clear midrange, size, price

none for their size and price

I have had these for about a week as fronts with Yamaha RXV 795 while waiting for the Silver 5s to arrive and move the 3s to the rear. Although they are not yet broken in, the sound from these small bookshelf speakers is amazing. I only hope the floorstanding 5s sound this good. Sometimes the hype for a product is just that, but in the case of the Monitor Silver series, the professional reviews and positive comments on this site are correct. I just don't see how anyone could go wrong with these.

Similar Products Used:

B & W, Cambridge

I am currently auditioning these speakers. In a nutshell, they are amazing. The bass these little guys put out is hard to believe. I tried them with with one of Monitor Audio's subwoofers but actually preferred them without the subwoofer. The bass as is perfectly intergrated with the highs and lows. But it's not just the bass - the clarity of these speakers surpasses that of my current $2500 reference speakers (I won't reveal the brand, but they are five star speakers in their own right) and the imaging and soundstaging are beyond reproach. There are absolutely no box colorations. Heck, there's hardly any box. Vocalists, male and female, sound very real. Also, they are very dynamic. I listen to rock, blues, big band, jazz, classical, almost anything actually. Everything I've thrown at these speakers, they've handled magnificantly. At $999 for the pair, they must be one of the all time audio bargains.

I recently bought a pair of Silver 3's together with an Arcam Alpha 7R amplifier and an Arcam Alpha 7 CD player. I found the Silver 3's to be very detailed with but pleasant sounding. The mid range is just fantastic. These speakers were the best sounding ones with the Arcam pair when I auditioned them. I guess these warm (bright) sounding speakers blend well with the safe sounding Arcam Alpha 7R amplifier. The matching to me is just perfect. I was just disappointed that these speakers got very bad reviews from some of the Hi Fi mags. It just shows that nothing beats actual listening to a system before a purchase is made. I rate these beautifully built speakers 5 stars.

Crisp sound, Nice looks, Small

Break-in time

I started out with these little gems as the first upgrade in my HT system. I have had them about six months and use them for parties and such. People have a hard time believing that these puppies pump out that much sound. Great sound, Great price, Great looks. I can't wait to finish with the rest of the Silver line. A+.
Be weary though if you do purchase..Give them the time needed to break them in as they scare off some listeners with bright sound. Good things come to those who wait.

great depth and width. Amazing bass for such a tiny speaker

is it just me or is there absolutely no high frequency response?

Now granted, I only got a chance to listen to these at a store in less than perfect conditions, but I just had to throw in my two cents worth. I have been auditioning speakers for months now to find a good upgrade. These did sound very good. The sound stage they presented was amazing. You could hardly tell where the speaker was, but sounds came from the right place on the stage. But on all my musical choices (Dianne Schuur: Nobody Does Me Like You Do...specifically) the high frequency response was mushy. I thought she had a lisp--couldn't hear any "s"s or "t"s, but I could on every other speaker in the room. Everything ELSE about the speaker was very good, but I just couldn't make out what people were saying.
I will have to find them somewhere else and listen again, I suppose.

Good tight, fast base

Maybe imaging

I liked these speakers in the dealers room. They had a quality about them that I found very musical. THey where at the time hooked up to a John Shearn CD player (~£1000) and musical fidelity pre, power combo.

They gave good quality, tight base although not as low as some other speakers.

When I got them home, they still pleased me but they did not have the speed that they displayed in the dealers dem room.

They do seem to respond well to equipement upgrades, When fist purchased I used a Cambridge Audio Dac, teak transport and a Musical fidelity A1.

A few weeks ago I purchased A Roksan Caspian CD player (the first of my upgrade plans) The speakers sounded great with this upgrade. I am hoping to get an even better results after the Amp is upgraded.

My only concern is that they do not image as well as the ARs did.

Similar Products Used:

JPW mini monitors, Acoustic research M1

Looks and sound. Bi-wireable.

Little large for rear use

I use these for rear along w/ MA 7i, 10i and ASW110 sub. It's almost a shame to put these in rear since they sounded wonderful connected as main with the sub. They sound great in the back, but I feel it's an overkill. These speakers will make for a nice mains with a sub.

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Energy