What else can I say???????

Zilch

I bought the speakers in late 2000, brand new from my ex-boss who was a hi-fi shops owner at an unbelievable price. I have listened to the speakers almost everyday and one conclusion that I can write here is MAGR60 is the best ever speakers I have ever listened to. Although not having ,say, high-end hi fi system with the likes of Krell, mark Levinson, McIntosh etc, the speakers really raise the overall performance of my system. Clarity is beyond words, treble is crispy and the bass is not that deep which is excellent. I believe that although the speakers had been discontinued by MA for MA Gold Signature, the legacy of excellence and supremacy of the speakers would remain forever. So far, they are the best things I have ever bought till........ Give them a listen, if can't afford them, GR10/GS10 is more that adequate.

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B&W, Tannoy, PMC, Naim, Linn

Treble. Fast and got a great bandwidth when it comes to playing many instruments simultaneously. Good imaging and soundstage.

Treble – when on certain frequencies it becomes harsh. Even when moved to a better front end such as B&K reference or Krell, microdynamics is lucking contributing to sterile sound. Initially they make you confuse sterile sound for detailed or neutral character. Pool quality control as you can see from my experience. Definitely not worth $5k Monitor Audio originally wanted for these speakers. Speaker finish is not what I expect from a flagship floorstander at this price range.

Around the time I bought my first “hi-end” Polk speakers I heard a pair of Monitor Audio Silver floor standers that floored me with their clear highs and balanced quality to their sound. At that time these speakers where positively out of my reach. Fast forward 3 years. I could afford better speakers. I quickly discovered that dealers in my area would not provide in-house demo, but I did arrange extensive private sessions. Driven by my ear and still having warm memories of Monitor Audio speakers I once heard, I picked GR60 in gorgeous rose mahogany finish as my ultimate choice; a perfect gift for myself on Christmas. That’s when the roller coaster started. a)It took 4 weeks for MA to deliver GR60’s over to me, rosemah apparently not something US dealers stock – I was thrilled with exclusivity. Once they arrived, I set them up in my room – to my horror the midrange driver on the right speaker was resonating and not producing any sound. Speakers where defective; it happens, so my dealer placed an order for another pair. b)A month later a new pair arrives. I bring them home – set them up. I notice a big shiny spot on a side of one of the speakers about 9’’ long and 6’’ wide. I tried to rub it out – until we figured that it was a blob of lacquer on top of the speaker finish. Upon closer inspection I noticed several small 1-2’’ scratches in the area – apparently speakers got scratched at the factory and the area was covered up with a layer coat in poor attempt to fix the damage. How do I know this happened at the factory? Speaker was double boxed with factory tape on both boxes. c)My dealer was very apologetic and spend a great deal of time getting a hold of local MA rep. A week or two passed by before my dealer negotiated with the rep to order yet another pair of speaker. A month goes buy and I get a third pair of GR60. These where a good pair – good finish, good drivers, nothing was missing I could finally set them up in my room. ….. Ah the clarity! I can finally hear them in MY room. Speakers imaged with pint point accuracy, soundstage is there. I haven’t heard a speaker that can reproduce cymbals and drum dish splash with such realism and speed. Midrange was strong and uniform. One thing that I liked about GR60s is how well all four drivers where integrated with each other. Seating at the listening position I could not tell which driver produced which sound. All the professional reviews of GR60 applauded this ability and I conquer. Finally bass was fast although not very deep. But again bass is well integrated with the rest of the range so I could omit this wrinkle. Well, this is the overall characteristic of the GR60 but how did they reproduce music? In my opinion these speakers where made for classical music and movies. With classical through GR60 term “bandwidth” comes to mind. There was never any sign of strain at the most demanding passages, speaker was always keeping it together and soundstage never got compressed. Triangles and brass instruments where singing and hanging in the air. However, I noticed that notes in the upper frequency range tended to stand out and sometimes live in their own space. After months of ownership I started to learn that MA’s flagship speaker tend to favor upper frequencies – something that I did not notice in my 4+hr of dealer demo. Through GR60’s, female voice has the same sparkle and life as cymbals, although somewhat on a cold side. Sometimes “s” would become harsh with female singers which was unexpected considering overall smoothness of the tweeter. After a while though, I noticed fatigue associated with these recording, something I never experienced before with what I consider to be a warm front end. Moving onto small scale instrumental music, steel string guitar sounded very realistic through GR60, but sometimes it again tended to stand out from other instruments playing on stage, like drum or lower notes of piano. One of the disappointments to me was the fact that I could not make Monitors to reproduce classical guitar. Through them, nylon string still sounded like steel strings, even on SACD recordings. It’s not that I was hearing the effects of metal tweeter, my Polks had metal tweeter as well, but after months of listening to GR60s I noticed consistent metal coloring that it added to everything it played. Unfortunately this “steel” character made overall listening experience non-involving, even sterile. What’s more, with extended listening I discovered that Monitors where fatiguing to my ears. Finally, GR60 do not have the last word in micro resolution. Things like singer smacking her lips, fingers touching a string or Rachel walking up to Dekker on the track 2 of the Bladerunner CD are tamed down and sometimes missing all together… p.s. Even my third pair had a small problem. Cabinet veneer produced white powder in the grooves of the wood. Wiping speaker with provided cloth made powder disappear only to appear in a weaker consistency 4-8 days later. Bummer.

