It’s only been a few years since Monitor Audio released their 6th iteration of their Silver series – however they’ve rarely released anything without good reason. Despite being released about twice as quickly as their usual range update, will the Monitor Audio Silver 50 (7G) speakers be worth an upgrade?
Being targeted at smaller rooms, actual bookshelves and with premium sound quality in mind, the diminutive Silver 50’s are as pretty as you’d want from a set of speakers anywhere near, or indeed above, their price bracket. The real wood veneer found on the previous version is still very much present. Looking reassuringly premium against peers who still opt for a wood vinyl, the veneer is wrapped around the sturdy MDF body.
Whilst most smaller standmount speakers are affectionately (and sometimes disparagingly) referred to as ‘bookshelf’ speakers, the Silver 50’s are leaning straight into the term. They seem to be fully designed to take advantage of this often challenging placement – right down to their little rubber feet for placement.
Despite not looking TOO different from the Silver 50 6G’s, there is clearly some dark magic afoot inside the 7G series. Although a two-way bookshelf speaker is a fairly standard entry from most speaker brands, the 7G truly excels here. Touted as having as much bass extension as floorstander, you’d be right in most cases to worry about standing wave, unpleasant hums and generally muddy sounding bass when close to a wall.
When sound is important but so is size, the compact Monitor Audio Silver 50 7G make the perfect premium compact speakers.
However, Monitor Audio have managed to somehow provide not only a seriously impressive amount of bass from a small unit, but also made sure that placement barely affects it.
Up against their previous selves, the difference is particularly pronounced at the lower end. Listening to Turn Your Lights Down Low by Bob Marley, the soundstage stays wide and accurate with no bass frequencies muddying the sparkling finger-picked guitar as the foggy reggae bass underlines the track.
It does bear mentioning here however about the floorstander comparison…
Yes, the speakers have managed the EXTENSION of a floorstander, so long and difficult rooms don’t have any dead spots missing those frequencies. However, if you’re looking for low end rumble from a stereo set in this price range, you may be looking to try and accommodate the Q Acoustics 3050i’s.
If space is still at a premium, but budget permits, the ever-lovely REL T-Zero MkIII is a lovely pairing, particularly if you’re looking at the satin or gloss finishes on the Silver 50’s.
The speakers do handle themselves excellently against larger speakers however, even on standmount models that are allegedly fine for bookshelves or for being closer to walls. They lack the same high-end clarity and particularly classical music focus that the Dali Menuets manage to achieve in their even smaller cabinet, but still manage to win out on the bass front.
Turning their hand well to nearly all music types as well as movies when used as part of a smaller cinema system, the new Silver 50’s represent a genuine improvement over their predecessors, and considering the price hasn’t been dragged up with the quality, there’s no real reason to not consider these spectacular little speakers. Speak to your local Richer Sounds store to arrange a demo in time for Christmas!
Find out more about the Monitor Audio Silver 50 (7G) standmount speakers.
Author: Tom, Cardiff store
