MONITOR AUDIO Silver 300- Urgent

Hello,

I bought my Monitor Audio Silver 300 at a discounted price this Black Friday.
I use as a source a Mac Mini with Audirvana and Tidal to play SACD, FLAC and MQA, and a Pioneer BDP-450 for SACD and CDs. The main amp is a Onkyo A-9010, the second is a Yamaha Avantage RX-A1030. The difference in sound between the amps is quite big, you cannot replace the sound of a dedicated stereo amp with the sound of a avr receiver. The stereo amp is more dynamic, detailed and present. Maybe the avr could sound better with tweeks of the settings, but I'm a purist and leave the direct sound on...if it sounds good then the matching between components is right.

The speakers are sounding harsh even after almost 100h of usage in my system, although the sound seemed to sweeten a bit, or my ears are getting used. :)
The guy from the store tell me that the amp is not suitable with this speakers and the break-in is not enough, and the Monitor Audio speakers need a longer time of usage.
The Onkyo amp is sounding very good on a Magnat Quantum 705, a Klipsch R-26F and Monitor Audio Silver 8. The Silver 8 sound was the reason to buy the Silver 300, thinking that overall signature is maintened.

What I found not ok is that some voices are sounding harsh and annoying in the upper mids, like the artist is shouting and this make me lower the volume to stop the pain. The sounstage is a bit restrained, maybe because the sound is controlled too much.
The best thing is the bass which is very deep and round, much better then the bass of the speakers mentioned early.

MNSLD2, please tell us what setup do you use with the Silver 300?

Thank you.
I always run my set up on pure direct using entry level yamaha RX v475 (yeah, I do not have high end amp or receiver). I run my songs on Dell XPS 1800 using Power DVD (which I personally find as the best bit perfect software for windows- after having tried foosbar2000 and Jriver). I always like pure direct when I play, but I don't have any stereo amp, so I have no idea how they will sound on it.
For your setup, Klipsch R-26F has very high sensitivity so I would not try to compare Silver 300 with them. I could not find specs for Magnat Quantum 705. But for your case, are you using A1030 as pre-amp and Onkyo as amp or the otherway? Or you are bi-amping the speakers?

These speakers are very accurate, and do take a little time to break in. My dealer told me it will take about 200 to 400 hrs. For me, I don't know how many hours, but about a month (and probably still working on it) to get good bass. They do have crystal clear and much prominent sounding highs and mids, compared to other similar range/sensitivity speakers out in the market. I find them with amazing clarity, detailed and separation of instruments that i was seeking.
One thing I have found recently (today only) with my setup is that keeping the volume of my PC at about 60-65% and controlling rest of the volume with receiver makes them sound much smooth and relaxing. After auditioning few different brands of speakers for the similar price and specs, I understood that high end speakers do not have wide soundstage. The more accurate the speakers, the tighter the soundstage. They will typically need higher wattage to give wider soundstage, in my opinion.

I am looking forward to run them on a higher wattage amp to see how it will improve the imaging and soundstage on it.
 
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The 6th generation MA Silvers are an awesome value and you got a fine deal on them. US retail price of Silver 300 is $2000 in all but the high gloss black. Not sure how that converts to CAD but I know the exchange rate is bad these days. Any 25% discount came from your dealer and that is quite generous.

Silver vs Bronze is much different. The Bronze use poly cone drivers and always seem a bit boomy to me for 2 ch, great for HT. The exception in the line is the 2 and the 5 which have a calmer bass response. Silver is a more universal speaker with it's C-CAM (ceramic coated aluminum magnesium) alloy cones. There is tech trickled down from the Platinum series in the new 6th gen Silver drivers. Compared to the 5th gen I feel the newer Silvers are more in control of their lower end which produces a sweeter mid range.

As far as amp, we use Rogue Audio, Luxman, Marantz, Rega, and Yamaha 2ch int amps which all sounds great on the Monitor Silver line. The Silvers are actually surprisingly efficient overall. One of my favorite combos is the Rogue Audio Sphinx into a set of Silver 300s.

Enjoy your new speakers!
What is the power of those stereo amps on an average?
 