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Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home, Martin Logan Aeon i, Vienna Acoustic speakers in similar price range. Short audition: B&W 805 Signature,B&W 804, Polk LSi 15, Sonus Faber Concerto Home. My equipment: Rotel RCD991 CD player Audiophile Edition, Marantz SR7000 receiver, Sony C555ES SACD source. Monster Cable HR5100 Power Center

Anything and everything.

Slightly expensive,but for what you get it's a bargin

What can I say that hasn't been said already.These speakers can play anything with accuracy.Rock ,pop,jazz,classical and movies of any sort.I have the whole gold ref. set.The imaging is great in 2 channel.The singer sounds like it is in the center of the room.The imaging is some of the best I've heard.If you want a speaker that will play only what is recorded without any coloration this speaker is for you.This is a very neutral speaker.You can feel the kick drum with out any boominess.It is clean and accurate. Precision comes to mind and the best decription of these speakers.Each instrument has its own space.I haven't enjoyed music this much for along time subtle sounds in music and movies are clear and defined that you would otherwise miss in other systems.I would highly recommed these speakers to anyone.I have been so impressed by the gold ref.series that I went out and bought the bronze series for my bedroom system.I wasn't even considering a bedroom system before.These speakers are at the limit of the law of diminishing returns.I believe you would have to pay twice as much just to get something 10 to 15% better.

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klipsch,paradigm,listened to others b&w martin logan ,jbl,

Great sound, rocking bass, will take your breath away.

The inserts for screwing the feet into, on the plinth, weren't pressed in properly (they were at angles. I had to use a fly press to put them in properly. It's only a small point but worth getting right.

Forget about B&W, at this price you won't get anything to touch the GR60's. These speakers are as at home playing classical as they are with movies, pop, house and jazz. They have great imaging and space with sounds like symbols just seeming to hang in the air. The bass takes at least 6 weeks to develop, but once it does these speakers rock. They aren't fussy about the amp you use but to take advantage of them, use a good source like SACD or vinyl.

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B&W (over rated and over priced) Sony SACD

As stated above, they are incredible speakers, I also listened to them with an inexpensive reciever, and they do surprisingly well with lower-end electronics unlike some others that treat such upstream components really poorly.

