Monitor Audio MPC 702 Floorstanding Speakers

Monitor Audio MPC 702 Floorstanding Speakers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 10  
[Feb 11, 2002]
qazwsx
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Tight bass, delightful mid-range frequecies Sweet liquid treble big sound stage for a monitor. Sound best with tubes

Weakness:

Have to be careful abt using bright sounding cabling and interconnects.

I had these speakers for almost 3 three years now.I must say that , i am not willing to let go of them , cos i cannot find a better sounding bookshelf than these gems , at these price or even twice the price.One thing I love abt these speakers is the mid-range, wonderful tight midrange for a monitor speaker that you will not find for any other monitors in the market.Althought i must say these speakers are best suited for jazz and instrumental music, they also out perform in other genres of music.You dont have to take my word for it , go ahead audtion a set today, and bring in that music that has been missing your room for many years.

Similar Products Used:

epos 14 castle severn castle harlech monitor audio PMC 700 chario reference

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 06, 2000]
Tomy Foo
Audiophile

Strength:

Clearity, Imaging

Weakness:

none

At first when I first bought this speakers I find it harsh but afriend told me to burn in for at least 30 hours after which I find the speakers as smooth as silk I tried to find any flaw in it but to my amazement instead I found it accurate and verrrrr....y precise you can play nearly any type of music try Jaime Valle,Foreplay and you will understand what openness means. Great works from Monitor Audio !!!!!!!!
My system :
CD player Sony CDP 761E
Amplifier TA-FB- 920R
Cable Monster M series CX2(4 pair Bi-wire)

Similar Products Used:

Proace1sc,B&W602 S2, Castle Severgn 2

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 23, 1998]
Veda
an Audio Enthusiast

Heard the same setup in the Expo... to me the sound is too metallic with excessive hiss sound to it. The Dynaudio setup was much more neutral but I'm guessing that it won't perform as well in a HT setup. The PMC series is afterall intended for HT application. Very different beasts indeed...

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
[Mar 06, 1999]
SerG
an Audio Enthusiast

Superb !Play any musik - jazz / classics / rock / pop.
For smoll of a room (size 3.0 X 5.0m.) this BEST on all parameters.
Earlier obeyed - Mission751; Sound Dynamics300t,RTS-3; Tannoy638;
Dynaudio A70, C1.1; Mirage290: Castle Tay.
PMC702 - most as much as possible realize potential opportunities both acoustic systems and room. You will not be disappointed !
It is worth listening to.

My system : CDtransp. - AMC 8a
DAC - CambridgeAudio 3
Amp. - Arcam@ 8
cable - Nordost

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[May 07, 1999]
Meng
an Audio Enthusiast

Good bookshelf speakers retailing at less than Usd 600 in Singapore.Not really reviewed in US high end magazine and thus relatively unknown compared to more popular brands like Sonus Faber,B&W,ProAc etc....Very open sound with big soundstage and contrary to beliefs they dont sound bright at all even though they have metal midrange and tweeters.Instruments have plenty of harmonic details and body.Vocals almost lifelike especially with tubes.Bass is lower and tighter than most mini monitors.
In the context of my system it betters Sonus Faber Electa Amator, Minima Amator, B&W 805 and ProAc Response 1S.
In case you may be wondering I have all these in my listening room at one time or another and they were not on loan.I bought all of them and I have up to 3 pairs one point in time enabling me to compare them over few months.
Now I have sold them all except the 702 PMC.
But i have to emphasied that this is in the context of my system and my room.

Sonic Frontiers SFCD 1
Conrad Johnson Premier 14
Music Reference RM 9 MK 2
Interconnets - Transparent Ultra XL, Purist Colossus
Cables - Audiotruth Clear 3 (2 pairs )

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Oct 12, 1998]
Kevin H. Le
an Audio Enthusiast

I went to the Home Theater Expo over the weekend (10/10/98 to be specific), and of all the audio systems that my friend and I had a chance to hear, the Monitor Audio system was by far the best for the money. I listened to several systems, Krell-JM Lab, Sunfire-Von Schweikert, Jamo-Hsu, Mirage-Velodyne and of course Monitor Audio-Parasound. Certainly, the Monitor Audio system can not deliver the kind of bone-crunching, teeth-rattling bass of the Sunfire or Velodyne subwoofers or the overall quality of sound of the Krell-JM Lab system, but I would say that the Monitor Audio MPC system delivers 98% of the sound of the other $200,000 system for a small fraction of the cost, $3,000 to be exact. The front L/R speakers were Monitor Audio MPC 702. These speakers provide the depth, wide and detailed sound stage that Monitor Audio I have known of, but what I did not know was the stunning dynamic.
I was seating about 6 ft from the speakers when David Solomon, Monitor Audio's representative, told me: "I got to warn you that the dynamics of these speakers may just tear your head off." Boy! He absolutely meant it! The dynamics was just incredible. Of course, the details and definitions of the sound, in my opinion, are still excellent.

