Monitor Audio- RS6 vs RS8

[-DT-]

Hi Just after some advice as I went speaker shopping today....

Listened to about 12 different speakers- the Kef IQ7's being the biggest surprise- I thought they were terrible!

My favourite two by far were the Monitor Audio RS6 and RS8's... I really liked both. After much haggling I managed to get the prices as follows:

RS6 (in any finish) and 6m (3 per side) terminated Van Den Hul CS122 cable £545 £499 with no cables

RS8 (in any finish) and 6m (3 per side) terminated Van Den Hul CS122 cable £675. £629 with no cables.

In your opinion are the 8's worth the extra over the 6 and is the cable worth it? I am hooking up to an Audiolab 8000s and a Marantz CD63 (soon to be modded)

Thanks

[Knyght_byte]

well, the prices you are getting them for seem quite favourable

being honest the speakers are easily worth their full rrp anyhow

generally the only reason for going RS8 over RS6 is if you have a large room, or one that will soak up or bleed sound easily meaning you need to ramp up the volume..heh......

if its for stereo purposes only the RS8's will obviously go deeper as well meaning you dont necessarily need to worry about getting a sub.....if its for movies as well, i'd probably say go for RS6 if the room isnt massive (say under 18x13ft approx) and put the extra towards a nice fat sub

btw i'm a nut for Monitor Audio speakers...heh, normally my sig reflects that but atm i have a silly quote there...lol

edit: oh, i would recommend you do consider beefing up the amplification at some point, biamping would be a very good move, these speakers dont need massive amounts of power, but it doesnt hurt to biamp and give those bass drivers their own channel

[-DT-]

Thanks

I have a dedicated cinema room upstairs with 5.1 and large screen... This is my bedroom system and I may get an LCD to hang on the wall at some point but I will mainly use it for music and doubt I will ever get a sub.

[Lyricman]

I currently have an Audiolab 8000s driving KEF Q55.2 using a Marantz 6000KI CD Player and have been looking for replacements.
I auditioned the RS6's and although they sounded very good and forward I felt that I couldn't pick out the detail as in other speakers. I have auditioned the B&W 602 S3 which knocked my socks off for the price £299 and will hopefully try with my amp. However I was looking to get the best I could for £600 and am curious if these B&W's will indeed be comparable with a £600 pair of speakers, anybody done comparisons.

[russraff]

Listened to about 12 different speakers- the Kef IQ7's being the biggest surprise- I thought they were terrible!

Yeah, KEF have, in all the model revisions they have made, never really made a good mid range floorstander. The old Q35 was okay, but I much preferred the standmount.
Anyway, the MA Silvers are quite forward, as is the 8000S - did you listen to the Silver's with this amp or another? I only say as I would have thought that having them both in the same system, especially in a lively room, may make things a bit too aggressive. However, if you like the silvers, and they are really good speakers, then the RS6 would be my choice. Unless you live in a really big room, the RS8's wouldn't be a huge improvement. In fact larger speakers are often worse - as in the KEF speakers you heard, for example. I would rather hunt out a pair of Monitor Audio Gold GR10's or something than spend the extra on the RS8's. The balance is more relaxed, but with a cleaner midrange and bass.

Russell

[hammers80]

I think i must be the only person in the world to think Monitor Audio are well over rated,treble to scare the local K9 population,boomy uncontrolled bass,no speed or definetion and in yer face son, midrange that's most unatural,OK for home cinema,for music...ho hum....

[KelvinS1965]

Originally Posted by hammers80

I think i must be the only person in the world to think Monitor Audio are well over rated,treble to scare the local K9 population,boomy uncontrolled bass,no speed or definetion and in yer face son, midrange that's most unatural,OK for home cinema,for music...ho hum....

So........what do you recommend then? I'm looking for new speakers in an Oak finish and have only seen the MA RS6s, but not had a demo yet. My existing AE109s are anything but shrill and all the 'small' M&K type alternatives didn't suit me. I tried home demos of various compact speakers earlier this year and gave up on the idea when I reconnected my 109s and listened to the same tracks again.... I would like to change for Oak or Oak effect to match the rest of the furniture and floor that we now have, but I don't want to take a sideways, or worse, backwards step.

[hammers80]

Hi,

As I posted in another thread,I would look at Dynaudios,Epos,Rega,Neat,Totem,I had a Audiolab years ago with B&W CDM1 which I liked alot,sorry,but just can't get on with Monitor Audio and KEFs.

