Bass and dynamics!

Lacks the ability to naturally reproduce some instruments like the didgeridoo, which can produce sounds of widely different frequencies (low to very high pitched).

I auditioned them against the B&W CDN 1NT, but they lost when I played didgeridoo music. I actually listened to both brands a two different venues, with NAD C370 amplifier and the Arcam CD 72 in the setup. Although weaker in the bass department, the B&W''s sounded much more natural and produced a clearer mid-range and highs, the monitor''s reproducing a somewhat muffled sound.

Sound, value, build...my wife commented on how they look like fine furniture.

Fairly lengthy break-in...not a lot of dealers...I drove to Des Moines to get a better deal than I could find in St. Louis.

I''m new to the mid-fi arena. I finally upgraded the system (I had fewer arguments from the better half since we had already done the kitchen!). Anyway, I also auditioned B&W and Dynaudio. All were good. I also listened to some other junk but I won''t bore you with that. Of the three, I found the MA to be the best "value". Could you get B&W or Dynaudio that sound as good or better than the MA? Sure, you''d have to spend between 50 - 100% more to do it. The sound is, quite frankly, the most relaxing experience I''ve had in a long time. With extended listening, everything is so natural that I found no listening fatigue at all. In fact, I''m sleeping a lot less, because I won''t turn the tunes off. As others have mentioned, they do sound better after 100+ hours of running, but the still sounded very good out of the box. One other benefit, I''ve found them extremely accurate and pleasant with all genres I''ve played (which is good, since I have quite an eclectic music taste). Highly recommended...best value I know of in the mid-fi market. My system: Rotel RSX-1065 Monitor Audio GR60 Monitor Audio GR Center Monitor Audio GR 10 (back effects) Monitor Audio FB210 Sony CDP-ES77

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned B&W and Dynaudio

Every area superb

None that I''ve heard so far

I put the GR60''s up against the 20,000U.S. Sonus Faber Amati Homage.I was not expec- ting the comparison to be so one sided.The GR60''s were better in every area.The bass was much faster,deeper and more articulate.The voice was much clearer and better focused.Soundstage was wider and deeper.The decay of the echo lasted longer and went back farther.The air and space in the forground and background is so life-like.For the first time I could here the separation and air of the orchestra way in the background.No other speakers I''ve heard inclding the Wilson Watt puppies or the Revel Ultima Studios do this as well. These new drivers that MA have developed are the fastest,lightest and stiffest drivers that I have ever encountered.I don''t know how MA did it for such a low price but the GR series are some of the best speakers I''ve ever heard.I own the 20''s and will be upgrading to the 60''s.A friend of mine owns the Revel Ultima Studio''s and the 60''s sound more life-like. The midrange clarity is the best I''ve ever heard from a dynamic design, obviouslybecause there are no caps in the midrange,allowing more info to come through.I''m surprised after two yrs on the market that more reviews have not been done. These are world class speakers and more people should know about them.If you would like to read the white paper about the GR driver technology go to the Monitor audio Uk site and then click on the Japanese Flag for that site you will be able to click on the English paper there. To quote Mike McGann from the Mar/Apr edition of E-Gear Mag."to be perfectly blunt,the GR series may be the best all- around speaker system on the face of the planet.Put it this way your not serious about having the best in audio if you haven''t auditioned these speakers" unquote.

Similar Products Used:

Joseph Audio RM33''s Revel Ultima Studio Wilson Watt Puppies Sonus Faber Amati Homage

pure clean sound

Takes time for break in

I have been reviewing speakers for more than two years.I have listend to most like b&w,klipsch,m&k,polk ect.For the price these are by far the best.The more I listen to them the more I love them.For the audio enthusiast these are the best money can buy.

Similar Products Used:

B&W,Klipsch,Polk and M&k

Balanced, neutral sound delivery. Zero coloration. Realistic soundstage. Value.

Solid but not flawless cabinet contruction and finish.

I won't wax eloquent about this loudspeaker, though I could. Suffice it to say that the speaker completely gets out of the way and presents the music unadorned. Many loudspeaker manufacturers market speakers as "reference"-- these truly are. I something doesn't sound right, it is your other hardware or the recording. They are also wonderfully flexible and unfinicky (see below, my decidedly low-to-middle-end setup). Those looking for a "high-end" sound in a value-priced package need look no further than the GR60's. Word of caution though: audition a set that have been thoroughly broken in, as these creatures will really sound very bright out of the box. I played them for 200 plus hours before I could listen to them for any length of time, and now after 5 months they are just about right. Patience will be rewarded. Highly recommended.

Monitor Audio Gold Reference 60, monowired
NAD C370 integrated amplifier
Arcam CD92
Audioquest Coral interconnects
Audioquest Slate speaker cables

Similar Products Used:

Quad ESL-63, B&W 801, 802, 803, Thiel CS3.6

This speaker can separate all of the music so that you hear every event and yet it creates a perfect integrated soundstage

Not a weakness but you will need to give them time to break in.

