Whilst my Marantz speakers were on sale I came across a pair of Monitor Audio's at such a ridiculous price I felt obliged to get them. And boy did these play awesome.
At a mere 200 euro's I got these in a mint state on the second hand market. At the time I was already playing with a onkyo HTR-508 receiver which to this day was the best value/money amplifier I have ever had. Nothing special, but it just worked, always and without any hiccups.
Back to the speakers. These are the Monitor Audio BR2's :
These had a beautiful white 6,5" Bass/Mid driver and Monitor Audio's patented C-Cam hard dome tweeter.
With a front facing Bassport they were perfect for critical listening in a desk setup, exactly what I used them for. I couldn't get enough of these, they were so clean and detailed. Definitely an upgrade from my Marantz's. But they weren't on as much as those because the hard-dome tweeter was fatiguing for long listening sessions. Also the Bass came in at a certain volume, anything under that and they sounded like an old stereo (hyper defined highs, no bass). But when I had the chance I cranked these up and simply had a lot of fun.
Some specs on these bad boys :
Frequency response : 42Hz-30kHz, +/-3dB
Sensitivity : 90 dB/(M*W)
Recommended amplifier power : 30-100 Watt
Weight : 6 Kg per piece
Even at the retail price of 400 euro's, these sound twice as good. So if you are looking for a pair of Hi-fi budget bookshelf speakers, have an eye out for these (or any of the recent Monitor Audio lines actually).
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