[Knyght_byte]

Originally Posted by hammers80

I think i must be the only person in the world to think Monitor Audio are well over rated,treble to scare the local K9 population,boomy uncontrolled bass,no speed or definetion and in yer face son, midrange that's most unatural,OK for home cinema,for music...ho hum....

treble, well with bright components or a bright room then yes, it can get a little overbearing or for susceptible people very overbearing, but with the right components the treble (certainly on the Silver S, RS, GR and GS ranges) is crisp and highly detailed....

boomy uncontrolled bass, on my Silver S6's it can get a little fluffy on the lowest stuff they reach to, but cutting them off at 60hz and letting a sub take over solves that......however my Silver S2's and GR10's have fantastic tight and involving bass....

no speed or definition? I think if there is one thing most people agree on with the recent ranges (Silver S, RS, GR and GS) is that they are fast and agile speakers...hence they lean towards bright....

unnatural midrange? if they are good for home cinema (read good with vocals) then how can the midrange be unnatural?

quite happy to agree that MA speakers are not for everyone and have consequently suggested some people look for other options when they've mentioned they fear the few failings the MA's have...but apart from on a few older models i have to disagree with most of what you said.....which models were you referring to? (oh and with what equipment)

[hammers80]

The Monitor Audio RS range use a very good trick of making them louder than other speakers at a set volume,with good sensitivity,so in a quick a/b they sound very impessive................but move a few minutes and it all gets extremly tiring,fatiging.
Don't know the R range,but inthe RS I put the foam bungs in the rear ports.still boomy,especially the RS8,not quality bass at all for me.

The midrange is in yer face,good fot home cinema as the sounds arn't real,but play real insruments through them and they are way of the mark,compare them to the other speaker,like some I mentioned,and these flaws become apparent.

In thier favor,they look stunning,superbly finished,lovely vinyl wrap,good VFM,I don't know the top ranges,just the RS and Bronze which I think are better VFM.

[russraff]

...I don't know the top ranges,just the RS and Bronze which I think are better VFM.

Well, you can hardly say the Silvers value for money is better if you don't like them, and if you don't know about the golds then how can you know what value they represent to make a comparison

When I heard the silvers they certainly had a more upfront presentation, but I like that. The midrange is more dry than usual, especially compared the the Castles, KEF's and B&W's of the world. This is at the expense of some midrange punch, I agree, but it also allows a certain clarity, or immediacy, that would otherwise be lost. Without this midrange fullness the lower bass response appears to be isolated giving the impression of bloat or inaccuracy. This is not an error, but a compromise in the design of the silver range in order to manufacture them to a certain budget. Other marques will make compromises elsewhere, thus the "house sound" of those marques will be different. This is probably why I, too, do not like the floorstanders in the silver range as this disconnect becomes ever more obvious. I would rather have a standmount with a good sub than floorstanders. I suspect that your choice of speakers must match what you consider to be most important to the music and movies that you listen to.

Personally I decided to go for identical speakers across the front, using MA gold centres. Compared to others in the range, centres have a very clear balance due to their dialogue role with very controlled bass. I found that using centres as the main stereo pair not only offered good matching across the front three, but also a wonderfully direct and vibrant musical speakers too. I guess that this is why M&K, PMC or Genelec all have good reputations for their analytical and accurate sound, as all their speakers are designed to fulfill centre and stereo roles.

Russell

[hammers80]

Russel,

I was referring to the Bronzes being better VFM than the silvers.If the original poster likes Monitor Audio the most,then great,he lives with that choice not me,alot people like them,the mags love.....I don't

[petetherock]

Hi Russell
Have you any experience using the 3 GS LCR as front pair and centre?
I am deciding on that. I sold my old Bronze b2 and I went to listen to them again (sold it to a friend along with my Marantz SR 18EX) and they sounded really sweet, better than his old Thiels actually!

Its that or a RS6 setup and honestly I would prefer a GS setup if I can stretch to it. I will be auditioning in Late Jan, but not too many people have written about using 3 LCRs.

Cheers

P

[russraff]

but not too many people have written about using 3 LCRs.

Perhaps not directly but, generally, Miller and Kriesel setups have the same speakers across the front and so could be said to be LCR (standing for Left Centre Right of course). Same could be said for the smaller PMC setups and active speaker rig's often use identical speakers (most actives are bought separately rather than in pairs) across the front - Mackie and bluesky for example.

Have you any experience using the 3 GS LCR as front pair and centre

Not the GS range, I have silver GR Centres. The cabinets for the silver GR's are the same as the GS' so I think my setup is very close in performance.
The centre speaker is normally more expensive than the equivalent standmount so you will be paying more. I have found, however, that a centre does seem to offer a bigger rise in performance than the price difference would suggest. There is sometimes a drop in low bass response,centres cutting off higher up the frequency band, but this should be picked up by the sub. The only other drawback is that a centre makes for a large standmount speaker with low WAF, should this be an issue. I was thinking of selling mine for this reason, but decided to keep them when nothing came close in terms of performance for budget.

One thing I haven't tried is three silver centres. I would prefer that to a centre with RS6 floorstanders, should you not be able to stretch to the Gold's.

Russell