I auditioned every price range and type of speaker out there it seemed before deciding on the 60's. I think they are most definitely the best value in their price range, and even some much more expensive speakers are embarrassed by them. Read my review of the B&W 804's which seem to be one of the most popular speakers in this price range, they simply blow them away in depth of soundstage, bass extension and clarity, and neutrality. Many other speakers have a nice wide soundstage and detailed top end like these do, I think they compare well to the B&W 802's mentioned before in this area. They actually embarass the 802's though when it comes to soundstage depth, bass response, and midrange neutrality for half the money. These speakers have a very detailed and forward sound, so if you like a mellow darker sound look at the Dynaudio Contours, but if you are a fan of a sweet and pronouced midrange and crisp but not strident highs these are the speaker for you. They take on much higher end speakers and come very close. They are also some of the most 3 dimensional speakers I have ever heard with layers of sounds precisely placed. I listened to the 20's as well, and they seem to suffer as my previous B&W CDM7NT's did from being a 2 1/2 way speaker that struggles with a bit of midbass exagerration and lack of true low end. The 20's are a great speaker, but the 60's are worth the extra money for sure. Also I have had the best luck toeing them in until they face almost directly at your listening position. I found less toe in reduced soundstage accuracy slightly and reduced the transient punch they do so well. My friend thought I had my sub on the first time he listened because there is plenty of low bass information that is delivered cleanly and with lots of punch. LISTEN TO THESE SPEAKERS BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING ELSE! System: B&K Reference 7250 Anthem AVM20 Sony 333es SACD Denon DVD2500 Velodyne sub MIT T2 Biwires Kimber Interconnects

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Auditioned: B&W Nautilus, CDM9NT's, Martin Logan, Dynaudio, Dunlavy, Wilson, Thiel, Revel, and others.

Pretty much everything you need in a speaker sonically, refined, sound stage realism, imaging, field, and can definitely handle some applied power.

Lengthy run in period in which they go from average to excellent. It's like they got a clock inside or something.

Following the advice of some of the reviews for this product listed on this web site, and my own ears I bought the MA 60's a few weeks ago. So far so good. I have yet to own a speaker built as tightly (sonicly speaking) as these are. Had it not been for the aformentioned reviews, both here and at other magazines, I would have passed on them. Usually a speaker will sweeten or become more of what you hear initially, these change altogether. Most of the noises and lack of quality sound present upon hook up has gone and they are truly opening up. Smoother, more musical, image better, etc. Replacing the B&W CDM9NT's with the MA Gold 60's was a definite step in the right direction. The BW's just don't have the bottom end the MA's do. Also, the top end is less "bright" and more natural. The mid's are about the same with the MA being nore natural. I tried just about every configuration available to me so far as wiring and placement are concerned. I've used the single pair of #12awg I bought a couple of years ago when I first started and used it to break in the speakers, alternating with the bi-wire set of 1.4 Monsters (also in various positions...the speakers are triwireable or triampable) and the config I like best right now is using the links to connect the bass and mids with one pair of wire stuck on the bottom posts and the other pair connected to the top posts. Having them for less than a month, 3 weeks to be exact, I had put about 60-70 hours on them before I got "em turned up past the moderate listening level. I believe playing them at above average levels may have helped hasten their "coming out party", although prior to that I had noticed some small changes occuring from time to time. Since that time they have sounded like what I was expecting at point of sale...an actual stand alone set of mains. I have also succumbed to the fact I do like a bright top end, not startling just noticable, and that I do enjoy the addition of a sub. I finally got around to putting on the "plinths" and use the large spikes. No real big jump in preformance doing that, they just look better. One big change in preformance is removing the grills and finding the proper positioning and toe in. I found placement for me works best if they remain paralel to each other and perpindicular to surrounding walls. Slight toe in changes things but not in a bad way just the sweet spot. They image and sound as good as the signal they recieve, it's true, they won't fix poor sounding or limited sources and amps. Not to awfully happy with the 3 year warranty, most have 5. But most warranty work, if needed happens in the first couple three months and I haven't found one that is transferrable yet. To sum up, be patient it does seem worth it and you'll save the grand difference between the BW 803's, which after listening to them and the 60's, I'm glad I did. The grand will go into either the kitty for another amp to add to my Krell or the SCD 777es CD plyer I want. Imaging, sound stage, musical, they simply sound real good. If I could afford to spend more than 4K, say double, I would opt for the BW 802's as I just sound. Well maybe some day when I can find some in great shape or get 8K I want to spend for another pair of mains. One last thing the model year is 2002 not 2001 for the MA 60's.

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BW (everthing from the 604's to the 803's) so far as speakers are concerned.

Well balanced, great finish, recommended to suit Musical Fidelity amps by Monitor Audio at their web site....did not know this till after I bought the speakers!

