good detail in highs, good imagining

weak bass extension, highs become simbalant at loud volumes. boxy sounding

These speakers sound decent but not as good as Home Theater MAg would lead one to believe. I found the Silver 5's to be seriously lacking in bass. They also sound very boxed in and smear the soundstage at loud volume. I switched back and forth between these speakers and the Pinnacle Classic Gold Reference and there was no comparison. The Pinnacles had superior bass response and extension, better midrange and more detailed highs.
My amp is the Acurus A150 and ACT 3 preamp.

BTW> The Monitor Audio Silver 5's had over 100 hours of listening on them, mass loaded and silver screen removed from tweeter.

Similar Products Used:

Pinnacle Classic Gold Reference

Excellent midrange and high's, very natural sounding and great imaging.

Low end lacking

I just received the silver 5's, 10 and 3's yesterday. Paid $1,649 for all five speakers and I think it was money well spent. I have these hooked up to a denon avr3300 which I just received as well. When I first hooked them up to my receiver I was really disappointed. They weren't loud at all, almost had the volume turned up all the way and the sound level was still tolerable, not to mention there was almost no bass at all. But as I continue to let them run they start sounding better and better. The clarity of these speakers is awesome and I imagine they will only start to sound better and better as I continue to break them in. I'm still worried about the bass output, so I'm thinking of biwiring them and mass loading them, hoping that will improve the bass some. Since I've only had these for one day, I guess it is a little premature to do a review on these, so I'll do another review after I've broken these in more. Value wise I give these 5 stars, can't imagine a better sounding speaker for the price. Overall I give it a 4, just because of the lack of bass. Hopefully after they have fully broken in I'll be able to give them a 5 star rating.

high end clarity, image stability

basss extension and over all dynamics compare to paradigm refenence 60

I am currently in the mode of searching a pair of speakers for HiFi usage. I audition the above 3 pair of speakers and find the paradigm to be the best in all areas. The Monitor Audio and the Polk are very similiar overall in term of clarity and high-end extension (this may very well be the doing of the pleasant brightness in the top-end). These Monitor Audio excels in mid-range resolution comparing to the Polk. The imaging is not pin point, but quit stable. But I think the Polk beats out the Monitor in bass extension (but the pair I listened to has no mass loaded in it). Over all, a modern design with reasonable compromise.

I think Monitor Audio is a very good designed speaker, but at $900 asking price, I am not very impressed. It will be a much better value,if the price is

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm reference 60, Polk RT/600

Very Good Soundstage and Imaging. Excellent Build Quality

For the money you really cannot do better. These are some of the nicest speakers I've ever seen. I first listened to the Silver 9's and was impressed, then I listened to the Silver 7's and was a little disappointed. When I first saw the Silver 5's I was not impressed by their size, but after listening to them I was sold. I brought a few CD's with me (Fusion) Simon Phillips, Scott Henderson, Prism, Alain Caron, and Virgil Donati. My Klipsch KG 5.2's never sounded this good. To me these speakers were very up front and had plenty of bass. Right now, at home the Silver 5i's sound great. I even had to turn the bass down on my receiver and their not even mass loaded. I believe these speakers will sound even better when I get my new Rotel 951 CD player and possibly an Rotel 981 Amp and Rotel 972 Pre-Amp. If you have a chance to bring them home for a demo, do it. Yes, there are alot of speakers out there, but for the money the Silver 5i's are very nice. If your wondering what I paid for them, it was $715 with tax, they were a 3 month demo pair from the dealer's home.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch KG 5.2, PSB Goldi, B&W 603, Hales Revelation, M & K, Energy's

Best sound I've ever heard in a $1000.00 speaker.

None!

Please go listen for yourself!!! This is the best sounding speaker in this price range. Adn I've auditioned lots of speakers.

Wads

Similar Products Used:

Infinity Overature 3

marketing

lack of bass, bright highs, congested mids

overhyped and overrated speakers that sound like a good alarm clock. Park these next to speakers in the same price range from companies that don't sell you the mass loading gimmick or metal grill removal of the tweeter and you will see what I mean.

Realistic soundstage,wonderful vocal reproduction,smooth midrange outstanding bass responseespecially for the size, nice cabinetry

Break-in time

After two monthes of trying various speakers and driving several audio sales-people crazy, the Silver 5si speakers proved to be near unbeatable in thier price range. I was down to these or a pair of B&W 604s2 at a list of $600 more.
Fortunatly for me (and my wallet) the Silver 5s had a much nicer stereo soundstage and placed indvidual instruments nicely. It also has a nice bass which for the size of the cabinets and the drivers I am still amazed by. The only drawback at this point is the breakin time REQUIRED for these speakers. New out of the box, they exhibit a slight midrange harshness which disappears after the speakers are
warmed up. I noticed after listening for about an hour that the midrange became much smoother and more natural. This tendency seems to become less apparent and shorter in time as the speakers get through the break-in period. Monitor Audio recommends a 60 hour break-in. All in all I would heartily reccomend these speakers to any looking for a very high quality sound for a very reasonable price. You would have to more than double the cost to find a comparable speaker.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 603S2 Various speakers by NHT, DEfinitive tech., Boson acoustics

Incredible sound for the dollar.

Only 31 inches high - short for a mini-tower. Needs to be elevated to place tweeter at proper listening height.

I bought the Silver 5s, along with a Siver Centre 10, right after the Home Theater magazine review that said "just buy them". The article was right. Solid, detailed, sweet sound. They are a little weak in the bass by themselves, but I use the NHT SubOne with the lowpass filter set at 50hz; the combination is sensational and seamless. Sound comes via a B&K Ref 20 pre/pro and a Carver 705x 5x125 amp, with DVDs playing through a Sony DVP7700. I don't hear any brightness in the highs, maybe because of the B&K/Carver combination. Just incredible speakers, especially at this price point.

Buying the MA 5's, 3's, Centre, asw110 to mate with denon 3300, and either toshiba 3190 or denon 2500 dvd. Auditioned these in store and loved the sound on music and video. Post again later. Ratings as close to the average as possible.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, Polk, Monitor Audio

Sonic clarity, soundstage

None, as far as I'm concerned

I can only add more glowing words to describe the Monitor Silver 5i speakers. Even with only two weeks of heavy listening and none of the tweaks that are recommended in place, I find these speakers such a treat that for the first time in years I do nothing but listen to the music when it's playing. The clarity of the musical instruments, the rich, lush soundfield through which they are disseminated, and the precision of the sound can't be beat for the price and then some. Not all the voices come off as purely as I would like them to, but I'm not sure whether that's because of the recording or the need to break the speakers in longer. For the most part, female vocals stand out much better for me on these speakers than the male vocals, at least so far. Overall, these speakers are a tremendous treat, driven in my case through an Onkyo TXDS747. My Christmas present to myself is the Center 10, and I can't wait to fire it up and see what it does for my HT!

Similar Products Used:

Infinity Overture 2, 3