I finally had the time to listen to the BR2's. But unlike many of you audiophiles, I wouldn't know bright from warm, good from very good, etc. even if they bit me in the as$. so I had to use another pair of speakers as reference, what I had immediately available was the Polk Audio Rti4. (which coincidentally was similar in price)
I now had an excuse to use my newly purchased quick lock plugs:
I used the Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 connections on my HK3480 which could be controlled via remote control (unlike my yamaha's speaker A and speaker B connections where you need to go the front panel to switch):
I set them up alternately so the soundstage would be the same width:
I used my PC's DVD-Rom as CD player, using the Creative external sound card to output to the stereo receiver.
I used Josh Groban's "To Where You Are" and Susan Wong's "These Foolish Things" as the primary listening material to have both a male and female voice in the mix. To wrap up, I used a variety of mp3's ranging from oldies, ballads, r&b songs and bass heavy rap songs I had stored in the PC.
and on to the listening ...
First I tried the Josh Groban CD, switching between the speakers, immediately noticeable with the Polks was that Groban's voice was more forward than the musical instruments, while the MA's soundstage was the same depth. Initially, I thought the Polks were louder and clearer (I thought it was because of the 8ohm and 6ohm difference between the two but discovered later on that their sensitvities were only 1db from each other), and as many of you know, louder is perceived as better. I tried to balance the volume of the two, but dropped the idea because there was too much time spent in between switches ... with the current procedure, it only took 1-2 seconds to switch. I continued on with Susan Wong's CD ... again, the Polk was louder but this time I realized what the words "bright" and "warm" simply means. the MA's had a warm sound, sound that you would be able to listen to for a long time. the Polks had the advantage with the vocals but after awhile, you'd get "listener's fatigue" again, something I've heard before but only now just discovered. But honestly, if I had brought these two CD’s to a store to A/B these speakers, I would have walked away with the Polks.
I never believed speaker break-in and probably won't in the near future, but for those who do, I have to inform you that the BR's were pretty new and the Polks have had their share of games for awhile.
I scrolled through my "favorites" folder of mp3's this time choosing songs I actually listen to regularly (surely you didn't think I regularly listen to Josh Groban did you? j/k!), these were the ballads and pop songs of the late 90's and early 2000's. This time the MA's had the advantage, they sounded "fuller" while the Polks sounded "thinner" at the mid to low end. So I removed the grills to look at what's happening to the drivers while playing the bass heavy rap songs I always keep around to test subwoofers. Now in theory, a smaller driver would have to move in and out a lot more than a bigger driver would to move the same amount of air. But, Lo and Behold, the MA's were pumping out the bass while the polks mid/bass drivers were barely moving. Note that the MA's had 6.5" drivers while the Polks had 5.25" drivers, at this point you'd say that this was a lopsided shootout, but is it? When they actually have similar real market price.
The bass I got from the MA's were amazing considering the manageable size, they had a similar footprint with the polks but it was a few inches taller.
Conclusion:
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, or ears in this case. If you like bright and detailed or if the speaker’s are purely for HT, then the Polks will do great. But if you plan to do any extended music listening, the MA's might be better for you. They each have their forte, the Polks are forward sounding and good for Josh Groban ;D and other vocal heavy songs. the Monitor Audio BR2's are warmer but doesn't actually give up any detail. the Polks actually sound like they have a +6db boost in the treble. I tried toning them down with the treble control and this in fact pushed back the vocals to the same dimension as the musical instruments.
It was unfortunate that the BR series wasn't available when I was choosing a bookshelf speaker, otherwise, I would have ended up with the BR's but during that time I was more into what the speaker looks like than what it sounds like. I've already read a lot of reviews that the MA's were beautiful sounding and competition defeating at each of their price points, but the previous bronze series' looks just didn't do it for me. The current Bronze series however has both the looks and sounds to turn heads! Audition these when looking for a 200+USD pair of bookshelf speakers.
