Monitor Audio Silver Speakers

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by BLAKE1, Jul 9, 2020.

  1. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    Just wanted to start a thread for those of you running the Monitor Audio Silver series speakers. Curious to see others thoughts about the speaker line. What equipment are you using with it? What have you done (equipment, cabling, etc.) to get the most out of your speakers.

    This is a loaded question I know. I’m not looking for the typical cabling argument that cabling makes a difference or it doesn’t, but just actual experiences people have had of what worked or didn’t work for THEM.

    I run Silver 300s in the front and then fill out a 5.1 with the smaller silver series speakers. Always looking to make things just a little bit better, so would love to hear YOUR experiences.
     
  2. Thouston

    Thouston Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mattoon, IL
    I think the MA Silver 300's are the best sounding speaker you can buy for $2000. I own 3 pair of them.
     
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  3. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    3? Wow. Do you have 3 separate listening areas or are you using multiples in a setup?

    Any notable tweaks you've done to get the most out of your 300s? I've been changing to toe of mine every so slightly to get rid of a bit of brightness. Still trying to figure out how to get a bit more bass out of them.
     
  4. Thouston

    Thouston Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mattoon, IL
    2 ft from front wall. No toe-in. The brightness is probably your room or the source. I am running 2 SVS 2000 subs in my home system, but I don't really need them.
    The Silver 300's are designed to be closer to the wall than most floor standing speakers. I have 3 systems, office, lake house, and home.
     
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  5. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    Grills can help reduce the brightness some. When I owned the Silver 8s which have very similar if not identical low-end behavior, placement was critical for the bass, a matter of a couple inches to get them in the Goldilocks zone.

    The Silver series produces a very flat, monitor-like response, which many listeners find bright. To shelve down the top end you can replace one of the binding post jumpers with a Mundorf resistor. Maybe buy a couple resistors between .5 and 1.5 ohm to experiment.
     
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  6. Dougr33

    Dougr33 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Twin Cities, MN
    I didn't test others.. just bought these per reviews. I've NEVER been happier in my 45 years of audio. Equipment is in my profile.
     
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  7. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    I was at a dealer one day and they had the Monitor Golds and they sounded beautiful. Lots of $$$ though. They also had a pair of the last gen Silvers. I took my B&W 600 series to the shop to do an A/B. Oh my I didn't realize the B&W speakers were so bad. It sounded like someone had thrown a blanket over them in comparison to the MAs. The new gen was just being released so I crossed my fingers and purchased without hearing hoping they would sound as good or better than the previous generation.

    Overall, I like the speakers. Always that upgraditis. I do have to say is the cabinets on those are absolutely beautiful and wife approved.
     
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  8. brubacca

    brubacca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I really like my Silver RS8. I bought them used and love them. I truly hope the next generation will have the ribbon tweeter from the old gold series. I don't know anything, just a guess.

    I use a Naim Nait 5si amp with Analysis Plus oval 12 speaker cable. My dac is a Schiit Gungnir and source is Sonore MicroRendu (plus a Rega P2 with Hana el).
     
    Rick58 likes this.
  9. I have a pair of MA Silver RX6 and another pair of Silver RX2.
    I´m only running the 6´s in my second system, I´m not that happy with them. After a lot of tube rolling in order to get the sound that I liked (I didn´t want to put a subwoofer) I replaced them in my first system with a pair of focal aria 948.
     
  10. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    MA does make the best cabinets in this price class, no contest there.
     
  11. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    I’m still a bit disappointed in the bass in my 300s. Although it is probably more of a function of my home acoustics being the living room is open to the kitchen so lots of area to fill. Even with a smaller sub the bass wasn’t right. I compensated by getting a big subwoofer and now I’m getting more of the bass I want.

    I moved my old system to the basement that has less space and more walls and it was a big improvement to that system.

    I really want to move my good system to the basement for acoustics but it is all about where most of the time is spent I guess.
     
  12. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    I'm going to regret opening this can of worms, but I'm going to do it...

    Anyone mess are with bi-wiring/swapping jumpers/plugging in diagonally, etc? I've tried different configurations just because it is pretty simple and I was curious. I personally didn't hear any difference in my system. Definitely don't want to stir the pot as there are pretty strong opinions each way, but just like to learn what people are doing especially on a similar speaker to mine.
     
