Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G (Sorta!) Review

[Will Brink]

Using Gene's advice on tweaking ARC Genesis for 2ch, I found these speakers came to life. My thoughts on those speakers in my less than perfect space:

 

[MrBoat]

I have always felt 8" and larger speakers did well bridging the high and low frequencies with a mid range, instead of torturing an otherwise good woofer into more of a full range duty, and usually at the cost of sub bass and efficiency.

 

[Will Brink]

I have always felt 8" and larger speakers did well bridging the high and low frequencies with a mid range, instead of torturing an otherwise good woofer into more of a full range duty, and usually at the cost of sub bass and efficiency.

After trying many a two way, I decided to go toward a 3 way for that reason. I suppose if using a 2 way with subs and X over high enough, it allows that 8" driver to focus on mid base and above, but also felt like a fix for an issue they created, if that makes any sense. I would like to try some other 3 way stand mounts, but it's not a common design apparently.

 

[MrBoat]

After trying many a two way, I decided to go toward a 3 way for that reason. I suppose if using a 2 way with subs and X over high enough, it allows that 8" driver to focus on mid base and above, but also felt like a fix for an issue they created, if that makes any sense. I would like to try some other 3 way stand mounts, but it's not a common design apparently.

My ways are often at odds with the audiophile way. Maybe it's the humble spaces I tend to historically inhabit. When I started paying attention to mainstream audio again, things had changed rather drastically. Was now being told 3-ways were wrong and difficult to do right. That was a bummer, being that most of what perpetuated my addiction to this hobby for 40 of my 50 years at it, was 3-way speakers, without subs.

Figured the computer age had taught the trade new tricks, and it had, but now I noticed a LOT of people were having a difficult time implementing the now necessary subwoofers, not to mention all the additional tricks, hardware and software it was taking to do so. I had been in clubs, acoustically treated warehouse studios, open stages and a lot of other live music. This is what we tried to emulate at home. I was always able to get realistic enough bass and mid bass slam from 3-ways, within the reach of tone controls, at least.

Then I got the above 3-ways from William, here. Never really thought much of them because of the low price and the rather outward, flashy appearance. Turned out to be sleepers that made me cut up my audiophile card and back to music marathons, instead. These things give one a proper thumping, without any real sacrifices to the other frequencies. Just thinking about it makes me want to set them up out here again and go for a ride. Adding the subs in from under my main speakers behind them just puts them even further over the top.

 

[TLS Guy]

My ways are often at odds with the audiophile way. Maybe it's the humble spaces I tend to historically inhabit. When I started paying attention to mainstream audio again, things had changed rather drastically. Was now being told 3-ways were wrong and difficult to do right. That was a bummer, being that most of what perpetuated my addiction to this hobby for 40 of my 50 years at it, was 3-way speakers, without subs.

Figured the computer age had taught the trade new tricks, and it had, but now I noticed a LOT of people were having a difficult time implementing the now necessary subwoofers, not to mention all the additional tricks, hardware and software it was taking to do so. I had been in clubs, acoustically treated warehouse studios, open stages and a lot of other live music. This is what we tried to emulate at home. I was always able to get realistic enough bass and mid bass slam from 3-ways, within the reach of tone controls, at least.

View attachment 79579

Then I got the above 3-ways from William, here. Never really thought much of them because of the low price and the rather outward, flashy appearance. Turned out to be sleepers that made me cut up my audiophile card and back to music marathons, instead. These things give one a proper thumping, without any real sacrifices to the other frequencies. Just thinking about it makes me want to set them up out here again and go for a ride. Adding the subs in from under my main speakers behind them just puts them even further over the top.

The biggest problem with three ways is the lack of really good mid drivers. There is a lot of power in the midrange and few drivers are capable. You can use two in mid/tweeter/mid format. The next issue is that few mids really cover the whole midrange, and that is a big issue. You then end up with the crossover frequencies too close together. The best midrange drivers I think are dome mids. There are less of these now than there used to be. ATC make excellent dome mids but they are not sold OEM. Dynaudio used to make a really good mid dome, and I am using them now. The only good source to the builder is Volt, who make a range of good mid domes. A good mid should be able to cover 400 Hz to at least 3.5 KHz and preferably 4 KHz. A decent 2 way certainly bests a poor three way. It really is best if you can avoid a crossover in the speech discrimination band, which is where the ear is very sensitive to even minor aberration. So avoiding crossovers in the speech discrimination band is a worth goal, but unfortunately there are few drivers that make that possible.

