Monitor Audio Owners Thread - Page 287

Originally Posted by damienbuckley

I've probably asked before (apologies) but what surrounds are you running with your GX gear?

Originally Posted by big_marcelo


I'm running my old fronts.... The RX8's.....

I have the crossovers set to 50hz, so I actually use most of the range of the speaker and it matches ok - however if I was buying from scratch, I'd choose either the RX1 or the GX50 ( depending on budget) and set the crossover at 80....

A friend of mine which doesn't have much room behind his couch, is opting for the GXFX speakers and putting the on the wall... His house is still under renovation so the speakers are not installed yet, so I can't say how they perform.... However, if the fronts are anything to go with, the mid and HF should balance very well together indeed....

When I was running my RX centre, I was pretty happy with it, and no complaints really... Now doing the home test on th GX350, the HF and mids are very well integrated in the front channel, and this causes a perceptual increase in the sound field and the transition in the front sounds seamless...

Originally Posted by damienbuckley

Thanks. I'm talking to my dealer about which choice. Bizarrely MAh ave suggested RXFX on sides & RX1 or GX50 at the back but I'm still considering GXFX sides & GX50 rears.

I'm going to switch my RSFX to dipole (side walls) and see if I hit the out of phase with the rear pair issue MA are talking about?

Originally Posted by buddahead

I have MA Rs6 that I bought 4 years agp after reading the Stereophile review.They loved them and I have been very pleased with them.Great sound and they look good.Now I have been thinking of upgrading my speakers.I just got a new integrated Music Hall a70.2 integrated amp that sounds great and oppo CD player.Are the Gold series much of a upgrade over my Rs6's'Back when I bought them new they were $875 for a pair.The Gold speakers are over $4k a pair'which I find over priced IMHO.Their are many other killer speakers in that price range like the Goldenear triton 2' Salk'Vandersteen'ect.Are the Golds that good to command that price.This is a 2 channel system.Thanks

Originally Posted by buddahead

I have MA Rs6 that I bought 4 years agp after reading the Stereophile review.They loved them and I have been very pleased with them.Great sound and they look good.Now I have been thinking of upgrading my speakers.I just got a new integrated Music Hall a70.2 integrated amp that sounds great and oppo CD player.Are the Gold series much of a upgrade over my Rs6's'Back when I bought them new they were $875 for a pair.The Gold speakers are over $4k a pair'which I find over priced IMHO.Their are many other killer speakers in that price range like the Goldenear triton 2' Salk'Vandersteen'ect.Are the Golds that good to command that price.This is a 2 channel system.Thanks

Originally Posted by BarracudaDelGato

I think that the main source of the price difference is in the cabinet work (do you care)? I think that there is also a noticeable increase in SQ, though that is more subjective.

The best thing would probably be to try a side by side comparison - if possible...

I listened to rx6 and rx8 (not the RS) before buying my gx200, and IMO the difference in SQ was not too subtle.

If I had a chance to do it all over again, I'd probably taken more time, and seriously considered Salk and Philharmonic Audio, if anything because they are so well regarded on this forum.

Originally Posted by jd_alpha

Hi All:

Just got a GX 5.1 system set up on the weekend. I can't say enough about the fit and finish, quality, and attention to detail Monitor Audio has put into the speakers, right down to the packaging! Just outstanding engineering, product quality, and design. Each speaker looks like a piece of fine art.

I haven't heard enough material yet to say anything too definitive, and the speakers do need breaking in, but from what I have heard the highs are truly goregeous.

Back on topic - the ribbon tweeters in the GX series are a big step up over the domes in the RXs (which are no slouches either) IMHO. I've been a fan of ribbons for a long time now (had some Maggies with an amazing ribbon tweeter way back in the day). I also think Barracuda is right about the cabinetry, although I'm sure the RX cabinets are really nice as well.

Try to audition both speakers and decide for yourself if the increase in price makes sense for you. That's a judgement on value no-one else can make for you.

I would also have liked to hear something from Salk. I think some of their speakers are very comparable to the GXs (even down to having ribbon tweeters).

- JD

Originally Posted by big_marcelo

JD, which speakers did you get for your rears??

Originally Posted by jd_alpha

Hey big_marcelo:

I got the GX50s. I had considered the GXFXs, but in my set-up I have to jam the rear surrounds into the back corners of the room. This placement would mean I wouldn't be able to use the GXFXs in di-pole mode. I also wanted to use stands rather than wall-mounting the speakers.

I didn't go with the GX100s mostly because of cost, but I also didn't think there would be that much of a performance improvement given they are just receiving surround channel signals and are being crossed-over to the sub at 80 Hz.

So far I'm pleased with the sound, but I hope I don't regret not going with the GX100s in the future.

