Accomplished with all types of music, the Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G speakers make the ideal choice for rediscovering your entire music collection.
Often in our shop, when we’re demoing a setup that incorporates speakers, we’ll remind our customer of two things: that how a speaker sounds in our demo space can and usually will be different to how it sounds at home, and that no speaker ever sounds its best fresh out of the box. I had only just given such a demonstration when we took delivery of the new 6th generation Gold 300 speaker from Monitor Audio, and I knew immediately that this was a speaker I was really going to enjoy testing out in a variety of spaces, and over a period of time.
First things first, unboxing these beauties; what’s the initial impression of the build and finish? Our units here in Chester are the particularly rich and tasteful Macassar wood option, with discrete white monitor branding and a striking, slender white stripe running up from the logo to just beneath the drivers. It’s a detailing choice that split opinion initially, but which over time I’ve made peace with, if not come to outright embrace. I’d wager this choice of contrast detailing is less of an issue on the Satin White and Gloss Black options, but the Macassar is such a beautiful, stand-out option overall that I certainly wouldn’t let put me off.
The actual build quality of the Gold 300 is beyond question, and once assembled with the base and floor spikes these speakers feel far more solid and substantial than their relatively slim profile would suggest. Each speaker comes with three discrete covers for the drivers, mounting using the now-ubiquitous method of magnetic studs, and while I quite like the aesthetic with the covers in place these do look their best with the drivers exposed, balancing out that white go faster (louder?) stripe I mentioned before.
And what of those drivers? Much of Monitor Audio’s detailed sonic profile comes from their dedication to metal cone drivers, and the Gold 300s continue that tradition with another subtle iteration of their Micro Pleated Diaphragm technology. The fabrication and implementation of this materials tech is interesting in and of itself, but the proof of the sonic pudding is in the listening, and I’ll assume you care more about the “what” than the “why” of it all.
For those looking for the maximum insight into their favourite songs, and for whom a more analytical sound is preferred, there’s a fine but audible line that exists between a speaker being detailed or harsh, lively or brash. At once, my colleagues and I all found the Gold 300s to be engaging and energetic, if a little less eager to dazzle than the Studio 89s I reviewed recently. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the Gold 300s are a different speaker for a different occasion, and I personally felt they had an incredibly nice balance of detail and energy throughout the range from bass to treble.
Hear just what you’ve been missing, with the Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G.
Monitor Audio’s speakers have a reputation for taking some amount of time to bed in, sometimes demanding several weeks of average listening time before they will comfortably be performing at their best. Right out of the box I was pleasantly surprised at how performant the Gold 300s were, with much tighter bass in particular than I had been expecting. Surely there wouldn’t be too much more room for improvement? Plot spoiler: they just kept getting better and better.
For the most part our Gold 300s here in Chester have been driven by the Cambridge Audio EXA/EXN 100 combination I reviewed a couple of months back. It’s a system which has power, drive and clarity to spare, and as such it’s a great testbed for the new speaker models we’ve had in recently. Crucially, it’s also a system which runs consistently for up to eight hours a day, and it wasn’t long before I started to notice subtle changes in the way the Monitors were responding to our various playlists.
My manager is definitely going through a bit of a mid-life crisis, and recently took to randomly blasting out tracks from Charli XCX’s now-iconic album, BRAT, ahead of our morning meetings. As a result, I do quite like Von dutch as a test track, with its intense pitch-shifting synth bass and contorting mosquito-like top notes. Both of these had tightened up notably over the course of a couple of days, and that was coming from a more than respectable starting position.
I was already plenty convinced about the bass performance, but to validate my suspicions regarding the mids and top end I moved to the confines of Chester’s demo room and checked out the drums on The Who’s Eminence Front, which are mixed in such a way that I find they really help distinguish between speakers. Here again the before and after was, if not night and day, a small but noticeable increase in performance that really suggested a confident, well-designed and eminently listenable bit of hardware. Good stuff!
There’s some stiff competition around this price point, and just from my own experience I could name models from DALI, Bowers & Wilkins and KEF that would all like to stake their claim on various merits. There’s a case to be made for each of these in different situations, but overall I have to say that with their relatively compact design, exceptional performance and insight, and their ability to remain engaging for sustained periods of listening, the Monitor Audio Gold 300 6Gs are an absolute recommendation for most people in most use case scenarios.
If you’d like to hear for yourself just how versatile and enjoyable these speakers are, or any of the other equipment we have in our stores, contact your local Richer Sounds store to arrange a demonstration.
Author: Ewan, Chester Store
