Monitor Audio - Hype or the good stuff?

I lived with the MA 700's (gold tweeters) bookshelf spkrs for 3 years (with Rotel components). They were absolutely delightful! I've upgraded to a much larger system as I have a much bigger listening environment and have grown a little demented too! Incidentally, I have absolutely no familiarity with the Silver Line series, however, MA seems like quite a respectable manufacturer. High-end in the UK is really struggling, so I doubt whether Monitor Audio could survive by producing non-competitive / mediocre stuff.

I the floorstanding MA's (don't remember which, but the same line as the MA700) side by side with the Mission 753's (the European loudspeaker of the year winner, at that particular time) and I thought they sounded very nice. They were very different from the Mission 753's, but not worse. I preferred the Missions because they seemed to have a fuller sound (5 drivers instead of two)and I preferred the way they reproduced vocals vocals, but I know I would have been very happy with the MA speakers.

I recently bought the Silever Series 7i; A110 subwoofer and the 3i for rear effects and the top Silver series center channel and have been please with the cost/sound trade off. I am driving them with the Parasound AVC-2500 processor and the HCA-1205 Parasound 5 channel; 140 watts a channel amp (I wished I had bought the bigger Parasound) This is a smaller T.V. room system. I have really enjoyed the quality for movies and some music. I have a two channel that consists of Krell KRC-HR; FPB600; Transparent Reference cabling throughout with Theta Transport and D/A converter driving the Wilson Watt/Puppies 5.1s. If I can honestly say I enjoy the Monitors when I feel I have an outstanding two channel, they've got to be worth a look

agree w/ audionut. i have the 7i's, 4i's and big center. these i use strictly for h/t as i have another dedicated system for hifi. the ma's are REALLY good for h/t, not as good for music, but acceptable. very detailed, which helps w/ soundtracts.

I owned the 5is and 10i for seven months prior to trding up to Dynaudio. They are very acurate speakers with a high degree of speed and clarity. It was these traits that originally attracted me to the Silvers. Having said this, they can also be quite bright which can lead to listener fatigue after long listening sessions. High quality recordings are a must for these speakers. They also have a mid bass hump which apparently was designed into the speaker to provide a greater sence of bass output. Some may like this incorporated into a speaker design but I would have preferred a different approach. I suggest that you audition carefully and over extended periods of time before purchase. It would also be preferable if your electronics were on the warm side of the equation. A home trial situation would obviosly be preferable. Good luck.