Well, after reading all the rave reviews, I had to listen.
It turns out that my preferred Hi Fi dealer also sold the NHT range. So I had
a great opportunity to audition the NHT SuperTwo vs Monitor Silver 5.

The amplifier used was the brand new Onkyo 676 (awesome!) with
a Marantz Reference Series CD player (with digital co-ax PCM to the receiver).

The speaker cable used was the Kimber Kable 4PR (the basic stuff).

The music used varied greatly..

"Ministry of Sound: Clubbers Guide to Trance Disk1"
"Happy Mondays: The US Singles"
"John Williams: The Seville Conert"
"Preaching to the Perverted Soundtrack"

Who won ?? Well, I bought the Monitor Audios.

Why ?

1. Side by side with the same music, same volume etc. The Monitors were noticeably louder than the NHT.. More important for me since I use an Onkyo 575 (70W per channel)

2. The bass response on the MA is FAST and very detailed! I was surprised how well the drivers those ultra low frequency hums in trance music.

3. Imaging was very clear. Some female vocals sounded just a little too harsh though. Guitar was superb, as was the orchestral music.. The cello detail was amazing.

4. For 5.5 inch drivers, the sound is very big.. and warm (that sort of fuzzy
feeling you get when the music sounds full and comes from the general front rather than exactly where the speakers are)

5. The NHT SuperTwos sounded quite flat in comparison.. and the bass wasn't as well controlled. Before the audition, the SuperTwos were my favourite. At the last shop I went to, they were talking about AUS$1600 for the pair. They offered me JMLabs Tantalus 515 for about AUS$1300/pr.. saying that they sounded as good as the NHT SuperTwos but didn't cost as much.

Just a small plug for the dealer, DFX Australia (Perth).. They not only gave
me great service but an unbelievable price. By offering me either NHT or MA at the same price, I let my ears decide.

Now I have to break them in.....

OOPS! My review of these speakers was accidently sent under the Silver 3 review site. Please see that site for my comments.

Unbeatable sound at this price . . .PERIOD!

None at this price.

I am writing this in response to the negative reviews posted here. I can't believe the expections people are having of a speaker that retails for less than a grand. I have auditioned all the junk for sale at our local warehouse; and nothing, including the Polks (very funny) and Inifinity, JBL, etc., comes close the accuracy of the MA 5's.

Lack of bass? Not a chance. I have heard systems much larger that can not produce the clean extended bass of these little jewels. But lets be practical here: For video LFE, add a subwoofer for godssake!

I will not go into a lengthy review here; other than to say the Silver 5's sound as good as ANYTHING that I have heard at $1000 price point. Competitor envy, you bet.

My real advice: For those who mistakenly purchased the MA 5's (thinking you were getting Wilson WATT/Puppies). Quick, return your MA 5's, use as down payment on loan for those puppies!

Enough, I have to get back to the Blue Man Group . . . awesome sounding my 5's.

Best regards, and good listening

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, Bose, JBL, Mission, Mirage

**********

Long term listener fatigue, bass output is not authoritive for a speaker rated to 35hZ, too short for a floorstander, build quality can be improved for a $1K speaker and it is a bright sounding speaker.

I owned the MA5is for the better part of a year and after approx. 4 months I found myself listening to less and less music. BTW, the 5is truly need a sub for music as their bass output is thin as far as I'm concerned. The mid range can also sound congested when pushed and this is using quality separate components and a pretty darn good source. The highs can also wear one down after a prolonged listening session and months of ownership. These speakers do have a bright sounding tweeter and anyone that uses SS equipment with the 5is over a prolonged period of time, will likely come to the same conclusion, IMHO.

To make a long story short, I purchased a pair of Dynaudio Audience speakers and the Danes were soooo much better that I did not mind taking a loss on the MAs. The little Audience 50s (now the A-52s) have much fuller and accurate bass output than the floorstanding 5is and the mids are also far superior and clean sounding, in my view. The Danes aslo have a sweet top end which was a much welcomed change from the ocassional harshness/brightness of the MAs. BTW, I'm not associated with any speaker company and I certainly do not believe that Dynaudio needs my help to sell their speakers.

I agree with Paul's review. The 5is will not reward a system which has quality electronics to the extent one would expect. There are much better speakers out there for the money so do take the time to audition carefully.

I'm afraid that if one would like to stay with the MA brand, it would be preferable to look into their studio line which I find to be excellent.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio

Tight bass and crisp high range

Very distorted midrange and lacking an overall polish

Ok ok, i see that a lot of people have given these speakers rave reviews and in my response i would like to comment on these speakers in a relatively unbiased way so that people in the speaker may gain some benefit from this review.

First of all, you really can't take too much notice of reviews because of the fact that your ears make the difference and somebody's words in a review are not going to make a set of speakers sound any better than they really do.

