Monitor Audio - Radius 45 Cubes

raghupb

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The pups have landed finally. Was on the lookout for discreet speakers for the 5.1 setup.
This Christmas during sale in UK, was able to pick up 2 pairs of these for GBP 200 (GBP 99 per pair).
Winter birds got them to India.

3375333754

Model: Monitor Audio Radius 45
Specs are here: https://www.monitoraudio.com/en/product-ranges/radius/radius-45/
They are tiny speakers; 4 inch cubes with a rear facing tweeter!!
Hooked them up into my main rig and gave them a spin.
They sound big for their size (of course lacking bass; spec'd at 120Hz and up).

Will hook them up into AVR, IA, pre+pwr; play around and post impressions later.
Waiting for some cables and banana plugs to arrive this week.
I have a lot of playtime ahead of me :D

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Congratulations! Those look so good!

I opted for the Cambridge Audio Minx Min 12 satellites for my surround and Atmos speakers. They're BMR based single driver speakers, and are the same spec 120hz and above. I'd love to know how the rear facing tweeter works in these.
 
Congrats Reghu.
How did you purchase them. Directly or through any online site.
If through online please give the site and seller willing to ship to India. I tried to purchase some stuff from Amazon.uk but sellers are not ready to ship to India.
John
 
Congrats Reghu.
How did you purchase them. Directly or through any online site.
If through online please give the site and seller willing to ship to India. I tried to purchase some stuff from Amazon.uk but sellers are not ready to ship to India.
John
A cousin of mine from UK procured these for me.
They are tiny enough to carry on flight. So told him to do so.
Most UK/US vendors don't ship such items out of their respective countries.
Cheers,
Raghu
 
Thats a killer price for 2 pairs.. Planning to use these for surrounds and ?..
Got lucky!! Was on the lookout for a while now (almost 2 years).
US pricing was ridiculous (it still is) USD 375 per pair. UK pricing had never dipped below GBP 200 until now.
During the sale I bit the bullet and told my cousin to order one pair at GBP 150 (25% off).
https://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/ is the store/dealer
A few days later the same thing was listed at GBP 100 (50% off).
So my cousin called and asked them what's the deal. The politely said they'll refund GBP 50.
This prompted me to grab another pair.

As for usage, I am still not clear what to do with them.
I have a NR1605 AVR (non-ATMOS) but 7.1
Currently my config is a melting pot or mish-mash. (https://www.hifivision.com/threads/showcase-your-audio-video-setup-here.1167/post-807931)

Will try these combos:
  • AVR driven 5.1 (4 MAs + B&W center + sub) - most likely config
  • Add one pair as surrounds to existing 3.1 allowing second pair as zone 2 (to my boy's bedroom or as kitchen speakers)
Both will require extra cabling; I have Finolex electrical wire; need to see how messy it will get.
Not in a hurry as of now.

Edit: Today I found out, MA has stylized wall/ceiling mounts for these :(
Cheers,
Raghu
 
Got lucky!! Was on the lookout for a while now (almost 2 years).
US pricing was ridiculous (it still is) USD 375 per pair. UK pricing had never dipped below GBP 200 until now.
During the sale I bit the bullet and told my cousin to order one pair at GBP 150 (25% off).
https://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/ is the store/dealer
A few days later the same thing was listed at GBP 100 (50% off).
So my cousin called and asked them what's the deal. The politely said they'll refund GBP 50.
This prompted me to grab another pair.

That's a great gesture by the dealer.. We can only dream of such things happen in India..

Edit: Today I found out, MA has stylized wall/ceiling mounts for these :(

MX has camera TV mounts for abt Rs 500 a pair (or) less.. Check if they fit MA 45..
 
That's a great gesture by the dealer.. We can only dream of such things happen in India..



MX has camera TV mounts for abt Rs 500 a pair (or) less.. Check if they fit MA 45..
Just like in the US, I learnt that there is 30-day price protection in UK too.
If the same dealer or any competitive site/vendor has a published and verified price drop, they will refund the extra amount or give store credit.

Thanks for the tip on MX camera mount. Will check it out.
Have pinged a fellow FM for satellite stands on sale too.
Let's see how it goes.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Experimentation continues ...

