these is just top notch, 10x better than speakers 3x the cost). Lastly, just need to decide on a sub now, I just wasn't very impressed with the R720, especially at the price level.

Anyone care to recommend a sub or comment on what you went with in your Radius set-up?

Unfortunately have to merge my 2 channel and home theatre into one room due to space constraints. Will now be using my Silver 6 as fronts and have found a used silver LCR for the center. Receiver is a NAD T743.

System used 50% for stereo music, 25% for concert DVDs in 5.1 and 25% movies.

Music tastes are all over map but no classical, rap or country. Vocal jazz, acoustic, alt-rock, ambient/lounge primarily.

My question is on the surround speakers -- would the current MA BRFX surrounds work well in this situation. Should I wait until I can find some used Silver surrounds? Save up for the current generation RS surrounds? Looking for some thoughts on this. Thanks!

As I posted a while back, I'm in the process of acquiring speakers, and I've been planning to go with the Radius line. Specifically, 90 rears, 225 center and 270 mains (+ sub, TBD). I already picked up the 90s and I've been quite pleased so far (though without the sub the lack of bass is, of course, obvious).

This weekend I was in Manhattan and wandered into a audio place while my wife was shopping. I started talking to a rep and explained my plan. The place sells MA, and the rep spoke highly of the 90s (and MA in general) but was rather critical of the 270s. He felt that they weren't a very substantial speaker for the price, especially relative to the 90s. (I can understand: the 270s are just a 90 with an additional 4" driver, all in a bigger enclosure, right?) He thought a pair of bookshelves with a good sub might be sufficient in lieu of the 270s.

Specifically, he showed me the era Design 4s. I hadn't heard of era, but I see they have a small following around here. I have to say, I was impressed. I was able to audition them and swap back and forth with the R90s, and they seemed a more impressive speaker to me (I suppose they should, for 50% more $). The had a fuller sound, and especially the mids. (The rep even switched over to a pair of Sonus Faber Auditor Ms, and while those are in a totally different class, I still liked the sound of the D4s.) The 270s were in a different room, so I couldn't listen side-by-side.

Sorry for the long post, but here's the question: Any thoughts on the 270s, especially relative to a second pair of bookshelves (either 90s or D4s)? Tim, I know you've listed to all of these, thoughts? I have to say, I love how the 270s look, they're really sharp. But my wife isn't keen on floor standers, so she'd be excited about going the bookshelf route. Plus, I'm not buying speakers just to look at them. I'm concerned about sound quality but also about volume, and here the 270s might win out.

As for the R90 vs. D4 decision, I realize that one's more up to me and my tastes, but I'd gladly hear other opinions, too. If I went with the D4s, I'd probably keep my current 90s as rears, even though they're not matched, leaving me an easy way to upgrade one or the other.

As always, thanks all.

In reality, you can't go wrong with either speaker. The D4's have to ability to accept a wall bracket, but you still have a smallish bookshelf on a bracket that won't be as trim as a set of R270's and a R225. For their size, the D4's can play surprisingly low, at the cost of some efficiency. Where as the Radius speakers really need a sub to help them out.

The finish on either brand is flawless, so that's a non-issue. In addition to this thread for MA, there is also a ERA speakers thread where the owner/ designer himself posts in.

Here it is: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&highlight=era

It's like telling a kid he has to either pick brownies or cake for dessert.

Have fun!

Have to say that I like both the ERA's and the MA Radius equally. I think the MA 270's are a great speaker and "value" isn't all just about performance vs price. The Radius line is an unobtrusive, attractive "lifestyle" speaker that will give you great sound and high WAF. Sure, you buy something like an Ascend Acoustics CMT-340 speaker that would give you more performance for the money, but that is not the point of the Radius line. With that said, I don't think that you would be disappointed with the sound quality of the 270's or the ERA's. Though if you have the space for the ERA D14's, I would probably pick those over the 270's.

Thanks Tim & Kwikshft, such quick replies! I appreciate the reassurance, and I think I'll be happy either way.

The high WAF and sound quality, given the price, is what initially attracted me to the radius line. I'm assuming the 270s will be able to produce 'more' output (say than either bookshelf), true? That's a benefit, especially since I'll be moving soon, and might have a larger space to fill. Tim, did you consider going with the 270s in your radius setup?

(I won't drag us further off thread topic, but I get the impression that the D14s are quite the speaker, especially for the price. And I really like that there's an active era rep in that thread.)

fbksan - I would have gladly gone with the 270's but I use the Radius's for a small video game room (converted study), so they really weren't needed.

