everything

none at all

After listning to a bunch of diffrent speakers i would come back to the RS6.
I found them to be open wide sound stage that couldn`t be beat. There is no need for a sub with these babys. Im sure there are better speakers out there but why spend more?? If you have a chance to listen to them do it first before buying something else.

Very clear, detailed and natural sound
Bass is powerful, can go deep and punches hard
High sensitivity
Biwirable

The occasional recording might sound slightly forward but not a real problem

I decided that it was time to upgrade my 7-year-old Tannoy Revolution R2 speakers. These speakers are very good but I always felt at times that they didn’t have enough punch, although the bass could go quite deep. I had my eyes on Monitor Audio speakers for quite some time, starting with the Silver 8i’s about 3 years ago but kept putting off the purchase because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend 700 pounds. Then I had a look at the Silver S range and again I waited and waited …. until now. The RS range changed that, notably the RS6’s. I had read a couple of professional reviews and they found it difficult to fault these speakers without being picky. I decided to find a place where I could audition these speakers. The speakers are well built and attractive with excellent finishes. I must say that when I listened to them in the listening room, they sounded very good but not fantastic. The midrange was very clear and detailed, and the treble was nice. The bass was fast and punchy but not as deep as I expected. I wasn’t sure if the lack of depth in the bottom end was because of the Cyrus amp that was being used but, because everything else was impressive and bearing in mind what other reviewers have said, I decided to buy them.
At home I use two Arcam amps in a passive bi-amp set-up which worked very well with the Tannoys. I replaced the Tannoys with the Monitors and put them to the test. Compared to the audition in the listening room, I noticed that the bass had even greater punch and also had the weight and depth that I was looking for. The rest of the sound was similar to when first auditioned except that the tweeters sounded slightly restrained as though the higher frequencies were being suppressed. I decided to give the speakers time to get used to being played and, after more than 12 hours of playing, the tweeters are now performing satisfactorily. The whole sound is superb. They have a very natural tone and at louder volume levels the sound stays clear even with a heavy, thumping bass. Stereo imaging is also very good. If you have a tiny living room you may need to use the supplied foam bung to tune the bass, as the bass will probably be overwhelming without it. I have a fair size room and don’t need the foam bung. They can go very deep and powerful with some recordings without affecting the overall clarity of the sound. The Monitors have high sensitivity (rated at 91dB) and make my system sound more powerful and with greater impact than before. If I was forced to find a fault with these speakers I would say that the midrange can sound a little forward with some recordings but generally sounds great. They are not going to be the best sounding speakers in the world at this price (I paid 545 UK pounds) and what’s great for one person may not be great for another. But I highly recommend checking them out. Your first listen may be a tad disappointing if they are not connected to the right gear. They are superb performers with no real weaknesses and the great sound and solid build makes them seem more expensive than they are.

Equipment:
Arcam Alpha 8R integrated amp and Arcam Alpha 9P power amp (biamped)
Sony CD player

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy Revolution R2 speakers

Very clean and punchy bass (great for percussion)
Very detailed midrange and highs
They look fantastic with the grills off (great fit and finish)

Poor recordings are revealed & some notes can sound harsh due to the revealing detail of the speaker (however this is no fault of speaker)
Finish on speaker is semi-gloss and reflects some light when using for home theater (very minor complaint)

I first heard these speakers in the store and wasn't all that impressed. I thought they were bright, sterile and at times harsh probably due to the mismatched electronics they were connected to. It wasn't till my dealer let me audition these speakers at home for the weekend and I discovered how good the RS6's were. I used an Arcam AVR300 and found that this was a winning combination. From then on, I was sold.
I have to agree with the first two reviews and think these speakers represent amazing value. I have auditioned many speakers over the course of 6 months and have not been able to find the performance per dollar ratio that the RS6's offer. The first thing you will notice is the amazing bass. The bass extends deep to around 40 Hz and is very tight, punchy and clean (no need for a sub when listening to 2 channel stereo). I positioned the speaker about 2' from the rear and 2' from the side wall toed in only very slight to get the best sound. If space is a limitation and you have to place the speakers close to the back wall, foam plugs can be inserted into the rear port to make the bass tighter. Midrange and highs are incredibly detailed and very smooth. I started hearing sounds in familiar music tracks and movies that I had not heard before. Voices sounded very natural.
Given the performance of these speakers, they almost seem under priced.