Rewired the cubes to the AVR. Set up only one pair for now.
Surrounds will have to wait for later; need to make (braid) lengthy speaker wire.
It is a 3.1 config fully powered by AVR (Marantz NR1605)
L/R is MA Radius, Center is an old B&W, Sub is an old Onkyo.
In the pic below, big boys on stands are the stereo rig

33810

Ran Audessey. Results were hard to comprehend.
Movie soundtrack was all muffled. Tried 2.1 music; sounded bad.
So sat and tuned by ear. The settings were quite opposite of what Audessey gave.
Either my hearing is bad (very possible) or I don't know how to run Audessey

Item/ParameterAudesseyMy Ears/My SettingComments
FrontSmallLargeAgree to disagree
CenterSmallLargeAgree to disagree
SubYesYesAgree
Front L Distance9.0 ft9.0 ftIn the ballpark
Front R Distance8.8 ft9.0 ftIn the ballpark
Center Distance8.9 ft8.0 ftIn the ballpark
Sub Distance12.3 ft12.0 ftIn the ballpark
Front L Level-2.5 dB+12dBWhat happened here
Front R Level-2.5 dB+12dBWhat happened here
Center Level-4.5 dB+6 dBWhat happened here
Sub Level-11.5 dB+6 dBWhat happened here
Front X-over250 Hz150 Hz30 above what MA can do
Center X-over40 Hz80 Hz20 above what B&W can do
Sub ModeLFE+MainLFE+Main
LPF for LFE200 Hz200 Hz

With my settings (can't really call them tweaks), movie sound is passable; work in progress :D.
Music content is sounding sweet; volume is between 20-30 (depending on recording sample)

Intermediate verdict (based on 2.1 mode in "stereo" option)
I had tried only 2 cubes in my stereo setup as described in the first post of thread; they were lean as expected.
Monitor Audio mids and highs are pretty impressive with sub lending low end heft.
There is a bit of high end treble tingle that needs taming (maybe the Graphic EQ from Audessey is hyping it).
Till date (almost 5 years) I was never convinced about the AVR's music capability.
I think the AVR and MA cubes (with a sub) are a good match; it was proven today.
Next week, will hookup surrounds (2nd pair) to complete 5.1, tinker around more and post impressions.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Ran Audessey. Results were hard to comprehend.
Movie soundtrack was all muffled. Tried 2.1 music; sounded bad.
So sat and tuned by ear. The settings were quite opposite of what Audessey gave.
Either my hearing is bad (very possible) or I don't know how to run Audessey

There seems to be huge variance between Audyssey Vs Manual settings w.r.t speaker levels.. If the speakers distance are correct, then the speaker level too would mostly be right.. To me, the speakers are below ear level.. This could be one of the reasons for very high high spk levels settings (manually)..

Have you tried keeping the L/R over your existing BS and checked how it is..

What other Audyssey presets are enabled on the AVR menu ? Reference / Flat ? Dynamic EQ = ?, Dynamic Vol = ?..
 
There seems to be huge variance between Audyssey Vs Manual settings w.r.t speaker levels.. If the speakers distance are correct, then the speaker level too would mostly be right.. To me, the speakers are below ear level.. This could be one of the reasons for very high high spk levels settings (manually)..

Have you tried keeping the L/R over your existing BS and checked how it is..

What other Audyssey presets are enabled on the AVR menu ? Reference / Flat ? Dynamic EQ = ?, Dynamic Vol = ?..
Yes this is not the most optimal placement for listening. I tried it based on aesthetics.
Other Audessey parameters are left at calibrated levels.

The other issue I have is that the sub cannot be placed anywhere else (for now).
Sub has to be in the corner and angled at 45 deg due to twin firing.
Will try rearranging after the surrounds are hooked up and try again.
Over the next few days the setup is going to be used to evaluate 2.1 performance.
More of a music listener and I have a good" reference system to compare with.

My hearing is bad; this is a fact. Will get wife and son to evaluate over the next few weeks.
Boy has finals, so limited time to experiment.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Yes this is not the most optimal placement for listening. I tried it based on aesthetics.
Other Audessey parameters are left at calibrated levels.