  13. VinylPhool

    VinylPhool Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    I absolutely love my Silver 500’s. You’ll hear a lot about 150 hours to burn in. Trust me, at 400-500 hours they really shine. Replaced my beloved Thiel CS 3.5’s. I was extremely skeptical - I did not think that anything in this price range could even approach them. I was dead wrong.

    The best tweak that I made was upgrading my speaker cables. Went from the Equinox 8 to the Eclipse 8. Fiscally absurd to do what I did - my cables cost almost as much as the speakers. But they’re worth every penny. They’re fabulous with my Silver 500’s. The speakers are bi-wired. The owners manual recommends this. Because I couldn’t bi-wire the Equinox 8’s, I know what the speakers were like when not bi-wired. Problem is that I upgraded the cables significantly when I bi-wired them with the Eclipse 8’s. Therefore I have no real basis for comparison. All I can say though is that I love the combination of the Silver 500’s and the bi-wired Eclipse 8’s. I have all the bass I could ever need and do not have any desire to get a subwoofer. At my age (53) I am not into music that would even get anywhere near the 30 hz these speakers are supposed to be able to get to.
    I can no longer hear the first 30 seconds of heartbeats at the beginning of Breathe by Pink Floyd. Not sure I ever could. My jazz and classical don’t go that low either. Except maybe E Power Biggs but that’s not my cup of tea.

    My pre-amp is a BAT 3ix. Auditioning the Primare 35.2 amp right now. Got it a few hours ago. EAT C Sharp TT. Playing a George Piros cut 75 Rockefeller cut of Yes’s Fragile on vinyl right now.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2020
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  14. SBaradaran

    SBaradaran Forum Resident

    Location:
    Twain Harte, CA
    I'm pretty surprised that the Silver 300s are not providing enough bass. What are the dimensions of your room and how close are you placing them to the wall?

    I have a pair of Silver S10s (which is equivalent to the newer Sliver 500) and I find at least 18 inches of space from the rear wall works in my room. I do plug the bottom bass port because I'm smallish room. They never sound bright, but these are a much older model from like 2004 or so.

    If you still are not getting enough bass maybe you can trade up to the Silver 500s?
     
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  15. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    I really think it’s a function of the room. The main living room is 15x20 but really only has 2 1/2 walls since the main area is open. It is probably another 25 feet to the back wall.

    I have the speaker probably 6” from wall. I don’t have tons of play in adjusting those. Being that close to the wall though I figured I would have some weird reflections l, but not so.

    Not the end of the world. I have a sub for HT and just run my 2 channels as 2.1.
     
  16. namlook

    namlook Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I ran silver 5s for 20 years and really enjoyed them. Last year I upgraded to Gold 300s and was floored by the upgrade. I then added a REL T7i sub and was left speechless. In my room I like them to be toed in.

    I also run some old Silver S2s on my office desk and they really pack a punch nearfield.
     
  17. Rick58

    Rick58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, ID, USA
    OK I'm going to chime in, get some Analysis Plus Oval 9 cables ... When I got mine, even with the Triangle Titus monitors, there seemed to be another octave of bass and it got tighter ... OK maybe that's a little exaggerated but the Oval 9s are well known for excellent bass response. Hopefully not going to start a war about cables, but that was my experience.

    Blue Jeans 10 AWG ... SEEMS like these should do well, but ??? Maybe you can borrow some Oval 9s to try ...

    ALSO, maybe your speakers are still breaking in? but seems like you must have 10s of hours on them so hopefully that's not the issue. New speakers can have little bass which then comes in as things flex a little.

    AHA, maybe you've done this, but move your listening position. You could be in a partial node area where the bass is being 'cancelled'. Same with speaker positions. Lots of things to do before giving up. I know, can't move speakers, but hopefully you can experiment and then put them back ... same with listening position. Having speakers 6" from the back wall seems problematic. Maybe a foot more? Sheesh I hope you have that flexibility at least! It could make a difference.

