The 8i is a very good speaker...Well built and sounds GOOD.....wide soundstaging and also good bass...

tonality, can separate different instruments within same class (i.e. steel and string guitar, violin and viola, etc) surprisingly warm bottom end with good speed and overal integration, very pleasant indeed. at this price I found no better.

cabinet could be more robust. take long to break in but once they do ... they are very good.

This review is for the silver S8's no the 8i's. I find the S8's to be very revealing yet musical in my house. They exhibit excellent soundstage depth and width, offer precise imaging and really sing in the upper registers. Some complain about MA sounding a little fatiguing/ overemphasized in the highs. Personally, I haven't had this misfortune with them. But they are very revealing of source equipment. An Audio Aero Capitole MKII Cd player with an YBA Passion integre, Revelation Audio Labs ic's and speaker cables, Audioquest NRG-5 and Cardas Golden Ref powercords for the 2 pieces. A hospital grade powerconditioner (also off audiogon) completes the system. Connected in non-biwire mode, the S8's just sing. They produce very alluring sound. I never get tired of listening to them, in fact I have trouble leaving the music room to go and sleep in the bedroom. An absolute bargain in today's market.

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tannoy dimension, paradigm studio and signature, pmc, dynaudio contour and confidence, B&W 802 and 803, Martin Logan Ascent i's, Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20, Gallo Nucleus Reference III, Proac, etc.

All-over sound, highs, mids, upper end bass. Looks - these are perrrty-things. Now that the new gold line is out you can get these cheaper.

I have to get the neighbor's travel schedule before I can really scream 'em

Like most everyone else here says, these things are great sounding, great looking. Yes, you will *want* a sub to compliment them. Not to say they don't handle bass, but when you want to feel it in your bones, as much as hear it you need a sub with almost any speaker. And if you are going to get one sub, make it 2 and *really* feel the power ! (Of course, the sub is what gets you in trouble with neighbors more than any other part of the system) But I digress.. These speakers have great dimension (musical range) , and they look real perty too, so you will have no problem with the Spousal Approval Factor. I still have to get a decent AVR, currently ussing a stereo Yamaha RX595 with 60w channel, but movies & music still sound great, and I know when I get my bid accepted on eBay for the denon AVR 4802 these speakers will rock even better. I demo'd these with a HD-CD "Galactic - Crazy Horse Mongoose" The guy at the store was so impressed with that CD that he ordered it immediatly for a store demo copy. It covers all the musical range (Guitars, horns, keyboard, drums w/ deep bass, bass geetar). If you wanna blow + $4000 on other speakers, go ahead, but I can't notice any difference from these.

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Monitor Audio ASW 210 sub woofer Monitor Audio Silver 8i Monitor Audio Silver 3i bookshelf's

Performance for the price and size, fast and tight response, seamless reproduction across wide spectrym, broad sweet spot, don't require huge front end equipment to drive them well, good for both music and HT, look beautiful in my room!

Extreme low end bass still requires a sub especially for HT.

So the 7 year old Bose Accoustimass 4 system needed to go and the hunt began. I started with the guys down the road at SoundCity (great store and website) and they started me on the PSB 5Ts but I found these to be very boomy with unnatural echoes across all different kinds of recordings and the room setup didn't seem to be an issue so needless to say the search continued. I then auditioned the MA 5i's which I loved for their clarity and ability to really disappear but wasn't yet sold. Next tried Vandersteen 2ce's. These are amazing speakers but their size and price were a bit of an issue and while their sweet spot was amazingly sweet it was also very small and while I would love to have a dedicated listening room with just one chair perfectly positioned reality is that I have a family and lots of friends who all want to hear great sound regardless of their seat in the room so the Vandys were regrettably out. (Side note: I also got to listen to a set of Vandy 5s. At $11,500 a set these were never an option but it is true you get what you pay for, these speakers are literally unreal in their reproduction of sound. If you get the chance audition them just for fun, you will be astonished). Next were B&W CM4s which were far too bright and forward in the high end for my taste. I like alot of live, acoustic-based rock and pianos and tight guitar plucking was simply too sharp here. Then I heard the new MA S8s and liked them as a balance between the Vandy's almost too-subtle clarity and the B&Ws forward presentation but I was still unconvined that MA was the way to go. I then auditioned Vienna Acoustics Mozart series which compared favorably to the MAs and Vandys in terms of performance but at $2500 they are way overpriced compared to the others. In this store I took a detour and also heard two sets that were on sale. The first was the now discontinued Mirage OM-10s which lacked any high end detail and the other was the Klipsch RF3s which by contrast sounded overly pushy and grainy on the high end. Again, given my taste, high end clarity is an essential requirement. So I went back to the beginning, back to SoundCity where the 8i's were now on a closeout sale at the previous price of the 5i's. After listening to the 8i's I knew I had found my speakers. They had the tonal clarity of the 5i's with more low end which is perfect for my music/HT set up. T

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Auditioned: MA Silver 5i's, PSB 5Ts, B&W CM4, MA S8, Vandersteen 2ce Signatures, Vienna Acoustics Mozart, Klipsch RF3 Currently driven with a 7 year old Kenwood 5 channel receiver with 70 watts to

the clarity of sound... looks great in my LR, not just some big hunk of wood.. AND my girlfriend says she is gratefull for their looks..

when MA says how much power these need, listen to them !! sounds distorted with a weak amp... duh.

silver 8 i's i demo'ed these speaker with the soundtrack to le femme nakita... i was soooo increadibly impressed with the clarity, the distictiveness of sound... many little sounds simultaneously.. i can hear new things in cd's i have been listening to for years.... however, after playing them in my home, i was somewhat disappointed.. they did not have the same clarity.. i thought it was the plaster walls and hardwood floors.... after a little research, i discovered my sony is a POS... after hooking these puppies to a harman kardon and then a denon, there was a significant improvement in sound quality... i thought i wanted speakers bigger than my amp so i could not blow them... i did not realize i had it backwards.. needless to say, i am much happier with them now ... silver 8i's.... cant go wrong....

