Available in woood veneers.

Can sound thin. Where is the bass? Build quality not the best in my view.

I finally got around to auditioning these speakers recently. I was curious as the result of all the glowing reviews I have read here and in the audio media.

I entered my local MA dealer with some high expectations and walked away quite disappointed. The bass output of these speakers is simply not there considering that we are talking about a floor standing model in the very competitive $1K range. The term thin and somewhat artificial sounding come mind. A sub with these is a must for most music so factor in this cost when pricing the MAS. The midrange performance lacked coherence and smoothness and did not seem to flow as well as should be expected, with some of my well recorded classical CDs. Couldn't put my finger on it but a Dynaudio Audience 50 (less expensive) is far superior in this regard to my ears. The tweeter may have a bright tendency on some recordings but I did not spend sufficient time with them to really find out if this would be a concern with the passage of time.

I don't believe that I'm alone in my view as I have seen quite a few of these speakers on the secondary market for months now. People normally do not sell their relatively new speakers at a loss if the were happy with them.

I did audition the MAs with a quality Arcam integratred amp and CDP so the equipment should not be much of an issue. According to the dealer, the speakers had clocked approximately 200 hours.

A pice of advise to potential buyers...audition all you can prior to purchase and preferably at home with your equipment. It is not adviseable to rely solely on reviews whe selecting audio equipment.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio Audience and Contour

First, my thanks to David Solomon at Monitor Audio, for his time and interest in assisting Monitor owners.
I have owned Silver 5I's for 10 months. The name of the game
with these speakers (as well as i'm sure others) is system
matching PERIOD. I did all the tweek's, each improved the sound a little more. But I was not completely satisfied.
All it took, was a $20.00 pair of interconnects between the CD player and the Pre-amp to NAIL THE SOUND. You must try different brands of interconnects, the variation in sound is HUGE. Don't blame the speakers, they are beautifully
revealing with the correct matching wires. Don't believe
the BS about $4.00 Audex tweeters. Put the time in to match things up, you will thank yourself with time well spent and beautiful sound.

Imaging, Tonal balance
Good bass

Plinth maybe could be wood finish and not black

I purchased the Silver 5 after listening to many speakers, including my old ones. I had visited a number of retailers and had many demonstrations. In the end I was delighted with the imaging properties and overall sound, I bought them convinced. I use them with a Denon AVR3300 amp for music and film. I have a second system built around the B&W CDM7, which I have to say does not do the same job. It does not impress me in the same way and it is not as seductive on music. I am very happy with the silver 5 and I highly recommend these speakers from Monitor Audio.

P.S my wife likes the finish in cherry.

Similar Products Used:

B&W CDM7
Mission 752

Very lovely cherry finish
Stylish appearance

None

I am a Brit living and working this side of the pond, just for reference. I have owned many U.S made brands in the last two or three years. I had perhaps forgotten how good a British speaker sounded, until I heard the Silver 5's. I am not an expert mind, but I know what I like! Looking at some of the reviews on this section it appears that most people who love the silver 5 are casual listeners or none audiophiles. I have met a few audiophiles in my time,who have raved about their system. When I have eventually heard their systems they are usually a mess of wires, tubes and horrible sound. The silver 5 is for everyday use. The U.S brands I have owned in the past never played music in the same way. Sure they had lots of bottom end, but never quite had the same imaging abilities. I would suggest you listen to the Silver 5 and make you own mind up! I can't imagine life without them now, although I am saving for the silver 9i which I am told is even better.

Similar Products Used:

Boston, Polk, Def Tech

Looks

Sound

Don't get me wrong, I think these speakers look pretty good. In fact I wanted to like these speakers for a very long time. I just could never come to terms with the sound quality and range! They just don't and never will play a full range of music like some other speakers (regardless of the tweeks performed). I actually think the Silver 5's do a pretty good job of imaging and they have their moments playing classical music, but try any other genre and a thin, fatigueing sound rears it's ugly head. I don't really agree with the post below regarding all British speakers being fatigueing (I bought the Tannoy Saturn S-10's, see my review) but will say that for my taste and the music I listen to, the MA's would never get the job done. This review comes after listening to them at two stores in Canada and two stores in the U.S. To those of you who bought them and enjoy them, good for you- I am glad they worked out and take nothing away from your taste and satisfaction. To those of you thinking about these speakers, listen to ALL types of music you will play in the future (try to spend a few hours with a broken in pair) and see if you are drawn in to the musical experience or if after a while the sound and you become edgie, irritated, and fatigued!!!???