- JD

Originally Posted by big_marcelo


great stuff...

for surrounds I'm sure the GX50 is more than enough.. the reason I"m going with the GX100 is that if I have the opportunity to upgrade my bedroom setup, I can move the GX100 up, and then buy a GX50, or the GXFX .... or something else... I wanted to try at home having all 5-7 speakers with the same drivers, specially the HF ....

with the GX350 in place now for a couple of days, and going through some basic calibration.... they match beautifully .... so different than the audition at the store....

so now I'm waiting for the GX100's and the GX15" sub to arrive... no stock, so 6-8 weeks....

anyone here with a GX15"? how did the calibration go? the shop manager said he had great difficulty calibrating the GX15" properly on his first install a few months ago... he doesn't stock it, only on order ... so I couldn't demo it... the RX12 sub is fine... but....

Originally Posted by damienbuckley

Couple of Q's relevant to me joining this exclusive club - if you DO go to 7 speakers, will you mix GXFX & GX50? MA advising me against this & I'm unconvinced.

With the GXW15 having its own equalisation, what do you do with your amp setup?

Originally Posted by jd_alpha

On the GX15 sub - I'm a little hesitant to comment as I've not had it all that long or had the chance to give it a good workout yet.

The LEO (integrated sub room correction/EQ) set-up was very easy -- position the sub, attach the provided microphone, run the program (like running Audessy or MCACC on an AVR). You can also set the sub to auto-on mode so it will shut on and off automatically depending on the presence/absence of a LFE signal.

I have an Elite SC-57 AVR and its MCACC program does not do sub EQ. So I just ran LEO on the GX15 first and then ran a full MCACC on the AVR. There were no issues with the set up and everything sounds fine so far. I still need to do a lot of listening though ...

If you have an AVR with sub EQ, or outboard sub EQ, you likely wouldn't want to run LEO on the GX15. Or maybe in that case it would be best to experiment to see what configuration works best.

If I were to change to 7.1 and I could either wall or stand mount the two side surrounds, I think I'd go with the matching GX50s. I do like the idea of di-polar speakers for surround channels though, and I also like the fact the FXFXs are switchable. They are both really great speakers for the job - I'm sure you'd be happy with either. Could you wall-mount all of the surrounds in your set-up?

Cheers,
JD

Originally Posted by jd_alpha

On the GX15 sub - I'm a little hesitant to comment as I've not had it all that long or had the chance to give it a good workout yet.

The LEO (integrated sub room correction/EQ) set-up was very easy -- position the sub, attach the provided microphone, run the program (like running Audessy or MCACC on an AVR). You can also set the sub to auto-on mode so it will shut on and off automatically depending on the presence/absence of a LFE signal.

I have an Elite SC-57 AVR and its MCACC program does not do sub EQ. So I just ran LEO on the GX15 first and then ran a full MCACC on the AVR. There were no issues with the set up and everything sounds fine so far. I still need to do a lot of listening though ...

If you have an AVR with sub EQ, or outboard sub EQ, you likely wouldn't want to run LEO on the GX15. Or maybe in that case it would be best to experiment to see what configuration works best.

If I were to change to 7.1 and I could either wall or stand mount the two side surrounds, I think I'd go with the matching GX50s. I do like the idea of di-polar speakers for surround channels though, and I also like the fact the FXFXs are switchable. They are both really great speakers for the job - I'm sure you'd be happy with either. Could you wall-mount all of the surrounds in your set-up?

Cheers,
JD

Originally Posted by ArtMusic

Dear all,

This will be my first post on this forum, so please be gentle . I am a very big fan of Monitor Audio speakers. A few years ago I bought a pair of Monitor Audio BR1 speakers that I ran with a Denon dm38 dac amp/cd player and was blown away by the rich full sound coming from these unassuming bookshelf speakers. I have this system in my small bedroom and it serves its purpose well.

Last week for the sitting room (4 meters x 7 meters) I bought my first floor standing speakers ever, the Monitor Audio BX5 coupled with the Marantz PM 6004 amp and the Marantz 6004 CD player. I positioned the speakers 3 meters apart and 3 meters away from my sitting position forming an equilateral triangle as per the instructions in the manual. Played Verdi's Rigoletto and instantly noticed the wide soundstage produced by these speakers. The sound was remarkably warm, but the vocals lacked focus. So I started experimenting with toeing in and it is here that I got into trouble. First I angled the speakers 30 degrees so that they were directed at me. This didn't work as the voices lacked space. After 45 minutes of toe in adjustments I finally settled on the speakers firing just at my shoulder location on each side. With a group of singers I could hear some coming from left of centre and others like the chorus of the Duke's entourage from the right. Is this the effect I should be going for? Or do all the voices have to come from the centre?

Also do you think that the BX5 speakers are too far apart from each other at 3 meters?

I would really appreciate any advice you an give me.

Thank you,
Artmusic

Originally Posted by BarracudaDelGato

3 m apart maybe too much. I found that the image improved a lot as i moved the speakers 1 m (3 ft) from the wall. Just my experience, but it's something cheap to try. :-)

Originally Posted by ArtMusic


Thank you. I'll try to bring the speakers closer to each other and see what I get. Not sure if it is worth placing the speakers along the 7 meter length of wall as opposed to the current setup along the 4 meter width?? in this case I'd be sitting right up against a wall........ Perhaps this is NOT advisable.

