Monitor Audio Gold 200 5g (newest current generation) vs Dynaudio Contour 20


Hey folks, 

I'm currently using a pair of Monitor Audio Gold 200 5g compact floorstanders (newest current generation). Recently I spotted a used pair of Dynaudio Contour 20 standmount speakers at really good price on ebay but have no way of demoing them. Standmount speakers will be more suitable for my small listening room size. My MA Gold 200 5g are compact floorstanders.
How do these two sets of speakers would compare sonically? If I sell my MA Gold 200 5g I would have extra cash even after the purchase of a used pair of Countour 20 as the MA Gold 200 5g retail for quite a bit more than the Dynaudio Contour 20.

I'm thinking to sell my MA Gold 200 5g and get these Dynaudio Contour 20 standmount since they are more suitable for my small listening room size.

My current MA Gold 200 5g are laid back warm sounding speakers with very smooth highs and mids and delicate but deep bass. MA uses MPD (micro pleated diaphram) high frequency transducers with these new Gold 5g model which is a direct decendent from the new Platinum series ll. Are the Dynaudio Contour 20 more laid back or neutral compared to my MA Gold 200 5g? How would these two sets of speakers compare? I know one is compact floorstanders and the other is standmount (bookshelf) and probably not an apple to apple comparisons.

Please feel free to chime in and your advise, thoughts and opinions will be welcomed and greatly appreciated.

The rest of my setup : Cary Audio CD 306 SACD player, Classe CP 800 preamp, Cary Audio SA 200.2 ES power amp.
Cables : Cardas Clear Reflection speaker cables & XLR analog interconnects, Shunyata Delta NR power cable, Transparent Reference Powerlink MM1 power cable, Audioquest Blizzard power cable.
AC power line distributor/conditioner : Shunyata PS8 with Venom Defender & Shunyata Venom V10 NR power cable.

dilatante

I have Monitor Audio Gold 300 5G 3 month now and I’m very satisfied. May be I would by completely happy if they were more detailed on treble. I know they are audiophil speakers with very smooth treble. But in some cases I would appreciate if they to be little bit more brighter.

I will never understand using stand mounts which take the same amount of floor space instead of floorstanders, which have the advantage of cabinet volume to work with.

@secretguy , a $2500 stand mount will be of higher quality than a $2500 floorstanding speaker.  Stand mounts image better.  Stand mounts are more rigid all other things equal.  Stand mounts are easier to place within a room.  I like subs with either.  My fritz Carrera BE’s played flat at 23db and -3db at 20hz.  They use a 7” scan speak revelator.  
 

I do understand the appeal to floorstanding speakers though.  They’ll play louder, be more impactful, etc and if money in no object, well…

 

Also, its important to size a speaker to the room its going into, its main use, what the listener is looking for.

 

Oh, and resale on floor standing speakers is waay harder / more expensive / more of a hassle.
 

 

@ooctaviuss 

 

Yes agreed the new MA Gold 5g model is very smooth (too smooth sometimes) and the highs is sooo smooth and I feel it could use a bit more resolution. 
What kind of electronics and cables are you using? 
 

My Gold 200 5g are being driven by a Cary Audio SA 200.2 ES solid state power amp and a Classe CP 800 preamp (soon to be replaced possibly by a tube pre or a hybrid tube design pre such as the PS Audio BHK pre) and a Cary Audio CD 306 SACD player/DAC served as a digital front end source component. 
 

For speaker cables and XLR analog audio interconnects I’m using Cardas Clear Reflection cables. For AC power cables I use 2 Shunyata Research Delta V2 power cords and a Transparent Reference Powerlink MM1 power cord (older model and soon to be replaced by a Shunyata Delta V2). I have the Shunyata PS8 AC power line distributor with the Venom Defender plugged on the PS8, and a Shunyata Delta V2 C19 power cord connects the PS8 to the wall outlet. 
 

I highly recommend the Cardas Clear Reflection speaker cables and analog interconnects. And for AC power cables and AC power products I recommend Shunyata Research (at least the Delta series or higher).