A sure thing
Jamie,
I just registered so that I could answer your question (although I've been meaning to register here for a while now, this just compelled me to). I recently found someone on craigslist selling both a pair of Monitor 7 v2 and Monitor 9 v2 and decided to audition both of them. He had them hooked up to a Pioneer Elite VSX-82TXS bi-amped and I switched the speakers back and forth. I listened to a variety of music at 320 kbps through analog inputs (ipod) while testing them with jazz, classical, rock, trance, hip hop, and reggae all in pure direct mode. I thought this would represent a good mix to audition these with.
Immediately I was blown away by the resolution and soundstage of both. Utterly amazed me for the price. Granted I am young (22) but I have grown up around high end audio my whole life. I'm sometimes too critical about speakers. Between my father's Krell Resolution setup and uncle's Aerial 10T setup, I had become far too spoiled about audio. I was worried about a mid range gap with the Monitor 9's due to the larger woofers, but the whole spectrum on both were as good as you can get for the price plus some. However, I did notice the difference on the bass. The Monitor 9's were just as tight with the bass but with much more power. However, the 7's weren't a slouch either and for the size (and price) the bass was surprisingly good. I assume you will have a subwoofer so I wouldn't worry about this. The 7's and 9's handled every frequency I threw at it with ease. The owner let me crank the volume to test and even with volume on the Elite at about 90%, I heard no distortion from either. Overall, the Monitor 7's are a truly great speaker for the price and I have not yet been disappointed by anything Paradigm has done. I would definitely say buy them if you can get them for even a decent price. This guy was asking $300 for the Monitor 7's and $400 for the 9's. I managed to snatch up both pairs for $650 and can not be more pleased. (Then I squeezed the Pioneer VSX-82TXS out of him for another $400.)
The Monitor 7's v2 and 9's v2 are the best for under $600. Period. Just give them adequate power and for the best sound, avoid matching with amps/receivers that have a bright disposition (i.e Yamaha).
Hope this helps.
-Ryan
