newbie question about monitor audio golds

[kanga]

hi there,
can anyone tell me anything about the monitor audio gold 3's? I can't find anything on the web about them, is it safe to say that you can't go wrong with the gold series?
btw, they're about four/five years old.
any help is greatly appreciated,
sean.

 

[Unregistered]

I heard the new golds and for $3k I was not impressed. I heard the silver 8i at this particular place and they sounded horrible and the salesman agreed and said they were not going to carry them anymore, this realy surprised me. All speakers were being driven by Lexmark equipment.

For that kind of money I would look at the Totem Forest or Sonus Grand Piano.

 

[Rob Babcock]

What's Lexmark? You mean the printer company makes gear, too? Never heard it, if so. I think the MA speakers are pretty damned nice, but certainly listen for yourself. The old Golds you're referring to are very different than the new Gold Ref series. If I recall, only the tweeter was metal in the old Gold series, where all the newer MA's have metal/ceramic composite cones & domes.

 

[Sounds Simple]

For that kind of money I would look at the Totem Forest or Sonus Grand Piano.

Based on your suggestions, it seems you prefer a speaker with a warmer sound. While the sound of the MA Golds may be "horrible" to you, many others consider it better the the Sonus Fabers. It's simply a matter of personal preference.

What exactly did you not like about the MAs? What, in particular, do you like about the Fabers and Totems? Using adjectives like "horrrible" or "great" without providing any reference to what it is that you are looking for has little to no value in a forum.

BTW, using the "saleman validation" routine also proves nothing. For all we know, the dealer had authorization pulled by the manufacturer rather than the other way around.

Bob

 

[Unregistered]

All right you got me I meant Lexicon pre-amps and amps. When I say horrible I mean thin, no bass, no imaging, no depth. I am by no means a begginer as you gents tried to interject. Believe me I was as surprised as you about how these speakers sounded. I had to drive 50 miles to look at these speakers because no one in the huge metro Mecca known as Boston carried them. That right there has to tell you somethin.

The salesman was an average guy, he compared the Gold Ref's against the Def Tech largest towers with the built in sub. The listening room was all high end and designed like a mini theatre.

Totem Forest and Sonus Grand's if you have to ask you don't know. They are incredibly lifelike and detailed, excellent imaging and warmth.

No me I searched all over and eventually bought the speakers that made me most happy. Dynaudio- This ones a wrap folks

IMHO I was not impressed with Monitor Audio after reading so much about them. I would still by the Bronze 1 to audition though because the price is great.

 

[Rob Babcock]

No problem, there. I did think "newb", but it's easy to mix up names. Anyway, I guess if we all liked the same thing the hobby would be boring. That store may as well quite carrying MA as they obviously don't know how to demo them. If they're getting "thin base" from either of the tower Golds, find a store who can do it right.

The Dynaudio's are nice- which ones did you go with? I could certainly live with Sonus Faber, too, if I could afford them. The Def Techs, though; I couldn't live with them for music, although they're passable HT speakers. A tad overpriced though.

 

[Unregistered]

I got the contour 3.4 they are very sweet. While listening to the Monitor Golds I was shocked when the guy put the pre-amp up to -10 and it was not really that room filling, actually kind of week. I asked him about the amp he was using and he told me it was a 220 wrms Lexicon. If its any concelation those huge Def Techs sounded crappy to. No power or life out of either of them, though the monitors had a nice, smooth, very layed back 75th row sound to them. Needless to say he quickly steered me toward the klipsch RF-7 but that was not what I had in mind.

The silvers he was selling the 8i sounded aweful no room filling sound either. He was powering those with a Onkyo reciever.

I heard the Sonus Piano's through both a B&K 507 and a crappy Yamaha two channel receiver and they sounded great through both, just set up in the center of the room towed in a bit 8 feet apart, I did not want to leave the room.

 

[Rob Babcock]

No need to console me! MA won't pay me for making you buy their speakers! Glad the Dyn's worked out for you. I know a couple guys who have the '25s and are really happy with em. Different strokes and all.

It's really tough to tell if something is any good by an in-store audition. I had a similar experience with the highly regarded PSB Goldi 's, as well as the Image 5t. I was shocked at how bad the top-o-the-line Golds were, just totally tizzy and uninvolving. The Image towers seemed pretty lifeless to me, and really dark. Both were powered by pretty decent NAD gear. I can only assume that it was the room or some other problem, as a lot of knowledgeable guys I know really love both speakers. In fact, the 5t was named an "Editors Best Buy" by TAS magazine (one of the few rags I really respect).

Could also be that they weren't broken in. You just never know. Most demo rooms are crap in the acoustic sense, and I imagine you realize the differnce of a few inches in placement can make a dramatic differnce.


Or it of course could be an issue of preference. That's one thing a person has to realize when he illicits advice- what I love may be fatally flawed to another. And vice versa. I largely can't stand Klipsch, for instance, but a lot of guys love the sound. And it really depends on your associated gear.


BTW, a good friend of mine went to the same local store where I got the crappy PSB demo with the idea of buying some B&W's or PSBs (due to the rep) but was floored by a pair of MA 5i's. He bought 'em on the spot and is delighted with 'em to this day, and they were much cheaper than the others he was looking at.

Any advice you get really can only be used as a starting point. YMMV.

 

[Sounds Simple]

Denon was having issues with i-link altogether, not just in terms of SA-CD. It was an implementation error, it had nothing to do with SA-CD

Exactly my feelings!

This is the reason that saying something is "horrible" is useless. Describing, as best as one can in a repectful manner, what you liked or disliked serves the purpose of helping to educate newbies, as well as pointing out what others might also consider strengths and weaknesses.

For instance, from previous discussion here, I know that you and I have similar tastes in sound. When I see you recommend something, I take note because that is a piece of gear that I might also be interested in.

Ultimately, everything must pass everyone's own personal "horrible" test.

Bob