Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Monitor Audio GR 60 Speakers by Dmitri

Model:	GR 60
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$4000
Description:	Flagship of the Gold Reference range
Manufacturer URL:	Monitor Audio
Model Picture:	View

Review by Dmitri ( A ) on March 10, 2005 at 08:57:44
IP Address: 204.62.9.12

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for the GR 60

Ah the clarity! After long auditioning of different brands I can finally hear GR60s in MY room. Speakers imaged with pint point accuracy, soundstage is there. I havenâ€™t heard a speaker that can reproduce cymbals and drum dish splash with such realism and speed. Midrange was strong and uniform. One thing that I liked about GR60s is how well all four drivers where integrated with each other. Seating at the listening position I could not tell which driver produced which sound. All the professional reviews of GR60 applauded this ability and I conquer. Finally bass was fast although not very deep. But again bass is well integrated with the rest of the range so I could omit this wrinkle. Well, this is the overall characteristic of the GR60 but how did they reproduce music? In my opinion these speakers are made for classical music and movies.
With classical through GR60 term â€œbandwidthâ€ comes to mind. There was never any sign of strain at the most demanding passages, speaker was always keeping it together and soundstage never got compressed. Triangles and brass instruments where singing and hanging in the air. However, I noticed that notes in the upper frequency range tended to stand out and sometimes live in their own space. After months of ownership I started to learn that MAâ€™s flagship speaker tend to favor upper frequencies â€“ something that I did not notice in my 4+hr of dealer demo. Through GR60â€™s, female voice has the same sparkle and life as cymbals, although somewhat on a cold side. Sometimes â€œsâ€ would become harsh with female singers which was unexpected considering overall smoothness of the tweeter. After a while though, I noticed fatigue associated with these recording, something I never experienced before with what I consider to be a warm front end. Moving onto small scale instrumental music, steel string guitar sounded very realistic through GR60, but sometimes it again tended to stand out from other instruments playing on stage, like drum or lower notes of piano.
One of the disappointments to me was the fact that I could not make Monitors to reproduce classical guitar. Through them, nylon string still sounded like steel strings, even on SACD recordings. Itâ€™s not that I was hearing the effects of metal tweeter, my Polks had metal tweeter as well, but after months of listening to GR60s I noticed slight but consistent â€œmetalâ€ coloring in the midrange. I canâ€™t say if itâ€™s due to the all-metal drivers in GR60 but with time I started to miss â€œanalogâ€ sound of my Polks. This â€œsteelâ€ character made overall listening experience non-involving, even sterile. â€“ however this realization came to me slowly.
Finally, GR60s do not have the last word in micro resolution. Things like singer smacking her lips, fingers touching a string or Rachel walking up to Dekker on the track 2 of the Bladerunner CD are tamed down and sometimes missing all togetherâ€¦ (I should note that this trend remained true at the showrooms with B&K and Krell amps on audition sessions after my purchase)
I can see how one can appreciate GR60â€™s ability to reproduce the scale of classical orchestra with no strain, and it's ability to add sparkle to the top end. The build quality is generally good, but in my opinion is sub-par for the price range and definitely not up to the Reference badge (for more details see my follow up). Although Monitor Audio achieved a lot of high points with GR60, this speaker wasn't for me. It also does show the importance of extended demo, but alas, in today's world of big profits on plasma screens, hi-end dealers don't want to bother with the hassle of in-home speaker demo.

Product Weakness: Treble â€“ when on certain frequencies it becomes harsh.
Even when moved to a better front end such as B&K reference or Krell, microdynamics is lucking contributing to a sterile sound. Initially they make you confuse sterile sound for detailed or neutral character.
Pool quality control as you can see from my experience (see follow up). Definitely not worth $5k Monitor Audio originally wanted for these speakers. Speaker finish is not what I expect from a flagship floorstander at this ($4k) price range.
Product Strengths: Treble - when it add air and detail. Overall speaker is fast and got a great bandwidth when it comes to playing many instruments simultaneously. Good imaging and soundstage.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Marantz SR7000
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	receiver
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Rotel RCD991, Sony C555ES SACD
Speakers:	Monitor Audio GR 60
Cables/Interconnects:	Acoustic Research
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical, Juzz, Pop, Instrumental
Time Period/Length of Audition:	~5hr total in dealer demo + 1 year of ownership
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Monster HTS5100
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner