What to upgrade from a Kef ls50 meta?


 

My amp, an Anthem STR, has informed me that it would like to have a new friend to play with. Any suggestions would greatly help me out in this situation. I am looking 👀 at a pair of Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G. Because of space constraints, bookshelf speakers only. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

gkelly

Showing 2 responses by panzrwagn

I may be the only one here who has upgraded from LS-50s to a Monitor Audio product. And I have zero regrets, LS-50s are a nearfield monitor, They work best in small rooms with a current-heavy amp of 100W/Ch or so. In my room, they just sounded lost and small. I bought a set of Monitor Audio Silver 300 7Gs and have never looked back. The MA 'house sound' is very clear and dynamic. My first thought was "This is what JBLs should sound like." They have the kind of jump factor that many speakers lack, combined with the smoothness and refined sound of a high end British speaker that is just irresistible to me. The Gold series is a more refined version than the Silver, with an amt-style tweeter replacing their already excellent dome, upgrades to the bass and midrange and nicer cabinetry, One final feature of the MA speakers is the tunability - slackening or tightening the rear mount woofer can make a significant difference in sound quality, as well as the rear port which can be plugged if your room placement moves them too close to the rear wall. When broken in I think you'll be pleased with the bass, unless you're a pipe organ fanatic, Short of that you'll find it tight, percussive, and reaching down far enough for full bass bass guitar and string bass coverage at any reasonable listening level in rooms under 200ft2.

@mattw73 Not taking anything away from KEF, they've done more to advance speaker technology than almost any other manufacturer except maybe JBL. That said, I've typically found them to lack the dynamics of, for example, a JBL in exchange for a smooth neutrality. To me, Monitor Audio bridges that gap, combining the best of both. The MA Bronze line offers a lot for the dollar, but on close examination, the 'value engineering' becomes evident. The Silver Line, across the board offers a shocking level of performance for the dollar, as evidenced by the Stereophile review of the Silver 500 7G - a $3400 pair of speakers that was placed in their 'Class A' components along with speakers 2, 3, even 10X as costly. That's one of about 6 or 8 awards that speaker has won.

The Gold Line steps everything up another significant step, with upgrades to every aspect of the cabinets, drivers, crossovers, replacing their already excellent dome with an AMT-style tweeter, like all MA drivers, of their own design. The Gold 100 is a very unique design, a 3-Way 8" bookshelf/standmount, for when an uncompromised speaker with that form factor is required in a small to medium room. It shares all the clarity and dynamics of the other MA speakers combined with a reasonable level of bass tuning, sacrificing only maximum output and the lowest (20-40Hz) octave of bass when compared to larger speakers. 

Finally, the Platinum series Is a true flagship product, probably best evidenced by the weight of the Platinum 300 at 118lbs each, versus the Gold and Silver equivalents at 58lbs and 49 lbs, respectively. The Platinum 300 review in HiFi+ sums it up best, "There is, I think we can all agree, a great deal of satisfaction to be derived from being in the presence of expertise". That is a good description of Monitor Audio overall, regardless in which line one is shopping.