Price Paid:  $400.00 from Sim Lim SQ. S'pore

Summary:
Used as main speaker pair in a hi-fi set-up. They are amazing at this price range, good all rounder with all kind of music, whether pops or jazz or classicals. As for rock music needs a sub to compensate for that low frequency punch, not really a problem here. Excellent for small to medium size rooms. Totally emotional kind of feeling and make you listen to your CD"s again and again. My set/up are as follows: Musical Fidelity X-pre and XA-50 monoblock amps for the highs. NAD 216THX 125watts power amp for the Mids-Bass. MF X-10D line conditioner. Marantz CD6000 KI CD player. All Goertz interconnects- Taralabs Nexa and QED 25th silver anniversary speaker cables

Strengths:
Excellent Imaging, clarity, detailed and smooth, warm and punchy midrange, airy highs.

Weaknesses:
Nothing at this range.

Price Paid:  $499.00 from local

Summary:
Auditioned these with the highly acclaimed Paradigm Studio 20 and these more than held their own...they didnt match the Studios in soundstage depth...but the highs were a bit smoother and overall presentation a little warmer...not as full sounding as similiar priced B&W in the midrange but bass is never muddy...

Strengths:
very transparent quick and articulate bass

Weaknesses:
can sound a bit thin in large rooms bass is a tad hallow

Similar Products Used:
studio 20,B&W 600 series

Price Paid:  $360.00 from Alpha Audio, S. Lim Sq. (Salesps: Richard)

Summary:

2 subjects for summarization -
i) Monitor Audio Silver 4i;
Purchased: April 11, 2001: US$360, GBP$270, SGD$650
ii) Integrated amp: NAD C350;
Purchased: April 11, 2001: US$305, GBP$215, SGD$550

Current Ownership -
CD-P: Marantz CD-67 Sp. Edition; IXOS Int. Connector


Oh yeah! 2 thumbs up!
A truly awesome & impressive combination. I've absolutely no regrets in making a choice on the C350 & Silver 4i.
Bass ports are located at the front, as opposed to rear ported speakers which are harder to set-up in a small bedroom.

I've actually made a comparison between Rotel's RA series &
NAD's C series on the M.A. Silver 4's. All I can deduce is that NAD amplifiers provide more dynamics than the Rotel. The latter sounds just plain & boring with straight-clean audio qualities. The former sounds much more lively.

The C350 (RMS 60w, assembled in china) is powerful & precise. Taking into account that i've an exceedingly diverse taste in music (from reggae to rock, electronic to hip-hop), it has got no difficulty in handling virtually all music genres (even thru' my PC playing MP3s, but of course my highly rated Soundblaster 'Live'! sound card performs a huge role as well).
Incidentally, i own a Marantz CD-67 Special Edition CD player (with popular 5 star ratings) which i bought about 6 years ago.

Back to the kick-ass M.A.'s... The midrange on the Silver 4i (made in UK, natural cherry wood, C-CAM bass/mid driver & C-CAM gold tweeter) is super sweet. It's reproduction of crisp sonic qualities for snares & guitars is remarkable. Listening to the whacking of the snare drum & guitars whining is pretty addictive especially with your eyes closed.
Next-up are the highs which are not piercingly annoying but instead, clear & neutral. It might get a wee-bit bright at times but it's no biggie.
The lows are not as bassy compared to the Bronze 2's (which is cheaper by the way, as well as astounding, nonetheless) but it's definitely much more tighter, quick & with as much punch.
It also has solid audio imaging with characteristics of a high end specification. The cross-over circuitry employed is a marvel.
If I may add... I find their overall performance even better then B&W's within that spec. range (no wonder they termed M.A. as "britain's B&W killers").
Speaker placement is a breeze for the silver's & is not a big issue whereas B&W's are known for speaker placement headaches.
Above all, the amp & speakers cost me only $US670! (see above for details). A real bargain for a truly superb sound.
I'd highly recommend this combo. if faced with moderate budget constraints.

The best is yet to come, coz' it will apparently expose
it's full potential after a thorough run-in (incl. the amp).

Did i say that bi-wiring the silvers is an option as well?
Hey, i wouldn't mind coughing up a few hundred bucks more if it really makes a significant difference. Hence, implementation will be duly considered.

Also, always trust your ears & not the sales-person or your friends... or even me! :oD
But use them as a guide instead. Music appreciation is subjective.

To sum it all up... I feel that it shouldn't go wrong if a choice for the Monitor Audio Silver 4i is finalized. It's so easy to drive, it doesn't cost a mini bomb & it looks & sounds fantastic. At only a fraction of the cost, it will probably trash all other makes of speakers.

Got any comments? I would love to hear your views as well.

Have fun!



Spyke's MP3z©®

My URL - http://phunk-rip.tripod.com
My Email Addy - f0reskin@yahoo.com
ICQ.23989464
Title: Certified audio engineer (S.A.E. SG)

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For more, visit these featured web sites:

http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/
http://www.nadelectronics.com/

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Spyke's favourite albums... just to name a few :

are these your favourites too?

Green Day - Warning
Daft Punk - Discovery
New Radicals - Maybe you've been brainwashed too >(my all-time fav!)
Ash - Free all angels
Weezer - Green Album
Semisonic - All about chemistry
Freestylers - Electro Science
Feeder - Echo Park
Dimitri from paris - A night at the playboy mansion

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END

Strengths:
precise, clean, fast & tight bass, solid build, magnetic shields.

Weaknesses:
unforgiving in the mids, especially for bad vox recordings.

Similar Products Used:
-

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Alpha Electronics - Sim Lim Square

Summary:
I'm always in favour of floorstanding speakers rather than bookshelfs ever since I started owning a hometheatre system. My Infinity Reference 60 main speaker served me well in both HT and 2 Channel stereo. The problem is the bass that I have is just too much at times - due to small listening area, it was more prominent in 2 Channel stereo. Now I have a different hi-fi setup using a pair of Monitor Audio silver 4i. Imaging is superb, the bass is just nice but not so deep as compared to my Infinity. Other than these everything is great, sweet and transparent midrange, nice and tight well controlled bass, vocals are full weighted, smooth and non fatigueing. Instruments sounds natural too.....am I reaching high-end? I've auditioned speakers like the Mission 771e, Monitor Audio Bronze 2, Tannoy MX2,Kef cresta 2 but nothing come close to it. The build of the 4i is also very good, rear wood veeners, only one last word.....FANTASTIC!

Strengths:
Smooth, sweet and silky, good harmonics, dynamic and nice tight bass.

Weaknesses:
Nothing..... if yes, a little brightness and colouration, nothing is perfect.

Similar Products Used:
Old JBL TX Series bookshelf.

Price Paid:  $650.00 from audiocreatons

Summary:
I upgraded from a set of JPW P1's about 15 years old....good box type speaker...but the Monitor SILVER 4's WOW, I feel like I have entered audiophile nirvana. O.K. I haven't done a lot of comarison for speakers, but compaered these with the Bronze 2's (a very nice speaker for 1/2 the money), it was in my budget and I liked the Silver 4's enough to spend the exta $'s.
Using with NAD C370 Integrated Amp, NAD CD-541, straightwire cable, MTI Terminator-3 speaker connects (I have demo'd several and these are worth the extra $ if in your budget).

Strengths:
Imaging is wonderful...very easy listen, non fatiguing

Weaknesses:
none so far

Similar Products Used:
JPW P1's