Missed an other point.. It is said not to lower the L/R x over than what Audyssey has detected during the calibration.. 250Hz seems low for the speakers, when the manufacturer like MA suggests 120Hz.. Something not right, could be because the speakers were not at ear level..

The other issue I have is that the sub cannot be placed anywhere else (for now).
Sub has to be in the corner and angled at 45 deg due to twin firing.

Ok.. understand the space limitations.. Have you thought of putting the sub behind the TV on the TV table (if you have space)?.. So this way the sub is hidden and in the middle of the room which would be better than the existing position..
 
Missed an other point.. It is said not to lower the L/R x over than what Audyssey has detected during the calibration.. 250Hz seems low for the speakers, when the manufacturer like MA suggests 120Hz.. Something not right, could be because the speakers were not at ear level..

Ok.. understand the space limitations.. Have you thought of putting the sub behind the TV on the TV table (if you have space)?.. So this way the sub is hidden and in the middle of the room which would be better than the existing position..

Possible that measurements went wonky because of height of L/R.
Also the center is a back ported unit.

Sub on TV table!! Will bring the TV to the edge of table.
Scary because the panel is size zero and it shakes at slightest touch.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Some thoughts..

Possible that measurements went wonky because of height of L/R.
Also the center is a back ported unit.

- You have 2 pairs of MA 45.. You have an opportunity to make identical L-C-R, nicely spread out for a better (movie) experience..

Sub on TV table!! Will bring the TV to the edge of table. Scary because the panel is size zero and it shakes at slightest touch.

- If you can bring up the TV table by 6 - 7 inches from the wall, guess it would make sufficient space behind the TV to place the subwoofer and they don't touch each other.. Subwoofer can lean to wall and the TV stand can take the (partial) weight.. Not knowing where the subwoofer is really cool experience :cool: ..
 
Some thoughts..
  • You have 2 pairs of MA 45.. You have an opportunity to make identical L-C-R, nicely spread out for a better (movie) experience..
  • If you can bring up the TV table by 6 - 7 inches from the wall, guess it would make sufficient space behind the TV to place the subwoofer and they don't touch each other.. Subwoofer can lean to wall and the TV stand can take the (partial) weight.. Not knowing where the subwoofer is really cool experience :cool: ..

I plan to use the 2nd pair of MA as surrounds. B&W is MTM and definitely lends "wazan" to voice.
Guess it will take at least 5-6 more placement tweaks to get things going.
Playtime!! And it is fun to drive family members up the wall :p
Cheers,
Raghu
 
Ran Audessey again after placing L/R cubes above standmounts.
42 in height and 7 feet separation. Also brought the sub a bit forward and angled it differently.
Distances were accurate. Similar levels on calibration -3/-4/-3/-10 dB (L/C/R/Sub).
Movie/TV sounds better now. Music thru TV-Chromecast was also passable.
Tried 6 variations in sub orientation (different firing angles).
One or two sounded coherent. For now picked the best sounding.
More in a week's time. Will try subwoofer crawl also.
Cheers,
Raghu
 
After a long time I decided to listen to music on the AVR setup.
This curiosity was sparked due to some queries/responses on another FM's thread about satellites for mains.
Chain:
CC-Audio --> AVR (Opt) --> MA Radius 45 L/R + Onkyo Sub
I think I have the calibration (plus tweaks) nailed down, as best as I could, for the listening space.

Must say the guys at MA have done some serious engineering to cram 120Hz and above into a 4" inch cube.
The bass reinforcement is decent with sub (for music a better sub will shine; mine is an old one)
Mids and vocals are surprisingly warm given the diminutive profile of the cubes.
There is still a bit of edginess on the high end that can be smoothened out.
I guess it has something to do with the placement of the speakers.
MA recommends it to be about 6-9 inches off the back wall (using their custom mount).
Something about the back facing tweeter and reflections to create a wider and mellow soundstage.
Got to try this; currently they are sitting on top of the main speakers about 3 feet away from the wall.

For those exploring to downsize their HT setup without a downgrade/degrade in SQ, these pups will work.
A good center and a decent sub (+integration) will allow for discreet deployment of mains/surrounds/heights.
They will definitely win in the WAF department (can personally vouch for this).

Cheers,
Raghu
 
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