Completely disappointed in this 24K speaker...*shakes head*
treitz3
Posts: 19,004
http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/products/platinum-ii/pl500-ii
It's GORGEOUS!!!. It looks like it would belong in a multi-million dollar property. The shine on the wood is so thick and pristine, you can see your reflection in it. The connections are all top notch, build quality excellent....literally everything about this speaker fits the bill of all things luxury and all things audiophile.
Until you hear it.
Yeah, it has a ribbon tweeter so the top end is rolled off. When I say rolled of? Yeah, I don't mean like a typical ribbon speaker. I've heard a few that are outstanding. This one? The song started and I was wondering where the music was. No imaging, no chimes, no micro details to speak of. It wasn't as if I needed to strain to hear it all......it just wasn't there.
At all.
So, the bass passages come in. Where is the bass? Where is the sound pressure? OMG, where is anything that is pleasurable? I have heard low line Polk subs sound better than this thing offered.....and here's the kicker.
It had about 60-70K worth of front end equipment, acoustical treatments, carpeting, properly set up and with a great LP source to boot. I'm not saying that it was so bad that you would have to pay me to listen to it. What I am saying is that from this same company, I have heard a 1K bookie they produced come eerily close to an Apogee Centaurus on all aspects of the reproductive effort (minus the stunning presentation of the Apogees).
What gives? These things sounded horrible. I'd have rather enjoyed a pair of the current Polk LSiM series....any one of them hooked up to an MP3 source playing Adele better than these.
Money means absolutely NOTHING in this hobby. Nothing.
Tom
It's GORGEOUS!!!. It looks like it would belong in a multi-million dollar property. The shine on the wood is so thick and pristine, you can see your reflection in it. The connections are all top notch, build quality excellent....literally everything about this speaker fits the bill of all things luxury and all things audiophile.
Until you hear it.
Yeah, it has a ribbon tweeter so the top end is rolled off. When I say rolled of? Yeah, I don't mean like a typical ribbon speaker. I've heard a few that are outstanding. This one? The song started and I was wondering where the music was. No imaging, no chimes, no micro details to speak of. It wasn't as if I needed to strain to hear it all......it just wasn't there.
At all.
So, the bass passages come in. Where is the bass? Where is the sound pressure? OMG, where is anything that is pleasurable? I have heard low line Polk subs sound better than this thing offered.....and here's the kicker.
It had about 60-70K worth of front end equipment, acoustical treatments, carpeting, properly set up and with a great LP source to boot. I'm not saying that it was so bad that you would have to pay me to listen to it. What I am saying is that from this same company, I have heard a 1K bookie they produced come eerily close to an Apogee Centaurus on all aspects of the reproductive effort (minus the stunning presentation of the Apogees).
What gives? These things sounded horrible. I'd have rather enjoyed a pair of the current Polk LSiM series....any one of them hooked up to an MP3 source playing Adele better than these.
Money means absolutely NOTHING in this hobby. Nothing.
Tom
~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
Comments
-
Here's a shot of the connections....
~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
I have listened to the pl200 and 300, and all I heard was a left and right speaker, absolutely no imaging or soundstage what so ever. And agree super rolled off treble. I don't remember any bass.
Gorgeous speaker though2 channel:
Bryston 4B3, Bryston BDA3, Cary SLP05, Shanling CDT1000SE with parts conneXion level 2 mods, Nottingham analogue ace space 294, soundsmith Carmen MKii, Zu DL103 MKii, Ortofon MC 20 MKii, Dynavector XX2 MKii, Rogue Audio Ares, Core power technologies balanced power conditioner, Akiko Corelli power conditioner with Akiko Audio HQ power cable, Nordost heimdall 2, Frey 2, interconnects, speaker and power cables, Focal Electra 1028 BE 2, Auralic Aries Femto, Black diamond racing cones, ingress audio level 1 roller blocks, JL Audio E110 with Auralic subdude, Primacoustics room treatments.
Theater:
Focal Aria 926,905,CC900, SVS PB ultra x2. Pioneer Elite SC85, Oppo BDP93, Panamax M5400PM, Minix neox6, Nordost Blue heaven LS power cables. -
That's too bad to hear about those, they seem legitMagico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
-
Could be the Monoprice cables they used.
-
My initial thought was they were designed to look impressive.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
My initial thought was they were designed to look impressive.
fortunately, that is a rare occurrence in modern hifi.
-
The song started and I was wondering where the music was.
I'll start using this to sum up reviews of equipment that disappoints.
Looks like they copied the look of Dynaudio without copying any of the sound quality.