Similar Products Used:

Totem forest, hawks, staaf, mites
Paradigm monitor 5's, mini monitors, studio 60's
Martin Logan Montage
B&W 703, 805
Dynaudio 42, 52SE
Vandersteen 2Ce Signature

noted above

noted above

My views as compared to the first two reviewer likely reflect a difference in tastes. I have heard the RS6's in a moderate hi-fi setup with B&K electronics (their top of the line) and A/B'd them directly against the Gold Reference 60's which were definitely better in all respects. Yes, in all respects!

To summarize the sound of the RS6:
-forward sounding highs.
-punchy bass with slight overemphasis to give false impression of weight.
-no deep bass.
-decent clarity in mids.

To summarize the sound of the GR60's:
-highs exhibited less forwardness, were smoother and imaged deeper into the soundstage.
-bass went lower with more authority and impact.
-midrange was cleaner.
-speakers imaged vertically much better than RS6's.

The hallmark characteristics of the Monitor Audio sound were present in both speakers:
-tendency to overemphasize the highs in an aggressive manner.
-inability to render accurate tonality of string instruments (need to listen to real life acoustic guitar or violin and compare its sound on MA speakers to understand this).
-fast transients and decent (RS6) to very good (GR60) imaging.

The RS6 are an improvement over the old S6's in the cabinetry as far as I can tell. This explains the tigh, punchy bass as compared to the loose and warm bass of the S6's and S8's (which I have owned in the past). Otherwise I can't tell much of a difference.

These speakers are a great buy for people who listen to music with lots of percussive instrumentation ... probably the greatest strength of MA speakers. Let the buyers beware: MA does not make audiophile speakers. Tthey offer good value for those looking for speed in transients, resolution in the highs and pinpoint imaging. They become fatiguing after a while. No need to trust me on this one, buy them and decide for yourself down the road.

And just for the record, the JAS speakers mentioned below sound much better if running off good tube electronics ... try Air Tight and then repost your impressions. Also noteworthy is the fact that the JAS speakers which incorporate the Accuton drivers put any MA speaker to shame, even if not all offer the bass of the GR60's.

Value rating: 4(good value for the money)

Overall rating: 2 (these are not audiophile speakers, let's not kid ourselves)

Customer Service

Did not experience any problems with MA speakers so I can't comment.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio, B&w, Martin Logan, Mordaunt Short, Revelation Audio, Tannoy, Maggies, Energy Veritas, Paradigm, JAS, PMC, ....+ many others less memorable.

midrange toe tappin great sound bass is quick and suprisingly punchy and deep vocals the ability to disappear ans soundstage well fit and finish and real wood veneer is stellar for the price and not out of place when compared to the 2000 dollar more proac studio 140 great speaker for small to medium room large room might require a small rel sub

no weaknesses for the money actually better than the rs8 - read absolute sound from what i can tell equal to anything in the 3000 price range with the type of music i listen to (coldplay , floyd , mark knopfler) although i have not had a chance to listen to the new monitor audio gold signature gs20 those should be better for 2000 dollars more but how much better???????

wanted to replace my large black psb stratus golds with a smaller and more efficient speaker that had a rangle of real wood veneers such as rosenut ot cherry would have been happy with a speaker that equalled the sound of my old speakers but i got a much better speaker for not much more than i sold my used 10 year old speakers most of my comments are just as enthusiastic as the previous reviewer go to mafocus.co.uk or read the march 2006 stereophile

Similar Products Used:

was willing to spend more but was equal to the new proac studio series , jas oscar , b&w 704 , similar priced kefs , energy reference connoiseurs , totem forests all of these except for the kefs were more money(sometimes much more) but it seemed that the extra money was put into super smooth finishes and not sound quality if i had the room though - which i never will my dream speaker is the dunlavy scIVA but i can live with the rs6 quite happily

Transparent. Overall sound - transparent and well balanced. Deep, tight bass. Attractive, well built enclosures.

I don't listen to my KEF Q65s as much as before...

I'd give these speakers 6/5 if I could. They're absolutely superb. I've listened to many other speakers in a similar price range: KEF, Polk Audio, Tannoy, Mission, Image, etc and IMO, the MA RS6's are significantly superior. There are 2 defining characteristics: They have bags of bass (good, musical, tight bass not overbearing woolley bass), and the speakers are very fast - attack transients are much crisper on these speakers than most others I've heard. These speakers are also versatile: They are delicate and transparent with Williams'classical guitar or Bill Evans' piano. They're deep and full with Enya or Jean-Michel Jarre, and they rock the house with Pink Floyd or Queen. The RS6's big brother, the RS8s sound very similar. They have deeper bass again and you'd need a large room to do them justice. You owe it to yourself to have a listen to the RS6s.

Similar Products Used:

KEF Q55, Q65