mike c said:
how much of a jump in sound quality is there between the bronze-silver-gold Rob?
That's an interesting question, and a bit complex. She short answer is that each step up gives you more than you thought you could get for the money. Years ago I bought some Bronze 2's (from the original series) from a local store that was dropping MA- seems that MA and B&W are bitter rivals, and the dealer agreement with the latter stipulated they couldn't carry the former. Since B&W is better known, they were forced to drop Monitor. At any rate, I simply couldn't believe the sound I got from that medium 2-way bookshelf. In fact I loved them so much I took them back! But only to exchange them for the floorstanding Bronze 3's (which I still have, btw, tucked away in my bedroom- although they haven't been powered up in quite awhile). All the Bronze's sounded basically identical except that as they got bigger they had more bass. The Bronze 3's have amazing bass for their size, and are mass loadable. Adding 20 lbs of lead shot to each really improved their focus and "slam."
From there I upgraded the Silver 7i's. I was a bit reluctant to buy them; they're basically the same form factor and size as the Bronze 3's but cost 3X as much. And I had to order them online as the local dealer only had the 5i's (which are also remarkable at the price). When they arrived and I hooked them up next to the Bronze's I was stunned- the Silvers made them sound like they had an old army blanket over them! They weren't
brighter at all; but it was like my reciever had a dial marked "detail" and I'd just turned it up a few notches! I want to be clear: all the way up and down the line MA speakers have a "house sound" that I'd describe as very detailed, extremely transparent in the midrange, superb treble extension and smoothness that's perhaps a tiny smidge "polite" as opposed to hot. The 7i's reminded me of that line in Cassablanca when the woman asks the inspector what Rick is like, and he responds, "like any other man, but more so." The 7's just added a lot of detail, along with bass that just doesn't make sense from a speaker that size. BTW, they're also mass loadable, but I never loaded 'em as I have a pair of sub.
Next I bought a pair of 8i's. That was another soul searching decision- how much better could they be? Ultimately I was shocked how good they were. Adding all those drivers increased the sense of ease while playing loud or comlex parts. The dynamics were better, but so was low level detail. I ended up selling the 7i's on Agon a week later.
Every since 2000 or so I'd lusted for the Golds. Finally a pair fell into my lap. I bought a pair of Gold Ref 20's, and they completely altered my notions of what a speaker could do. I've heard some speaker up to 5x their price that couldn't touch them. They have a similar house sound but open the window to the performance so wide that I sometimes feel I can walk thru! They elevate speed and air to a level I haven't heard in other dynamic speakers, in a way that reminds me of Martin Logans. The treble is superbly detailed and smooth but never etched. They retain that civility that some may dislike, but I love. Again, even though I'd moved up the chain before and been thrilled, I worried that the Golds couldn't be that much better than the 8i's I had...But I was very wrong! I figured at a certain point the improvements would be only incremental, but the Golds made my Silvers sound BROKEN!
The only problem I have is that they're revealing enough that poor discs sound extra poor. It's the old audiophile cliche, but it's based on truth: each upgrade seems to make your CD collection smaller. It's unfortunate- you read about how overcompression is ruining the sound of CDs but you say to yourself "I've never noticed that." Then you finally have enough resolution to hear all the flaws.
I'm sure there's better out there, but I'm pretty happy with my Golds, and I've yet to hear anything that bested them in enough areas to make a switch. I would like to eventually try some Salk Veracity HT-3's or Onix LS-6's, though. And of course guys like Sleestack would put my MA's in the toilet as bathroom speakers!
But to me $3000 is a lot to spend on a pair of speakers, much less $10,000.
In summary, as you move up the line you get more and more detail and better bass, and the improvement is usually clear enough to surprise you. Likewise, as you descend the line, you get the same focus and coherency, that same natural-ness, you just give up a bit or air and resolution.
Hope my ramblings help you.