It's odd that they don't say anything about the quality of their crossover components, since they went into detail about the cabinets, posts, drivers, and tweeters.Money means absolutely NOTHING in this hobby. Nothing.
For them to sound that bad, I wonder if you listened to a defective pair.
Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country! -
DarqueKnight wrote: »For them to sound that bad, I wonder if you listened to a defective pair.
I was wondering the same thing. Seems to me anyway, throwing out a flagship speaker should carry some flagship sound with it. Just sayin'...and if it's that obvious, why wasn't it that obvious to whoever set them up ?HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
Money means everything in this hobby my friend.
It doesn't always equal better sound quality but it's always a huge factor. So many brands out there selling products for high dollar amounts that don't measure up to others in their price classes. I guess you always have to have a class with one that stands out and another that carries the bottom. Then you have all the others in the middle that basically you pick what you like and run.
We carry Monitor Audio and they are nice all around sounding speakers but they lack many things.
The Model you are talking about looks like they tried to copy Dynaudio. One thing about Monitor audio is they try to copy everyone else. Yes they have a nice British like sound but I have always found them to leave me wanting more.
Much like Paradigm as they also leave me wanting more and the asking price points of their lines I find so many things that are much better.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I really do not think it was a defective speaker. I think it's just what it is. I didn't hear any of the obvious issues with out of phase, bad caps, loose connections and the like.....and as mentioned before, it was hooked up to what most people would consider on this forum, really nice gear.
Heard it with LP's and the Bluetooth. Both of them equally sounded, shall I say, not to my liking.
DK, you cracked me up man. I didn't realize how my statement really sounded until you quoted me. That's funny....almost sig material for a bad review.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
*Bluesound~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
-
Like the White House?...you know, impressive on the outside, full of **** on the insideMy initial thought was they were designed to look impressive.
-
Monitor Audio makes some of the best speakers out there..
I've never read a bad review in my day.. Last year, the reviewer in Stereophile actually purchased his review pair.. He even pointed out that he's only purchased something like 2 pairs of speakers in his whole life and just had to have those Monitor Audio speakers.. (don't remember the model, whatever was on the cover of that month's mag was what he bought)
However, for 24 grand, they better sound amazing.. -
Stereophile reviewer explains on page 2 why he had to buy these..
http://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-platinum-pl300-ii-loudspeaker#m2pHZU3JTfRlbxJX.97 -
Although I have enjoyed a couple pairs of the Monitor Audio speakers
These in know way come close to the sound my Dyn C4s produce IMHO2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
One thing I have learned in my audio journey...
There have been only a hand full of systems that lived up to the hype... and I do mean a handful... Ive heard a system encroaching on a million and many many many "ultra hi-fi" systems. Very few have given me the goosebumps- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Me thinks your on to something here, "Money means absolutely NOTHING in this hobby. Nothing."Some final words,
"If you keep banging your head against the wall,
you're going to have headaches."
Warren -
Anthony Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1, these gave me goosebumps.Some final words,
"If you keep banging your head against the wall,
you're going to have headaches."
Warren -
A speaker does not a system makes.Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
-
My Dad lived with the Grande Utopias in his house for a decade... that speaker needs quality gear and room to flex its muscles...
I can say the Mezzo utopias I have right now are a blast to listen to as they are appropriate for my room size- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Agreed
Go to RMAF or Axpona, you'll walk away from a lot of 5 and 6 figure systems going meh2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
Well, we shall see down at the LSAF.....
Things are what they are. Nothing more, nothing less.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
You're just a snob Tom
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I see Vanilla is broken again.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Haha.. If I was a snob, I would not have rated your system a solar system away from these speakers. OMG....
Where's the music?
Your system offered it in spades and then some. Zero strain.
Vanilla bites donkey D!(k.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
I will say this, the set up in the room next door at Hi-Fi Buys was a setup very similar to this setup at Munich. This was the 300K system. I think most folks here would have enjoyed that system. Refined and musical.....just a fun system to listen too.
Nothing like that POS MBL setup we heard at Jolida HQ. The Monitor Audio speakers in the OP were actually worse than that rig.....by a far margin. That should put it into perspective for ya'.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
This content has been removed.
-
This content has been removed.
-
Pretty is, as pretty does.Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
-
Wonder how these sound -- they seem like they may be a little short on traditional WAF (but maybe I am just being old-fashioned):
..the "SIRENS"...[by Metaxas & Sins...]
http://www.monoandstereo.com/2017/04/new-metaxas-sins-sirens-loudspakers.html
![[Deleted User]](https://w1.vanillicon.com/1b2b0ed5162b8b7b376441a856f243a1_100.png)