I absolutely recommend to anyone looking for a good pair of speakers or a HT system to try the Monitor Audio MPC series first. The only down side is the subwoofer; it's got excellent bass definition but not enough woof. Still, the system would still be an excellent value.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Jul 26, 2000]
Jimmy
Casual Listener

Strength:

Compact size, good looks, fine workmanship, dynamic range

Weakness:

Super low end base punch

I've owned these gems for 14 months now, and looked for a long long time for bookshelf speakers that would provide dual duty for HT (40%) and music listening (60%)
These speakers are very attractive and provide an excellent sound stage when mounted on stands. I've owned about a dozen sets of speakers over the years and none have been nearly as good as these...the product is the PMC702, not MPC! But you knew that..

After moving my circa 1985 Klipsh KG4's to another room ( I didn't have room for them for the HT in the family room ) I rebuilt my entire system. Now powered by a Yamaha 990 with DVD by Toshiba and a NAD CD player, all of my speakers are MA including the matching MA210 I tried various other subs first, finally biting the bullet and spending a grand on the MA. It keeps up with the fast, dynamic, and clear MA PMC702's I'm surprised by the clean output at high volume for such compact speakers; they can be driven hard considering their size. I was used to the Klipsh KG4 with the big woofer and passive bass.

Before buying the PMC702's I evaluated the B&W 602, B&W CDM1, Energy C-2 (nice for the price), Paradigm Reference 20, and numerous others. I got the 702's for less than $900

Similar Products Used:

None

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[May 22, 2000]
stephen w
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

good soundstage, coherent midrange and fantasic dynamics

Weakness:

physical bottom constraint

I owned a pair of PMC 702 for one year and half, it brought me every evening to music heaven.

First, for recommending any piece of equipment, one has to be sure what music he listens to, how much he can afford to pay and what a sound he'd love to have.

For me, classical music is staple of life. I found many people have a confusing definition of "Classical" when used in hi-fi sense. This genre in fact includes an extremely wide range of presentation, say big or small orchestral, magnificant mass, delicate solo, chamber and songs, let along the all-involving operas. Therefore, it requires the highest standard of equipment, I believe, for a decent and all-round music presentation.

Before taking in the 702, I tried Dali miniatures with tube amps, which sweetens my ears with violin solo and female voice. But switching to fast orchestral piece, the components just failed, as the soundstage can be quite wide but only 20cm high, giving you no concert sense at all.

The Sonus Fabre Concertino almost shared the same feature with Dali, with a stronger holographic image for Maria Callas, which was so intoxicating. Only if it gives grander view for multi-instrument works!

Castle Severn was highly acclaimed on magazines, so I turned to these floorstanders for a solution. But matching with Solid-State amps in corresponding price range, they sounded a bit loose and too analytical to absorb me into the music.

Finally, I took the 702 for its good imaging for the solo against the concerto background, Callas and Bostridge(who sounds very adolescent comparing with higher-grader boxes), mild and well-extended bass string staccato, soundstage much more higher than Dali and Sonus, crisp group strings and intriguing cymbal crashes in Karajan's Mahler the Ninth.

702 may be weaker if compared with counterparts from other famous brands on certain aspect, say, vocal sweetness, bass impact, group delineation or treble transparency. But at USD 600-800 and in overall sense for my "classical" fodder, they are the best first-step choice, especially for rooms of approximately 15-20 square metres.

I have now upgraded to a pair of floorstanders 2.5 times more expensive than MA PMC 702, which are stronger in bass extension and tremble definition, thus presenting music in a more realistic and involving manner. But the vocals do sound harder, which I am still wondering whether it resembles more to face-to-face occasion.

Coming back to my first hi-fi encounter, I never regret having 702s as my puppy-lover. Audition one if you are in the same conditions as mine!

Similar Products Used:

Dali Minuet II, Sonus Fiber Concertino, Castle Severn

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 19, 1999]
Marcus Beard
a Casual Listener

Having recently bought a house, it seemed like a good time to upgrade amp and speakers (previously Cambridge Audio P40 Integrated amp, and Wharfedale 420 speakers). Listening mainly to vinyl (Manticore Mantra) and some CDs (Arcam Alpha 7) - I decided to check out the local dealer to see what was available for around 800UK pounds (amp and speakers together).
I short listed the KEF Q35s, some B&W floorstanders amongst others and found in all cases that there was a comprimise in sound (e.g. KEFs fantastic imaging - poor dynamics, B&Ws OK but not tight enough).

Then the MA 702PMC's (through a Marantz PM66KI and Cyrus SL) - an improvement...

Overall beautifully natural (I disagree with others' opinion of sounding metallic or harsh). Mid-range (particularly vocals) fantastically natural, detailed, but never harsh. Also very capable of controlling deep (for the size) bass. I could listen to these speakers all day at silly volume levels without feeling the need to give my ears a rest - and yet they remain beautifully detailed and involving.

Definately the best I've heard for the money (especially as you should be able to get them for less than the MRP). 5 stars.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Jul 31, 2000]
paul wong
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

High definition, with precise analytical power, high low medium tone all present very well

Weakness:

Bass is not strong

I brought this for almost one year, I found that PMC 702 is exclusively suitable for saxophone, guiter acoustic instrumental playing, maybe due to the metallic bass, however for vocal is not so soft.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
Showing 1-10 of 10  

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