Very musical sound. Neutral mid. Detailed but not edgy highs. Bass tight.

Hardly. If I have to pick one, low deep bass. In HT setup if you need gut wrenching bass, you want to add subs.

First, I got this for closeout price. The new silver s series came out, so the store sold this at half the retail. That said. I love these speakers. I bought these for HT. But they produce music as well as any other at $1500 or less. Very musical. No fatigue. Very detailed. I have main speakers for music. Martin Logan Quest electrostatic hybrid. I compared these too. I couldn't compare in the same room or with same electronics either. There are differences of course. Quest is more open, airy, lively, more bass. But oh boy,these little Monitor Audio can really play music. Involving. I have been active audio enthusiast. I've heard them almost. Wilson Watt-puppy, Quad ESLs, Apogee, B&W 801, 802s, etc. Not in a show room but in homes. I know MA silver 8i's can't quite match those in every aspect. But they can hold their own ground. Very surprising. I auditioned them at the store and right away took them home. Very pleased to do so. Now I'll construct HT system centered around these. At regular price, they are good buy. At the closeout price they are steal. Highly recommended!!

Excellent Soundstage. Good bass. Sound EXCELLENT on brass instruments. Great deal because the dealers are all dumping these cheap to make room for the new Silver S series.

Very bright/forward sound, can be fatigueing on bright recordings. Lacking midrange. Very sensative to vertical position.

I had nearly decided to buy the B&W DM604 S3 speaker when I first heard the Monitor Audio Silver speakers. It was in a different shop, with totally different circumstances, but the depth of the soundstage, and the superior imaging were immediately obvious. All the dealers I have been too are dumping the Silver series at tremendous discounds now. For example, I could have gotten the 8i for $1000, rather than the list price of $1500. I settled on the 8i because it sounded at least as good as the 9 in the shop, and it was more in my price range. I arranged with the dealer to take home his demo pair for a home demo over the weekend. I also arranged with the local B&W dealer to demo the DM604 S3 the same weekend, but I could only have them for Sunday night. Saturday night, I was almost convinced that I would buy the 8i's. I loved the imaging, and they revealed details I had never even noticed were there. I was contemplating not even auditioning the B&Ws. Sunday morning, I decided to try more variety of music. The night before I had stuck to mostly audiophile grade SACD recordings and some CDs. So Sunday morning I put in some Rock: Dream Theater, Boston, Midnight Oil, etc. I soon realized my ears were hurting! These speakers were so bright that on these CDs it became fatiguing to listen for more than 20 min. or so, even at low to moderate volume. So I went and got the B&W DM604 S3s. This is a much bigger speaker. I was suprised that the sound was more similar than I had expected. They both have stunning highs, and good tight bass. But the B&W has a warmer, richer midrange. I listened to a broad variety of music, vocals, jazz, orchestral, etc. I finally determined that the Monitor Audio were quite superior for brass instruments, trumpets, trombones, etc. But for vocals, strings, and especially woodwind instruments I preferred the B&W. The B&W had a good soundstage, but not as well defined, nor deep as the Monitor, but they were far less fatigueing, and had a richer midrange. I would recommend the Monitor Audio though if you want speakers for movies, and music, but NOT rock. They are too bright for most rock recordings, and accentuate the bad recording.

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B&W DM604 S3 Monitor Audio Silver 9 PSB Image 4 & 6 Energy Connoisseur C9, C7, & C5

powerful bass, look great

makes my realize what i've been missing

This review is for the new Monitor Audio Silver S8's. Wow what a wonderful sounding set of speakers. I was using my stereo about 75/25 for movies. Now I'm listening to more and more music. I haven't listened to this much music since high school. I have about 70 hours on these speakers now and it seems the sound gets better every day. I moved them out from the back wall about 18". These speakers suprised me by how good the bass sounds, I also demoed the B&W line but found the bass was lacking. I also upgraded my amp from 75 watts to 120 watts and that made a nice difference. The 75 watt amp was adequate but 120 watts gives me plenty of room to crank it up a bit. As for movies these speakers sound wonderful. Don't forget to bargain with your retailer. Buying stereo equipment is like buying a car. Don't go by the sticker.

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Smooth highs and midrange. Voices are so clear and smooth. Very good tight bass on music.

None really. Just might need a subwoofer for movies.

This review is for the new Monitor audio s8. I was going to purchase the silver 8i but found out the new models would be out soon so I waited for the new models to arrive and boy I'm I glad I did. The new s8 is even more the looker and performer than the old model. The highs are smoother and the midrange is still wonderful. Bass is more than good for music, nice and tight. You might need a subwoofer for movies. I have and HK85 and it powers the s8 just fine on music but it does seem to be a little underpowered on movies. I got the warm beech. I will post a more indepth review when they are broken in a little more.

Detail, range and dynamics at an unbeatable price

May get confused with loud and complex material

These speakers are really outstanding value for the money! They need a long time to break-in. The sound at the begining was really awful. Afterwards it just opened up and showed very good detail and dynamics. The bass goes really low. Too boomy @ their initial position, had to move them far apart from walls. Crisp and natural at the same time. Can get a little bit confused when played loud with complex material, but at this price is the best thing I've heard. Would prefer the PMC FB1 though (more insight). Sure, but it costs double the money! Paid £575

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