Artmusic

Originally Posted by ArtMusic

Dear all,

This will be my first post on this forum, so please be gentle . I am a very big fan of Monitor Audio speakers. A few years ago I bought a pair of Monitor Audio BR1 speakers that I ran with a Denon dm38 dac amp/cd player and was blown away by the rich full sound coming from these unassuming bookshelf speakers. I have this system in my small bedroom and it serves its purpose well.

Last week for the sitting room (4 meters x 7 meters) I bought my first floor standing speakers ever, the Monitor Audio BX5 coupled with the Marantz PM 6004 amp and the Marantz 6004 CD player. I positioned the speakers 3 meters apart and 3 meters away from my sitting position forming an equilateral triangle as per the instructions in the manual. Played Verdi's Rigoletto and instantly noticed the wide soundstage produced by these speakers. The sound was remarkably warm, but the vocals lacked focus. So I started experimenting with toeing in and it is here that I got into trouble. First I angled the speakers 30 degrees so that they were directed at me. This didn't work as the voices lacked space. After 45 minutes of toe in adjustments I finally settled on the speakers firing just at my shoulder location on each side. With a group of singers I could hear some coming from left of centre and others like the chorus of the Duke's entourage from the right. Is this the effect I should be going for? Or do all the voices have to come from the centre?

Also do you think that the BX5 speakers are too far apart from each other at 3 meters?

I would really appreciate any advice you an give me.

Thank you,
Artmusic

Originally Posted by rokbyter

Regarding your experience with toeing in the speakers, I had the same experience with my RX-2s. If I toed them directly at the listening position, it just din't sound right, but toeing them out just a bit from that point (about shoulder width, like you mentioned) really helped. I would imagine what you heard with some of the vocals being slightly to the left or right was probably accurate. I hear this all the time when watching TV - the voices seem to come from exactly where the actors are on screen. Some may say this is sighted bias, or whatever, but I've not previously experienced imaging like this in any of my previous speakers. I like it a lot!

Originally Posted by ArtMusic 


Thank you rokbyter. The effect stunned me when I first heard it. I too loved this effect, but i wanted to check that it was not a result of an error in speaker setup on my part. As I was listening to a CD, I could actually pick out exactly where those singers stood in that aural stage produced by the Monitor Audio BX5s! It must be a real thrill to bring visuals into the mix, as in the setup you have.


I ended up moving the speakers a bit closer together and further from the side walls. They now sit 2.5 meters apart and I am very pleased.


As a side note for those on a modest budget I highly recommend the Monitor Audio BX5s with the Marantz PM6004 amp and Marantz 6004 CD player. This is a winning combination! I bought the whole package a few weeks ago online for £899 delivered from Roy Jowett. Easily one of the best entry level high end audio systems on the market.


Artmusic

Originally Posted by rokbyter 

Good to hear that Marantz is a good match with them as that is one of the brands I'm considering for my next upgrade. I'm also looking at NAD if anyone has any input there. The 326BEE integrated amp looks to have pretty much everything I need, but so does the Marantz 5007 coming out soon. Main thing being that I don't need the extra channels in the Marantz since I run a 2.2 setup and I really have no itch to upgrade to 5 or more channels. I'm running a HK 3490 right now as a preamp (left channel seems to have gone wonky) into a Emotiva UPA-2, which sounds good, but I'd like to get that down to one component if possible.

Originally Posted by ArtMusic 

Dear all,


This will be my first post on this forum, so please be gentle
. I am a very big fan of Monitor Audio speakers. A few years ago I bought a pair of Monitor Audio BR1 speakers that I ran with a Denon dm38 dac amp/cd player and was blown away by the rich full sound coming from these unassuming bookshelf speakers. I have this system in my small bedroom and it serves its purpose well.


Last week for the sitting room (4 meters x 7 meters) I bought my first floor standing speakers ever, the Monitor Audio BX5 coupled with the Marantz PM 6004 amp and the Marantz 6004 CD player. I positioned the speakers 3 meters apart and 3 meters away from my sitting position forming an equilateral triangle as per the instructions in the manual. Played Verdi's Rigoletto and instantly noticed the wide soundstage produced by these speakers. The sound was remarkably warm, but the vocals lacked focus. So I started experimenting with toeing in and it is here that I got into trouble. First I angled the speakers 30 degrees so that they were directed at me. This didn't work as the voices lacked space. After 45 minutes of toe in adjustments I finally settled on the speakers firing just at my shoulder location on each side. With a group of singers I could hear some coming from left of centre and others like the chorus of the Duke's entourage from the right. Is this the effect I should be going for? Or do all the voices have to come from the centre?


Also do you think that the BX5 speakers are too far apart from each other at 3 meters?


I would really appreciate any advice you an give me.


Thank you,

Artmusic