The monitor audio gold speakers have an ultrathin alloy that is coated with ceramic and a pattern that looks like a gold ball to give it stiffness. Whatever. This speaker sounds like music, your toes will tap and you may get up to dance. I have played all kinds of music and movies and everytime I listen I hear all of the music. This creates a new experience on stuff I play over and over. The detail is riviting. You can tri-wire the 60's but i use bi-wire alpha core mi2 on the bass and mid range and audioquest slate on the upper range. I play cd's in stereo and the soundstage is created with a 55 inch television screen in between these speakers, great for home theater. When you are playing a movie or surround music you should use montior audio gold on every speaker position. You will hear other speakers confuse the clarity of the presentation and then you will replace them with monitor audio. I wound up with a 7.1 system that will transport you to any surround country.
For those of you that catch upgrade fever consider this your warning. You get a tool kit with the gr60's and 20's that includes a level, points and tools necesary to setup the speaker. Oh, there is a cleaning cloth also. I recommend this series of speakers to anyone wanting the best surround system this side of wilson watt puppys. Upgrade fever over.


system
Marantz SR19, mostly acting as a preamp
4 Marantz MA6100 amps
2 GR 60, front mains
2 GR 20, main surrounds
2 GR 10, aux surround
1 GR Center
Cables are audioquest, mit and alpha geortz

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20+ years of listening to horns, panels, cones...etc

Almost everything

Running them in

After the variable first 100 or so hours they really become transparent. The were never bad, but could sound edgy for the first few weeks. The first box speaker (at a reasonable price) that has really competed with my old electrostatics for midrange, except better! More detail, you miss absolutely nothing, and the soundstaging is extremely precise. Far superior to Snell, which was interesting but very coloured.
Only downsides are the bass is a little less extended than the very biggest systems but that's all. Can still feel the air shifting on some Pipe organ stuff (Wilson recordings and Dead can dance LPs)

Used with

Audio Mecca (Pierre Lurne) TT and arm
AT ART 1 cartridge
Audio Research SP9 pre
My own power amp. (About Krell KSA150 sized but class AB)

Similar Products Used:

Acoustat electrostatics, Dynaudio's, Snell 0.5s

build, sweeeeet sound, toolbox

none

Ill keep this short and simple. Ive had MANY higher end speakers. I also owned the GR20's and just upgraded to the GR60's - These are oh so sweet for music and just as sweet if not sweeter for HT. INCREDIBLE. Makes my old Def Tech 2000's sound like they are playing under water. The clarity, detail, imaging and soundstage are superb. best I have ever heard. These remind me of the $10,000 Revel's at a fraction of the cost. Iveheard just about every s peaker you can imagine, and these GR60's are the BEST speaker for music and HT. You would have to spend $10,000 to get an improvement. REALLY. Try them, break them in for 120 hours and see for yourself. I run them with a Denon 5800 and a Toshiba SD9200 DVD player. Incredible. No need for seperates if you have a 5800 or N&K AVR 307. I do not even have them biwired. JUST BUY THEM! You wont regret it.
Best $3500 Ive spent next to my Sony 10Ht proojector.

Similar Products Used:

Monitor GR 20's, Paradigm Studio 40's, 100's, Def Tech, Polk Audio, Infinity

Transparency and clarity without harshness or an overly analytical sound. Clear highs, tight lows, articulate midband. These are wonderful loudspeakers.

None, other than the long break-in period (at least 100 hours), but it seems that that is to be expected with a high quality product.

I agree with everything in the review below. These are wonderful loudspeakers, especially for the money. As noted, the highs are clear and extended. Rather than describing the treble as smooth, I'd say it is what it is, meaning that it is faithful to the recording (as is the midrange and bass). This speaker's tweeter can be quite smooth. However, if you've ever heard a trumpet playing live close to you, you know that at times it can sound quite sharp. This speaker does not round out the highs or brighten them. It reproduces them and is faithful to the timbre of the instrument. Same with the midrange. Imaging is outstanding. Instruments are well-separated. I also think the bass is outstanding. It's not a subwoofer, but it does rumble and bite. Acoustic bass notes, for example, sound tight and have that plucked sound that distinguishes a good speaker from one that simply reproduces a dull drone. Importantly, theres a coherence to the sound, a seamless transition between the various drivers/frequency ranges.

I did extensive comparisons with the B&W and Dynaudio speakers listed above. All are fine speakers, without a doubt. For my tastes, however, the B&W's were just a little bit polite, smooth. The Dynaudio's were impressive, but again were a bit on the smooth side (and also were a little bit on the $8,000 side, which pretty much made up my mind for me). Just for fun and purposes of comparison, I've also listened (less extensively) to much more expensive speakers on much more expensive systems than mine, such as the new B&W Signature 800's, Nautilus 802's, Audio Physics (I forget the model; Avanti III's?). These systems obviously trump mine in any number of ways, but I was suprised at how well the Monitor Audios compared even with my modest equipment. In that sense, I think these speakers are a great value relative to the quality and price of the competition. Lastly, they look great. Beautiful wood veneers, and the drivers with their metal frames set into the wood front look quite impressive with the covers off.

If you own these speakers (or the GR10's or 20's), please write a review. If you don't, give them a listen. I'm relatively new to this audio obsession, but it seems fair to say that it's the system as a whole that determines the quality of the sound and listening experience. These speakers won't save the day if you don't use quality equipment (not necessarily expensive equipment) to drive them, precisely because they're so neutral. That being said, I expect that they will amply display the virtues of a good system, which I'd think is all one can ask for in a loudspeaker.

My system (which, notwithstanding its modest power, drives the speakers effortlessly -- I believe they're 90dB sensitivity; 8 ohms (website says 8 ohms but printed literature says 6 ohms; I don't know which is correct):

*Bryston B60R Integrated Amplifier (60 Watts into 8 ohms)
*Bryston 2B-LP Amplifier (60 Watts; Biamped configuration, drives the woofers)
*Arcam CD72 CD-Player (an outstanding player for the $$)
*Rotel 940AX Tuner
*Transparent Audio Interconnects and Speaker Cables (on the low end of the Transparent line, but good enough for now)

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned B&W Nautilus 803, 804; Dynaudio Confidence 3.0; less extensive listening to various others, such as Thiel, Vienna Acoustics and the like (all in the $3000 to $5000 range).