I was initially attracted to the Monitor Audio Silver 5i's because I have an old set of MA speakers and they were a good steal at Australian $150 (They're bookshelf speakers in size and 15 years old). I have auditioned the Monitor Audio Silver 5i's, having been bi-wired, massloaded and toe-ined at 5degrees, yet i found them to be a big disappointment. They lacked midrange definition, there was over colouration in the high range and the bass was unwelcome due to the fact that it did not match high or midrange. The best design is to have the tweeter in between the two bass-midrange drivers and this ensures and more appropriate/effective blend or match if you will. Sure the MA's look attractive, but I expected a lot more from a British imported speaker of that price range. I had them tested on a Harman Kardon HK690 Amp which by no means was the reason why the speakers sounded like they did. I compared them *directly* to several speakers and found others in their price range, notably an Australian brand SONIQUE, to surpass them for quality and... presence. My listening media varied between Mozart, Eric Clapton, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sepultura, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppelin, and shock horror, even a bit of Slipknot.

My old Monitor Audio speakers are the R100 and quite frankly they sound BETTER BETTER BETTER than the Silver 5i's even on a not-so good amp as what i tested the 5i's on.

I will stress that these are a nice looking speaker (but this is once again, a subjective viewpoint) and that the best bit of advice i can offer, the most important part of this review is:

Whenever you are trying to find the right speakers for yourself, make sure you use the same amp and cd player or what have you so that the test is unbiased, and it is MOST IMPORTANT that you actually compare several different QUALITY speakers in the price range. NO MATTER WHAT THE GUY SAYS WHO WANTS YOU TO BUY SOMETHING SO HE CAN AFFORD TO GET DRUNK........ it really depends on what type of sound you like and how the speaker sounds to you. Music to me has always (FOR MY 16 YEARS OF EXISTANCE ANYWAY) been a romantic thing, the sound, and i really believe emotion does come out in the music if you have the right output. Listen, really listen to what you're buying because whatever you do choose you're gonna have to live with!

Cheers,

Joe Lewis.

Similar Products Used:

Sonique, Meridian, NHT, Harman Kardon, B&W

to my fellow monitor audio silver 5 owners: i have just discovered a tweak that you absolutely must try! pop the silver metal grilles that cover the tweeters. WOW!!! did i say wow? yes indeed - wow. the only slight criticism i had of this speaker (slight brightness) is now gone completely. These sound so much like the monitor audio studio 20's it is scary (creamy smooth highs & a flawlessly integrated frequency response). i know i fawned over these speakers in my last review so i will keep this one short - these speakers are now true audiophile speakers in every sense of the word, no weaknesses, only strengths (except low bass which is lacking). so, how do you remove the metal grilles? easy, get a small, thin paper clip & bend it so it will thread through the mesh (carefull not to touch the tweeter!), grab both ends of the paper clip sticking out with pliers & PULL. the grills are just glued on & should pop right off. plus the speakers actually look quite a bit nicer with that gold tweeter unveiled & gleaming. enjoy!

Receiver: Sony ES555
Got the Silver 5's a month ago. Initially had them hooked up to a less powerful amplifier (Marantz SR-63 stereo receiver, 70 watts RMS x 2). They sounded great then. Actually, I auditioned speakers from $800-$1700/pair from Infinity, PSB, Energy, Polk, and about 8 other companies. Then I auditioned the Monitor Silver 5's. They just blew every other speaker in that class away. Totally.

I am getting the Silver 3's for the rear, 110 subwoofer, and a Silver Centre 10 soon. Plus another pair of Silver 3's for the living room. I'm sold

I like the airy spacious sound combined with the tight bass. I have never heard such tight, controlled bass.

Just buy these speakers.

These speakers are far more musical than many other brands at its price point and above. I put the Silver 5's right next to a pair of B&W CDM 7SE's and the Silver 5's blew the doors off of them. The Silver 5's sounded much more detailed, transparent and better sounding. The CDM 7SE's sounded very boxed in and congested. Once I switched over to the Silver 5's it was like going from driving a Geo Metro to a 99 Corvette.The Silver 5's are excellent and really make one wonder how other brands such as B&W could be so far behind.

I have been wanting to upgrade my speakers for some time now. About 12 years ago, I auditioned Celestion DL10's and SL6s and selected the DL's for their bass response even at the expense of the much better imaging of the SL6. Well my 'I need more bass' years have passed, but I was very impressed with the Silver 5 speakers. Bass response is tight, the imaging is great(but maybe not as good as the SL6 that I remember) and they sound very accurate.
My only issue has been with the grilles. Upon listening to Paula Cole's disk, the 1st track really puts these speakers through a workout. At first I thought I had a problem, but after an afternoon of diagnosis, I figured out it was the grille that was rattling. Of course they sound better without the them, but with kids in the house, I'm not about to leave them off. I called Monitor on the issue and they were aware of this and are sending me a modified grille design. They get better sounding after many hours of break-in. My set up is on a carpeted cement floor so I have not added the lead-shot yet.

In my set-up they are bi-wired to an Adcom 7000 amp & 600GTP Pre-amp. Source equipment isn't anything special(Sony 200 disk/Sony DVD) for the most part. Now I'm trying to find a good A/V pre-amp and I'm getting rather dismayed with what I have found. Everything seems to have some serious drawback of some sort.
Either the remotes stink or they don't have a line level out or they sound too sterile. For $1500 to $3500(the range I've been considering) you'd think someone could get it right!

This is after just a brief audition at a dealers but I have to say Barry is right on. Transparency is great as well as detail and air but this could be because of a slightly forward upper midrange/low treble. They do have a magical sound to them but I'm not sure how soon listening fatigue would set in. I also heard the sevens which didn't sound quite as detailed but are probably more neutral and listenable for long term.