What is the power of those stereo amps on an average?
50-100wpc. Listening right now to Silver 200 and 300 back and forth with a Rogue Audio Sphinx and it is so sweet. I've run them with a Rega Brio as well though and not an issue with 50wpc. They are rated 89-90db which is a truthful number, when I A/B against say something like a Totem Hawk you get a huge gain drop. On the other hand Klipsch Heresy or Forte and it's a massive gain bump. With modern gear I like that 100wpc area since it really opens the door to some of more inefficient speakers.
 
50-100wpc. Listening right now to Silver 200 and 300 back and forth with a Rogue Audio Sphinx and it is so sweet. I've run them with a Rega Brio as well though and not an issue with 50wpc. They are rated 89-90db which is a truthful number, when I A/B against say something like a Totem Hawk you get a huge gain drop. On the other hand Klipsch Heresy or Forte and it's a massive gain bump. With modern gear I like that 100wpc area since it really opens the door to some of more inefficient speakers.
Ok. As I have mentioned, I am runnimg it on Yamaha rx v475. its 80WPC. I only run 2 channels. Is it gonna make the sound more relaxing and wide soundstage if i use higher wattage avr like Aventage 2060 etc.? Have you seen any difference ?
Or its better if I get used 700s or 800s Aventage and use it as preamp and rather spend on high power amplifier such as emotiva, outlaw or cambridge etc?
 
I listened to Silver 300s at RMAF and thought they were excellent. Getting them 25% off is a sweet deal. A terrific speaker.
 
Ok. As I have mentioned, I am runnimg it on Yamaha rx v475. its 80WPC. I only run 2 channels. Is it gonna make the sound more relaxing and wide soundstage if i use higher wattage avr like Aventage 2060 etc.? Have you seen any difference ?
Or its better if I get used 700s or 800s Aventage and use it as preamp and rather spend on high power amplifier such as emotiva, outlaw or cambridge etc?

Your Yamaha gives 80W on a good day. You need amplifier that can deliver 200-300W any day, and can handle less than 4 ohms load. You are in Canada - get locally made Bryston.
 
Your Yamaha gives 80W on a good day. You need amplifier that can deliver 200-300W any day, and can handle less than 4 ohms load. You are in Canada - get locally made Bryston.
As one of the other fellow mentioned (Mihail IOV), when I am playing FLAC, it has too much details with much open, prominent mid and highs sound. But I find they create pressure after a while. Not too relaxing. They are more relaxing with mp3 to some extent. I am not sure if its the room setup (quite open space), or its the distance between me and speakers or its the low end AVR that is not able to handle the files as well as not enough power to the speakers.
 
Ahh.. Bryston. I was talking MA silver. My bad

What the heck can happen to a speaker that would be the fault of the manufacturer? MA's been around a long time, I've owned most of their line (until they got ultra pricey) and I've only ever seen ONE driver failure and that was due to shipping damage.
 
If your running them with an AVR the RX-A1070 or 2070 would be a big upgrade. The wattage ratings on the Aventage series are way more realistic compared to the RX-V series.
 
Urges make me do crazy-I-wish-I-didn't-buy-these crazy speakers-things..

You know ?
 
I already returned the Silver 300 back to the dealer. In almost 30 days of break-in, tests with 4 amplifiers and listening sessions, I didn't get the expected sound. With my amplifiers the Silver 8 were more balanced. Maybe my amplifiers are not the ones that match these speakers. For my ears they sound too bright. I don't blame the speakers but in my home environment they don't perform. I intend to test the Silver 500 with a better amp, maybe they sound more round.
The best things I found at Silver 300 were the low end and the build quality.
 
Only the Yamaha A-1030 has room correction but wasn't enough to balance the sound. No matter what I did the higher mids were very intrusive and fatiguing. I'm sure that another amplifier could do justice for them, but I'm not ready for the moment to spend the same amount of money for the new device. As I saw already, everybody advises me to buy an amplifier that cost at least as much the speakers. Another point of decision was the speakers I already have...they doesn't have the same bass quality but the midrange and highs are excellent.
I'm still thinking of Silver 500 but if for the Silver 300 I found every single positive reviews, for the 500 there is none. :)
 
I guess when software can't overcome hardware, it's time to change the hardware. Good luck with your next choice of speakers. I'll put the Silver 300s on the miss list. Thanks for engaging.
 
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