Similar Products Used:

Low end JM Lab, NHT, several other bright, thin sounding speakers.

sound beautifull, detailed yet not to bright, bass is sweet and enough to shake a modest sized room

must be accomponied with right kind of component

this is one of the product that people tend to ignore due to lack of review done by HI-FI magazine, (What HI-FI... wake up and listen to other than mission, b&w ,ae, mordaunt short)...
okay... I have use this baby with Cyruss DAD3q, Cyruss Pre and Power with Cable talks interconnect (not sure about the type but cost me Stlg 400 for two cables) and Nordust Flatline speaker cable. It sound great but to bright. Not after I changed to my Myriad T10 and Exposure amp that the sound really kick in. The bass line from Coolios' "I see you when you get there" is very fullfilling it is tight and room shaking. Turn into vocals such as Celine Dions' (that Titanic song) the vocal really come alive you can feel her presence and her breath!. And it rock too. You can listen to Korn, Limp Bizkit or even unpolished track from early Metallica without hearing just noise after a long listening session. Base line is, this baby sounds great. And I could even has bought it for it looks alone.ITS THAT BEAUTIFULL.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Castle Severn 2

Detail, accuracy, amazing resolution.

Deep bass, unforgiving of mediocre electronics.

After reading all these reviews, I just had to put my two cents in. While auditioning speakers at an audio shop earlier this year (I must have listened to at least 50 different pairs from B&W, Paradigm, Jamo, Energy, Mirage, DefTech, Meadowlark, Vandersteen, PSB, NHT, and others), I saw a pair of Silver 5's in one of the listening rooms. From across the room, I thought they were a small pair of ProAc's based on the style and quality of finish. When I asked about them, the salesman told me what they were and that the shop was trying them out to see if they wanted to become a Monitor Audio dealer. I cautiously asked the price, and was surprised when he said they retailed for $999 (again, based on buid quality). I asked to listen to them, and when he switched the speaker selector to the Silver 5's, it was like the soundstage just exploded into the room. I had been listening to other speakers in the sub-$1500 price range from some of the brands mentioned above, and the Monitors simply outclassed everything in that category... bar none. The Meadowlark Kestral's were close, but didn't have the air or soundstage to match the Silver 5's.

Are they a speaker panacea? Not quite. Due to the metal drivers (particularly the tweeter), they are very demanding of upstream electronics. Most amps with bipolar output stages will cause them to sould a little bright. But match them with a good mosfet amp or tube amp, and the results will not disappoint. And the bass, while very tight and impressive for a speaker this size, is a bit shallow in the lower octaves.

Some have suggested that these are the best speakers available for under $2K. I'm not going quite that far, but I do think they can contend with most speakers in that range. I will say this... match them with a good, fast sub (the $799 ACI Titan is a good match, both sonically and visually), and you will have to spend thousands more to get significantly better sound. If you value detail, accuracy, and musical resolution, you owe it to yourself to audition these speakers.

Accuracy, Smooth natural sound, Awesome Imaging

Too accurate for their own good. Bright electronics will sound bright!!! Poor quality amplification will make the base sound muddy and distorted. HEY its not the speakers its the AMP!!!

Accuracy, Smooth Natural Sound, Awesome Imaging

Too accurate for they’re own good. Bright electronics will sound bright!!! Poor quality amplification will make the base sound muddy and distorted. HEY its not the speakers its the AMP!!!

When I finally saved up enough money and gathered some spare courage I started shopping for a new Receiver and Home Theater Speaker combination. I'm VERY skeptical of what I read in the magazines so when I read the Home Theater Mag's review of the Silver series I reluctantly added them to my list of potential candidates. So with all my favorite music in hand I spent many 1-3 hour listening sessions at all the local and some not so local HIFI and wholesale electronic stores. I listened to so many different speakers that I can barely remember them all.

I do remember my decision came down to the Infinity Overture Series or the Monitor Silver Series. Well as you have already guessed the Monitors won by virtue of their superior imaging and more accurate sound.

***NOTE***
I've read several posts and reviews about the Monitors sounding "Bright" or not enough base extension. I've listened to these speakers on several different amps and was surprised at how quickly these speakers reveal the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in receivers and amplifiers. So beware!!! I've found that for a more relaxed or warm sound the Denon's are a good match. For better midrange detail the Pioneer Elite Series matches quite well. I've found Yamaha and Sherwood to sound too bright to the point of fatiguing (Ouch). If you like Yamaha (and lots of people do) these speakers may not be a good match. Go listen for yourself.

To summarize:
With the proper amp/receiver combination these are the best sounding speakers for under $2000.00 IMHO.

KC

Similar Products Used:

KEF, Infinity, Bose, Acoustic Research.

Looks, Mids

No bass - too short - Can't play loud

Too short and weak on bass. Can't really get up and rock. Ok for quiet classical or light HT.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Tannoy - Wilson

Looks, Mids

No bass - too short - Can't play loud

Too short and weak on bass. Can't really get up and rock. Ok for quiet classical or light HT.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Tannoy - Wilson