 

[MrBoat]

The biggest problem with three ways is the lack of really good mid drivers. There is a lot of power in the midrange and few drivers are capable. You can use two in mid/tweeter/mid format. The next issue is that few mids really cover the whole midrange, and that is a big issue. You then end up with the crossover frequencies too close together. The best midrange drivers I think are dome mids. There are less of these now than there used to be. ATC make excellent dome mids but they are not sold OEM. Dynaudio used to make a really good mid dome, and I am using them now. The only good source to the builder is Volt, who make a range of good mid domes. A good mid should be able to cover 400 Hz to at least 3.5 KHz and preferably 4 KHz. A decent 2 way certainly bests a poor three way. It really is best if you can avoid a crossover in the speech discrimination band, which is where the ear is very sensitive to even minor aberration. So avoiding crossovers in the speech discrimination band is a worth goal, but unfortunately there are few drivers that make that possible.

The one common attribute of the better 3-ways I have heard, is by companies that use their own proprietary/manufactured drivers as a complimentary set, it seems. Those boutique companies that use third party, and often mismatched brand drivers typically start out the design conversation with what compromises there will have to be made in the crossover to make the selection of drivers "behave" (tortured, more like) with each other. I see what looks to be some pretty busy passive crossovers on some two-ways.

Here's a crossover for a 3-way JBL. The crossover looks comparatively minimalistic compared to some 2-ways. These speakers sound pretty good. Granted, the music isn't all that complicated that I listen to, that typically can be said to be 'mid forward,' as is often the case with electrified music. They even went to the trouble to isolate the mids from the rest of the cabinet in their own compartments. Still, I use these speakers with no EQ at all and that is usually a pretty good indicator of a well balanced design.

 

[TLS Guy]

The one common attribute of the better 3-ways I have heard, is by companies that use their own proprietary/manufactured drivers as a complimentary set, it seems. Those boutique companies that use third party, and often mismatched brand drivers typically start out the design conversation with what compromises there will have to be made in the crossover to make the selection of drivers "behave" (tortured, more like) with each other. I see what looks to be some pretty busy passive crossovers on some two-ways.

Here's a crossover for a 3-way JBL. The crossover looks comparatively minimalistic compared to some 2-ways. These speakers sound pretty good. Granted, the music isn't all that complicated that I listen to, that typically can be said to be 'mid forward,' as is often the case with electrified music. They even went to the trouble to isolate the mids from the rest of the cabinet in their own compartments. Still, I use these speakers with no EQ at all and that is usually a pretty good indicator of a well balanced design.

I don't agree with that. You do have to select drivers that are compatible.

These drivers are all from different manufactuers.

Bass driver is KEF, mid Dynaudio and tweeter Hy-Vee.

Crossover points 400 Hz and 4KHz. I always remember my late friend Phil fondly from those. He really liked those speakers and actually changed up his top of the line B & W. But he always preferred those.

So, it all comes down to driver selection and the design.

A version of that speaker could easily be built now, as Falcon Acoustics are building the KEF B 139 again, and Volt has a mid dome that would be a good choice, and then a good 3/4 inch dome tweeter. Not a cheap build, but SOTA.

 

[MrBoat]

I don't agree with that. You do have to select drivers that are compatible.

These drivers are all from different manufactuers.

Bass driver is KEF, mid Dynaudio and tweeter Hy-Vee.

Crossover points 400 Hz and 4KHz. I always remember my late friend Phil fondly from those. He really liked those speakers and actually changed up his top of the line B & W. But he always preferred those.

So, it all comes down to driver selection and the design.

A version of that speaker could easily be built now, as Falcon Acoustics are building the KEF B 139 again, and Volt has a mid dome that would be a good choice, and then a good 3/4 inch dome tweeter. Not a cheap build, but SOTA.

While I believe there are iffy designs in any type of speaker and certainly don't disagree with you, clearly, if a company can manufacture drivers for the purpose of a specific type to begin with, it should not be such a stretch towards success. At least since the computer age has come about. These 3-ways aren't lacking in the mids department. Maybe back in the day when everything had to be worked out through a lot more trials with hard prototypes, but now, they can tell with a lot more certainty at the drawing board. Otherwise, why would they even waste the extra effort and materials?

For both the 8" and the 12" version of these 3-way JBL, the crossover is around 800hz and 3.5khz. Both use the same mid. I think the tradeoff here may be, the mid frequencies aren't having to share the same point with these higher excursion woofers. Perhaps that's what they were trying to avoid here.

I have 2-ways also, including a 12" with a waveguide. Still, have really enjoyed most of the 3-ways I have had, which is why I revisited them.