Monitor Audio Owners Thread - Page 104

hifisponge,

If it's not too much trouble, can you give me some advise about how I should place my center and surround speakers?
Please see my post on the top of page 105 for the description of potential problems I am considering.
Also, if I have to place the speaker higher than my sofa to get a line of sight, will these shelves worK?
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40105627
I don't think I can simply place my RS1s on speaker stands as the stands won't have enough heigh to cleaar the back of my sofa..

thanks in advance..

I appreciate the tip. I know av123 produces some nice speakers, but just hadn't looked into their sub. July is a little far out there, but on the other hand I'm still researching the electronics. Takes me awhile to decide (drives my wife nuts) so who knows? Thanks again.

i am in the mid of choosing between new BR2 or RS1.... if any of you audition these speaker before, please let me know which one has better "bass"? BR2 or RS1? BR2 has larger driver and also larger dimension compare than RS1...but does the bass feel stronger than RS1? in term of clarity, i believe RS1 outperform BR2..but what about in BASS department? i am in dilemma..
Thanks..

The GSW12's have a tricked out eq integrated into them, but I haven't messed with one, yet. I've done a few of their Radius subs and for their size, they can perform quite well. If their GSW12's are anything like their GS line of speakers, I'm sure it would be a "no-regret" type of purchase.

I use a pair of BR2 for my stereo mini system in the bedroom and RS1 as my surround for the lvining room...
The biggest difference between the two defintely is the clarity, BR2 has a louder bass and slightly wider soundstage,
however RS1 has deeper bass and is just better in term of overall balance and performance..

Is is possible for RS1 to have superior bass compare to BR2 although the driver is only 6" due to RS1 driver can go for deeper excursion? is this the reason for the driver to produce punchy bass? Deeper excursion = more bass? what about the dimension of the bookshelf...? RS1 overall volume is much lower compare to BR2 but suprising better bass?

The driver size difference between RS1 and BR2 is only 0.25", I don't think that's significate at all..
RS1 is only slightly smaller than BR2 yet it weights more than BR2 which sugguest more dense cabinet material been used..
If you check the specs, you will see their frequency response is almost identical and 80w vs 100w, not a whole lot different..
I think RS1 has a more focused and balanced bass, if you define bass by loudness, than BR2 does sound louder..
However, I like the bass from RS1 more because I think it's a tighter and more in control bass..
Simply put, RS1 uses better driver and better cabinet performance, but again, it all depend on your budget..
I got my BR2 for $300 and RS1 for $450, I think they are both well worth the price tag..

Hello all,

I'm new here and have a question regarding ohm compatibility.

I'm about to purchase a pair of Monitor Audio MA-303 speakers. The product literature says that their nominal impedance is 6 ohms. I plan to drive them with my Onkyo TX-SV444 which outputs 8 ohms. The speaker literature does not mention being compatible with 8 ohms.

Will I have any problems here? Admittedly this is an area I am completely clueless about. Any information will be appreciated.

Anamorphic,

I tried your suggestion. Made all the difference in the world. Quite frankly, I don't know how I missed it. I pretty much did exactly as you described, although mine are closer to the wall. The soundstage just opened up to massive proportions compared to where it was. It also helped the midrange a bit, although I don't know why. They are now 15" from the rear wall and 10' apart. I also pointed them strait ahead. They sounded good before, but now they sound great. I no longer have to cheat with the surround formats and instead switched back to two channel. Fantastic suggestion and thanks again.

I've written long ago in this forum about my experiences
with speaker placement.
It really is significant -- finding the right place for them.

My two cents ...
The further from walls, back or side, the better.
I have my PL100s about 3' from back
walls, and over 3' from side walls, and that's where
they really sound their best, near as I can tell.
Move them toward either back or side walls and they get
muddy -- and in the case of back walls, definitely more boomy.

Yeah, I really do appreciate you guys that have been around the block a few times helping a brother out. I know it can seem like playing a broken record, but it really does help DA's like me. In my case, I had monkeyed with placement a ton when I first got the speakers. They were moved to the middle when I had the room treatments installed. When I moved them back, I was so thrilled with the results on clarity that I didn't spend the time fiddling with placement. They sounded so much better that I didn't care. It took a while to miss the soundstage part. Unfortunately, I have to learn a lesson several times for it to sink in totally.

I will probably sit tight for a while. When I get ready to audition, the PL's will be near the top. The ribbon tweeter aspect really intrigues me. Do you find them bright at all? Is it a huge step from the Gold's or incremental?

Thanks for the input.

Again, you're welcome ICrain.

