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Its been a while since I got some free time to do what I really enjoy doing, that is 'Enter into the speaker demo world' that I so very enjoy.:licklips:
Unfortunately have not been able to get some quality 'my time' due to various obstacles that keep coming in the way of me & them speakers.:sad:
Finally got an opportunity yesterday to relax post work & headed straight to listen to the Monitor 7's (V4 model or so I think - can anyone confirm on this?). These were the ones available before the new ones arrived in the market about 2 months back.
Let me start off with gears connected to the Monitor 7's
Source: Pioneer DV420
Amp: Marantz SR4023 (http://us.marantz.com/SR4023SpecSheet.pdf)
Speaker Wires: Acoustic Research 16 AWG
(Welcome to Acoustic Research Accessories)
Here is a small review of the Monitor 7's (the model that i auditioned)
Document Details | Monitor 7 Review - Audio Video - Welcome to the New Official Paradigm Website.
Here is the list of the songs i listened to:
Whitesnake - In The Still Of The Night
Astarte - Mutter
Rolling Stones - Angie
Coheed & Cambria - Welcome Home
Eric Johnson - Cliffs Of Dover
Halford - Resurrection
Eddie Van Halen & Joe Satriani - Top Gun Theme
Megadeth - She Wolf
Edwyn Collins - Girl Like You
Steely Dan - Boddhisatva
Chris Isaac - Wicked Game
Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
Audioslave - Cochise
Joe Satriani - Crystal Planet
Guns 'N Roses - Sweet Child 'O Mine
To be very honest i was very sceptical of the Marantz pairing, A) because of the 'warm marantz sound', B) Had never heard of this model & so it was a bit of an unknown quantity.
Had no option as the 4023 was the only stereo amp in the mix of countless AVR's at hand.
Realised that this HT biz is really booming as the variety of 5.1/7.1/9.1 is mind boggling & so are the prices!!!
Anyway to get back to the Monitor 7's, had the following opinions of them:
Surprisingly good/infact better than the current 7's that i listened to 2 months back. Mids & highs were well defined, pretty neutral as well. The lows though not very pronounced, infact just enough is what i felt, with none of that boomy kind of sound though that could be due to the front porting which is very beneficial with 1 being able to literally place them close to the walls at their back sides, thus avoiding space/placement issues in smaller rooms.
Another plus is the instrument separation & ability to capture the little nuances in certain tracks, which are not heard in some of the other speakers that i've auditioned earlier. For example: the whispers in the beginning of the track 'Girl like you - Edwyn Collins'
Vocals are also well defined, really enjoyed listening to 'Angie - Rolling Stones' & 'Wicked Game - Chris Isaac'
Another track that really shined was 'Boddhisatva - Steely Dan'. Really enjoyed listening this track & was comfortably swinging throughout the track
So far, i gathered that the mellow & slow stuff(Anything Non-Metal that is) really works well with the 7's & that Hard Rock Heavy Metal are not quite suited to these speakers, but all of that changed when i requested the sales rep to crank the vol on the marantz from -40 to -20 & got 'Cochise - Audioslave' to jolt me & realise that hell yeah my stuff sounds great through the 7's.... Next to follow was none other than the Metal God Mr. Rob Halford screaming 'Resurrection' through the 7's & I was ready to mosh!!! The poor sales rep was jolted alright by Mr. Halford post which he requested me to allow him to lower the volume back to -40.
The top gun theme followed next & things were back to status quo.... Money for nothing followed & carefully listened to the beginning of the song with that killer drumming & all was good! The speakers were agile for that drumming to induce a smile on my face alright!
As soon as the track ended, was nudged by the sales rep to let him end the demo as he has another set of customers awaiting a HT demo.... In any case, I had a sufficient fill of the 7's & that was what mattered.
Conclusion:
1) This version of the 7's I heard were far better than the latest ones I heard earlier.
2) Asking price of 32k seems quite vfm for them, though can manage a discount on them for sure.
3) Feel they are ideal for someone who likes a neutral sounding speaker with no bass exaggeration, just about ideal would be the right word here.
4) Front firing Bass Port is really a plus point for avoiding the space & placement from walls issue.
5) Excellent finish with quality materials used/look awesome without the grilles hiding the drivers!
