It won’t come as a shock to anyone that’s visited Richer Sounds in Bristol to hear that we absolutely love Monitor Audio.
Whether it’s their range of hifi speakers, home cinema packages or their debut amplifier from 3 years ago, we’re always eager to hear new products from the well established UK marque. Their revamped Silver range has already seen critical acclaim with the silver 200 floorstanders earning a 5-star review from What Hifi. The Silver 300 see things turned up a notch with the addition of a 4-inch midrange driver and two 6 ½ inch woofers all seated in a taller, larger cabinet. This means that each driver can focus on a smaller frequency range to deliver better clarity. Finishes remain the same with black, walnut and natural oak as well as the slightly more expensive gloss black and satin white.
The first thing that becomes apparent when you take them out of the box is how well the finish has been applied. The corners have been nicely rounded off and the matt plastic used for the bass reflex ports and to seat the speaker terminals is sturdily seated. As with previous models, all of the speaker drivers sit stylishly on the front of the cabinet without any visible screws making the Silvers one of the most gorgeous speakers to look at with the magnetic grills off. The same Gold C-CAM tweeter design is used from the rest of the range but the mid range driver has been accommodated into the silver panel that holds the tweeter making the two very well visually integrated. We’ve been looking forward to testing these out for a long time so it seems only fitting to hook the Silver 300 up to the Caspian amp and CD player of their business partners Roksan.
The Monitor Audio Silver 300 speakers are true three-way speakers with powerful sound to match.
Wow. Just wow. Although the Silver 200 were fantastic, their small stature meant they were limited in terms of how deep their bass went and how big a scale of dynamics they could achieve. The Silver 300 have carried over the talents of the Silver 200 and then gone a step further. The snappy top end has remained the same but the integration of the mid driver and tweeter leads to a balanced smoothness between the frequencies that you won’t get from the Silver 200. The larger twin bass drivers take the attack and focus of the 200 and then go deeper and weightier in the body of kick drums and bass lines. Also of note is that the soundstage is given significantly more height due to the taller cabinet and extra mid driver.
“Witness (1 Hope)” by Roots Manuva is a perfect example of the ease with which the Silver 300 handle a driving rhythm but also control it perfectly so that it’s never woolly or ill-defined. The beat is solid and punchy without ever becoming too booming or over the top. Switching to something a little more organic in the shape of Robert Cray’s “Won’t be coming home” shows how well the Silver 300 do with a good old fashioned large studio live room. There’s real life in the acoustics and a richness that comes across and that makes you feel like you’re sat there whilst the band play specifically for you.
It’s not all about the extremes though. A quick spin through Eric Clapton’s MTV unplugged live album and the Monitor Audios spacious delivery is evident even on mellow tracks like “Walking Blues” and “Malted Milk”. The plucked strings of the acoustic guitar are beautifully separated out from the vocals and even on the tracks that feature a full band, the layers of backing vocals and melody all stay perfectly clear yet knitted together cohesively.
There are only so many positive things you can say about a product before a person might think you’re exaggerating. In the case of the Silver 300 however, it’s hard to think up any bad points at all. Sure you’ll find larger speakers with more bass but that’s not the point with a floorstander this size. Everyone has slightly different hearing and thus an individual and subjective view but if you’re in the market for a pair of floorstanders that go the extra mile and that aren’t going to dominate your room, you really need to be adding these Monitor Audios to your wishlist. Book a demo with your local store and see what the fuss is about.
Click to find out more about the Monitor Audio Silver 300 range.
Author: Steve, Bristol Store