None at their price level

Now that I have run in the speakers for more than 100 hours I am satisfied that these are exactly what I want.....for now! The sound is neutral and well balanced from top to bottom. It is well suited to classical, jazz and vocals: my favourites. It is not suitable for hard rock: the bass does not cut it.I reviewed several other speakers including Martin Logans (Prodigy, Odyssey,Ascent), Dunlavy SC-IV and IIIs, B&W 803 and 802. Found that the GR 60 was best for me. Closest next was the B&W 802.....but at 2.5X the price of the GR60. It was only about 10-15% better IMO and not worth the extra cash......better to spend that on power improvement and cables! My current system: Musical Fidelity Nuvista 3D CD player Musical Fidelity Nuvista M3 Amp Musical Fidelity A3.2 Amp (Biamped, with A3.2 for the tweeter) Stealth Audio Purifier QED Genesis speaker cables (bass and mids) TMC Gold Ref Speaker cables (highs): to be changed shortly to Pure Silver Connection (PSC) Litz II speaker cables PS Audio Lab powercable to amp Kimber Kable Palladium 10k to source Aurio MIB pro for CD player Aurio MIB 1.2 under speakers

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Celestion A series, Monitor Audio PMC 800, B$Ws,

Beautifully made in rose Mahogany. Beautiful and well made base. Tri-wireable for seperates' freaks.

Lengthy break-in time.

I listened to a lot of speakers out there in trying to replace my Triangle Celius 202. For the money, nothing can beat the MA GR60. High is clear and clean, not fatiguing. Mid are clean and warm. Bass is a little boomy at first, but a after a lengthy break-in period, tight and deep. Very well built. Tri-wireable. The GR 60 beats my old Triangle Celius 202 in every aspects. You can find better speakers out there, but they'll set you back about five thousand bucks or more (Vienna Mahler, Audio Physics Virgo III, Maggie 3.6 CR). My system consists of: Unison Research SR1 Musical Fidelity CD player Harmony Wave speaker wires

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B&W CDM7SE Triangle Celius 202 Tannoy D500 Jean Marie Reynaud Arpegione None measures up to the GR 60 in performance.

Well built,fast tight bass and vert sweet highs.

break in time

Very natural and easy on the ears. I suffer no ear fatigue at all since replacing my NHT 2.9's with these awesome speakers.I enjoy the full gamet from head banging loud Rock to soft strings and horns and I haven't been disapointed yet.Took some time to break in but worth the wait. I power them with a Cinepro 1k2se and they handle 475 watts with ease.To do any better you would spend twice as much.

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B&W,NHT

clear highs, midrange magic, all the bass you want[if you have a fairly sized room] and what beautiful music they give you.

break-in period and of course those thunderous bass that basso wackos crave.

i love music and playback is very important though secondary that is why i am very particular with my equipments. i have heard the best out there [B&W N800, Wilson X1, Revels, DyneAudios - all flagship speakers] much as i covet these speakers i know i have to remortgage my house plus i have a fairly size living room not to mention a family to feed. i was not planning to upgrade my modest system but when i heard the Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20 i was so impressed i purchased it right away.[GR60 would have overwhelmed my smallish room] it may not have subterrainian bass but what you have is a tight, tuneful not flabby 30 hz. just listen to bela fleck ''flight of the cosmic hippo'' and you know what i mean. the highs and the midrange is so involving and not analytical at all. voices are rendered in stunning clarity. i heard some brightness in a few recordings specially with the voice sibillants and i don''t blame it on these speakers but rather on the sound engineers who are too heavy handed with thier equalization. earlier MA speakers do have that brightness on the upper registers which did not impress me at all in the beginning but that has been improved. placement is not a problem here. MA recommends 8" from the front wall but soundstage and imaging is excellent if you place them 2 feet and about 6-7 ft. apart. i am using ultralink ambiance 2 cables single- wire and they bring out the best, as far as i know, from the GR20. since this is a recent purchase i do not think it is in its optimum. i am using a solid state right now but would like to try tube amplifiers since they are very efficient. if you are a bass freak that wants every object shaking in your house then this is not the speaker for you. but if you value quality and transparency then i recommend that you listen to them without any preconceived ideas. my wife loves the music that''s coming from these speakers and she''s not even an audiophiliac like me. plus they are not intrusive like those coffin-sized speakers and trust me you can get lost in the music if you allow yourself not to be technical in what you are hearing.