6) Good pairing with Marantz (the SR4023 impressed me)
Unfortunately have not been able to get some quality 'my time' due to various obstacles that keep coming in the way of me & them speakers.:sad:Finally got an opportunity yesterday to relax post work & headed straight to listen to the Monitor 7's (V4 model or so I think - can anyone confirm on this?). These were the ones available before the new ones arrived in the market about 2 months back.
Let me start off with gears connected to the Monitor 7's
Source: Pioneer DV420
Amp: Marantz SR4023 (http://us.marantz.com/SR4023SpecSheet.pdf)
Speaker Wires: Acoustic Research 16 AWG
(Welcome to Acoustic Research Accessories)
Here is a small review of the Monitor 7's (the model that i auditioned)
Document Details | Monitor 7 Review - Audio Video - Welcome to the New Official Paradigm Website.
Here is the list of the songs i listened to:
Whitesnake - In The Still Of The Night
Astarte - Mutter
Rolling Stones - Angie
Coheed & Cambria - Welcome Home
Eric Johnson - Cliffs Of Dover
Halford - Resurrection
Eddie Van Halen & Joe Satriani - Top Gun Theme
Megadeth - She Wolf
Edwyn Collins - Girl Like You
Steely Dan - Boddhisatva
Chris Isaac - Wicked Game
Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
Audioslave - Cochise
Joe Satriani - Crystal Planet
Guns 'N Roses - Sweet Child 'O Mine
To be very honest i was very sceptical of the Marantz pairing, A) because of the 'warm marantz sound', B) Had never heard of this model & so it was a bit of an unknown quantity.
Had no option as the 4023 was the only stereo amp in the mix of countless AVR's at hand.
Realised that this HT biz is really booming as the variety of 5.1/7.1/9.1 is mind boggling & so are the prices!!!
Anyway to get back to the Monitor 7's, had the following opinions of them:
Surprisingly good/infact better than the current 7's that i listened to 2 months back. Mids & highs were well defined, pretty neutral as well. The lows though not very pronounced, infact just enough is what i felt, with none of that boomy kind of sound though that could be due to the front porting which is very beneficial with 1 being able to literally place them close to the walls at their back sides, thus avoiding space/placement issues in smaller rooms.
Another plus is the instrument separation & ability to capture the little nuances in certain tracks, which are not heard in some of the other speakers that i've auditioned earlier. For example: the whispers in the beginning of the track 'Girl like you - Edwyn Collins'
Vocals are also well defined, really enjoyed listening to 'Angie - Rolling Stones' & 'Wicked Game - Chris Isaac'
Another track that really shined was 'Boddhisatva - Steely Dan'. Really enjoyed listening this track & was comfortably swinging throughout the track
So far, i gathered that the mellow & slow stuff(Anything Non-Metal that is
) really works well with the 7's & that Hard Rock Heavy Metal are not quite suited to these speakers, but all of that changed when i requested the sales rep to crank the vol on the marantz from -40 to -20 & got 'Cochise - Audioslave' to jolt me & realise that hell yeah my stuff sounds great through the 7's.... Next to follow was none other than the Metal God Mr. Rob Halford screaming 'Resurrection' through the 7's & I was ready to mosh!!! The poor sales rep was jolted alright by Mr. Halford post which he requested me to allow him to lower the volume back to -40.The top gun theme followed next & things were back to status quo.... Money for nothing followed & carefully listened to the beginning of the song with that killer drumming & all was good! The speakers were agile for that drumming to induce a smile on my face alright!
As soon as the track ended, was nudged by the sales rep to let him end the demo as he has another set of customers awaiting a HT demo.... In any case, I had a sufficient fill of the 7's & that was what mattered.
Conclusion:
1) This version of the 7's I heard were far better than the latest ones I heard earlier.
2) Asking price of 32k seems quite vfm for them, though can manage a discount on them for sure.
3) Feel they are ideal for someone who likes a neutral sounding speaker with no bass exaggeration, just about ideal would be the right word here.
4) Front firing Bass Port is really a plus point for avoiding the space & placement from walls issue.
5) Excellent finish with quality materials used/look awesome without the grilles hiding the drivers!
6) Good pairing with Marantz (the SR4023 impressed me)
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