    I have Silver 8s, hope to get an A21 one of these days, and have the (older) Oval 9 cables already, so HOPEFULLY I'll be OK with the bass in my 23 x 18 x 8 new listening room. I can put things wherever I want, so I'm lucky.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2020
  18. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    Thanks for the suggestions. The speakers are 2 years old so I should be good on anything breaking in. I do have a little play in distance from the wall. I’ve been out around 12” and about the same results.

    I’m not a heavy bass person anyways so not a huge factor here. Really starting to love everything else with these speakers as I get warmed up to my new amp.
     
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  19. Calvin_and_Hobbes

    Calvin_and_Hobbes Music Lover

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    I just got Silver 300s in February. Great timing as that was just before we all got stuck at home.

    Associated components:
    Amplifier: Creek 4140 with 35 watts per channel (but can deliver a good amount of current)
    Speaker Cables: Nordost Flatline

    I did audition the Silver 300s with my existing amp and speaker cables to make sure I didn't need to change out any other components.

    I really liked that the Silver 300 seems to be not a difficult load to drive. I wanted to continue to use my existing amplifier, but know that I'll probably upgrade it at some point in time. It's great that the Silver 300 sounds good in my current system with no other changes, but is transparent and revealing enough that I believe I can improve my amplification by a lot before I hit the sonic limits of the Silver 300s.

    The Nordost Flatline cables work well. The Silver 300 was more pleasant in the high frequencies than the B&W 704 S2 speakers. The Silver 300 really hit a good balance of being just on the pleasant side of brightness. Bright and clear enough without being too shrill. The Nordost cables add clarity, but could be too much with a speaker that is too bright.
     
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  20. Calvin_and_Hobbes

    Calvin_and_Hobbes Music Lover

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Thouston, Interesting that you have also set up your Silver 300s without any toe in. I have my speakers about 18 inches from my back wall and initially had them toed-in. brightness was okay, but I found that the soundstage was a lot bigger when the speakers were pointed straight ahead.
     
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  21. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    I'm using the Silver 300s as part of a 5.1 HT setup and also with my 2.1 setup. I'm curious as to what you all use for a crossover number. They are rated down to 32, but the driver is relatively small. I've dabbled in the 50/60 ranges as suggested by SVS, but keep going back to 80 for both HT and stereo.
     
  22. Rick58

    Rick58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, ID, USA
    This sounds fine to me, I assume you're 'augmenting' <80Hz and driving the Silver 300s full range ... I plan on doing the same with my Silver 8s when I get them set up (with a new to me A21 sometime).

    AH, hoping/assuming you've dialed in the phase of the sub? All of them have a 0-180 phase switch, play tone at crossover (80Hz) and set switch to whichever setting sounds loudest at listening position ... right? I wonder if the sub has a continuous phase setting, maybe 0 or 180 isn't optimal ... Seems like you're settling in with your new A21+ (I'm jealous!) but still trying to dial in the bass. Just trying to think of everything that can affect that.
     
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  23. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    On HT I set everything at 80 on the AVR. When doing the 2.1 set the dials on the P6 both at 80. It has a switch where you can set high pass/loss pass or run either in full range. I have both on and set to 80. This is where I've been tinkering with going down to 50 as SVS suggested.

    Liking the A21 for the most part except for the cost :). I started out going for the A23, but figured I'd invest the funds so I don't want to upgrade in 6 months and be out the $$$ anyhow. Just trying to get the bass just right. Some songs sound a bit bright. Others sound absolutely beautiful now that I've got the AVR out of the way. A lot of this is probably just a function of my room being wide open.
     
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  24. ether-bored

    ether-bored click OK to continue

    recently i bi-wired my gold gr10's (with kimber 4tc). i was stunned at how much the depth and soundstage opened up and the bass tightened and focused. if you haven't bi-wired yours, i can't recommend it enough.
     
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  25. BLAKE1

    BLAKE1 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    IOWA
    I gave the Kimber 8VS a shot with the internal bi-wire. They sounded super bright. Maybe that was just my wallet telling me not to do it. I'm back with my Blue Jeans. I'm going to dabble with some jumpers instead of the plates just because I have some cheap ones laying around. Not expecting anything, but never hurts to try. I had some 12x4 I tried and bi-wired that way, but didn't really like that in my setup either. Fun experimenting though.
     

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