Yes, the 270's will have greater output capability than either the 90's or the D4. Though, I'm quite surprised by how robust the little 90's are. I am using them in my 19 x 13 x 9 living room until my new speakers come, and I have pushed them pretty hard and they still sound great.

Subwoofer recommendation needed for RS6, RSLCR and RS1 setup.
Will the older ASW100 work well with this setup or should I look into Hsu Research or Martin Logan?
Any other recommendations? The room is about 16 x 20 with 8' ceiling.
I will probably either place the sub next to wall behind TV stand or to the side also next to wall on the side of sofa...

Can I be your friend?....

Mike

I thought I was his friend.

HSU VTF3 Mk III will do the job. I personally am looking at the SVS SB12-Plus and the Av123 MFW-15.

Somewhat OT for this thread, but the GS setup is so amazing (esp with a great pre/pro/amp setup) that it seems a shame to set the speakers to "small" in the pre/pro for 5.1/7.1.

As I understand it, it is the right way to set it up. Also understand that it's personal preference, so it's not like you can't set them to "large."

Any MA GS owners use the "large" setting? If so, your thoughts?

If you have a good sub I would say to set the fronts at a small. Always thought it was better to send all LF signals to something which was made to handle signals like that.

Those of you with Monitor Audio speakers in Natural Cherry veneer finish: Does the wood darken with age and exposure to light like solid cherry does? I'm asking because I like a darker cherry finish, but not as dark as the rosemah finish.

Thanks!

My Onkyo 905 lets me set the crossover frequency.
With the help of Audyssey and listening for a couple weeks I settled on the following.
GS20s = 40
GSLCR = 70
GSFX = 70
Audyssey set the 20s and FXs as full range and the LCR at 80hz.

Thanks for that. No lack of sub here, so small it will be.

You specifically mention fronts. Assume the same logic applies for the surrounds?

A sad farewell to the passing of the G60 and the B&K.

I to gave up (for a price) a pair of 60s and now will soon be giving up the ghost to the B&K......when new amp arrives.

How about some pics of those Mckintoshs with those Platinums Kc?

killer set-up! can't imagine the sound........

I would go for the new Denon DVD-3800BDCI, probably the best picture-quality and audio section in a BluRay product right now (seriously):
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3961.asp

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=124

I'm getting one soon..........

WestCoast,

That 3800 is leading the pack right now, i'll probably get it when my new TV comes in. Thanks for the info.

Due to the circumstances of my room, I will most likely need to mount my surround and back surround speakers to the ceiling. My room has 8 foot ceilings. I will probably use Radius 90's as my surround speakers along with R180s as my L/R and a R225 for my center. Probably going to use an Energy sub.

Anyway, I am looking for suggestions about ceiling mounts for R90 speakers. As a possible alternative, I am considering monitor audio in-ceiling speakers as an alternative to the back surrounds. Comments are welcomed.

Just picked up a nearly new pr. of MA RS6's and RSLCR on Fleabay for a pretty good price.. but somebody else snatched up the RS1's they were selling before I could hit the BIN on that one.

Anybody have a pr. in Walnut they wouldn't mind parting with? If so, PM me.

Ha..just so everyone will be on the same page and have a good laugh..
I am the other dude that managed to snatch the RS1 and RSW12 from the same seller that Jeff got his RS6 and RSLCR from..
The seller posted her set on ebay between 11:50 to 12:10 today and were splited by us within 10 min of her posting...

Good to see you are on this forum too Jeff...

I actually went to local shop this afternoon and tried both RS6 and RS8, without a subwoofer.
RS8 does sound better, a bit bigger soundstage and better extension on vocal. Obiously, RS8 also has deeper bass than RS6.
I am curious to find out if incorporate a subwoofer, will the difference still be easily noticeable or will the difference become minimal?
I am talkling about when used in music mode, primarily playing regular cds.

Also, how do you guys mount your RS1 to either the wall or speakerstand?
What speakerstand would work good with the RS1?
It looks like there are no pre-drilled holes on the RS1 and I would hate to drill any holes and ruin the beautiful piece of work...

Interesting. I've A/B'd the RS6s and RS8s in two different shops and I found that the RS6s sounded a little better, due to cleaner midrange and a little tighter sound. Without a sub I'd have to spring for the RS8s but with a sub I'm probably going to go with the RS6s instead.