No mounting fixtures mar the beauty of the front panel, and the cloth-covered grille is attached by hidden magnets.Īll of the Silver 8's drive-units are made of Monitor's proprietary ceramic-coated aluminum-magnesium (C-CAM) material. The generously sized and accessible terminals made it very easy to get a firm grip on the spade lugs with only a modicum of finger pressure. The four drivers are mounted with single-bolt fixtures from the rear, and are held in place by tension applied with a keyed nut on the back. A similarly finished and substantial plinth firmly bolts to the bottom and can receive spikes or soft feet, both adjustable. My pair were in a perfect High Gloss Black Lacquer on all surfaces, including the bottom, which adds $200 to the price of a pair. The Silver 8 is simply gorgeous, with a fit and finish that are probably impossible to achieve at the price without production in the Far East. As soon as I read about it, I asked for a pair for review. But the three-way Silver 8, at just under 40" and $2000/pair, seemed just right. The Silver 6 ($1500/pair) is a 2½-way speaker, and the larger Silver 10 ($2500/pair) stands just under 42" tall, including its plinth and feet. Monitor's new Silver series includes three floorstanders of similar configuration. They need to be three-way floorstanders (my wife hates stand-mounted boxes), not require the support of a subwoofer, be no taller than 40", and have a retail price in the vicinity of $2000/pair. Now, however, I had an ulterior motive: I've been shopping for new speakers for my weekend system, in Connecticut. So I was not surprised to read, at the back of the Silver 8's multi-language owner's manual, that the speaker was "Designed and Engineered in the United Kingdom, made in China."įor all the years I have been aware of Monitor Audio, I had never had a pair of their speakers in either of my systems. The reasons for this success seem to be that Monitor has evolved their metal-cone driver technology, kept the focus on their core market, and continued to provide high-quality construction and finishes. This venerable brand has survived and flourished, while many others from the 1970s have disappeared, or become mere labels under the aegis of multinational corporations. They were among the many worthy UK brands whose cachet was amplified by their unavailability in the US. I remember reading about Monitor Audio speakers as I pored over British audio mags in the 1970s, before the economy was globalized.
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