One reason the midrange could have been brought forward some is that now since the RS8's are pointed straight ahead, you are no longer on-axis with the tweeters. This means you're listening to the off-axis response of the tweeters, making them a bit "laid back" so to speak. Since the midrange driver has a much wider dispersion, the off-axis response doesn't drop off nearly as much as the tweeter, making it sound like the midrange is back up front where it should be. Make sense?

I just didn't want to see you resort to using EQ or worse yet, getting rid of the RS8's. If you have the room and time, try pulling them a little further out from the walls some more a little at a time. Just make note of where they sound best.

Also, another little tip... When you move the speakers away from the walls, don't have them equal distances from the side walls and back wall. Either have them slightly closer to the side walls than the back wall, or slightly closer to the back wall than the side walls.

I'm really glad to hear that my suggestions worked out for you.

I'm deciding between the Polk RM10 5-Pack....plus a brand name sub. Or a pair of monitor 50's and CS1 center and brand name sub. I'm on a budget, what do you guys think, any suggestions would help.

so are you using your Monitor Audio GS-FX rears with your set-up, or are you using Focal rears as well?

Also, the obvious question, how do you like the Focal's compared to the GS-Series?

Tim, if you can also post some pictures that would be great. I hear the Focals are like having a piece of art. Although I love the look of my GS60's. especially with the grills off

I will help Tim out a bit here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...709291&page=68

His surrounds are a page or so after that.

The Focals are sweet looking. I love the look of the "golf ball" drivers on my GS60s too.

Thanks for the help DNinja.

Just got my center speaker today too, so I posted a few more pics.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post13498852

Is anyone here using a phantom center with their MA setup. I have been thinking about doing this with my RS8's. Looking for some input.

Don't know much about Monitor Audio (so why am I here... learning as these speakers are very highly regarded).

For price/performance, the Energy line goes:

C series
RC Series
Veritas Series

Each step up gets you better sound, but you pay for it. The Veritas is almost double the price of the RC, but the RC's use the same tweeters and many (including reviewers) feel the sound does not qualify the price difference.

The MA's as I know it goes:

Bronze
Silver
Gold

So I would say the Silver are the best match for the RC's, and the Bronze are the best match for the "C" series in the Energy line.

WestCoastD has the Golds (GS60 I believe) and RC-30's, he would be in a far far better position than I to quantify which matches to which, but I know he has stated in the past the RC compares favourably to the gold series, but the gold does everything a little(?) bit better. (The (?) is because I can't remember off the top of my head how much better it is, I do know he feels (and I'm sure they are given their price point and reputation) that they are better).

So, if I were in your shoes, I would compare Bronze to "C", Silver to "RC", and then decide for yourself which sounds better and of course what you pocket book can afford to purchase. Hopefully you'll be able to listen to them in the same room with the same equipment. This way, you will get the best speaker for you no questions asked

You are such a freaking show off Tim.

Actually I love people like you on forums, posting lots of pics of beautiful gear.

No argument here.

I'm just doing what I would like to see others do, though I suppose there is the gallery section.

How would you guys compare the BR2 to the RS1? I would actually give the advantage to the BR2 because it has a frontal bass-port and I have a small room (10 m2). I heard them both once very briefly and the highs of the RS1 were rather bright to my ears. Is this normal or was it probably a bad match with the amp (a Denon if I recall correctly)? In short: is the RS1 worth the extra money?

Curious if anyone has used any other brackets for the R90s besides the original ones from MA? Looks like I'm am going to need to mount the R90s from the ceiling rather than the side walls. But the mount does not allow enough of an angle, even at full tilt there is not enough. Any suggestions / knowledge of other mounts that will work with the R90 mounting? Thanks

Does anyone have any thoughts on putting the center channel speaker in the center channel space in a tv stand (I really don't want to have to buy a center channel stand; my budget is already stressed; and having a center channel stand would make my small room look even smaller (only 12'x15')? As long as the front of the speaker is in line with (or slightly in front of) the front of the TV stand, will I be fine, or will the sound quality be tampered with? Thanks.

You should be fine. I have seen quite a few people who put their MA centers in the TV stand. Just make sure that speaker is not pushed back into the stand.

I'm using my GS-LCR inside a stand with great results (I specifically designed things that way). I make a point to pull the center speaker forward enough such that the front face (baffle) is beyond the front edge of the cabinet, and in the same "plane" as the front left & right speakers.

Okay...Thanks for alleviating my concerns guys. Its people like you that make avsforum such a nice place...Btw, the GSLCR looks sexy, WestCoastD! I wish I could afford the gold series...Thanks again.

I wish I could afford the Platinum Series

I'm very happy with these (GS-Series) speakers...........

Wait until they release the Unobtainium Series . . . with those the angels from heaven will descend and give you an eargasm.

I have a similar setup and second WCD opinion, after taking the picture below I moved my left and right speakers forward to be on the same plane as the center channel speaker.

Attachment 106391