Exit Interview with the Monitor 70's

zombie boy 2000 · July 2006

Since these puppies were sold in order to finance my next set of speakers, I thought it only fair to give them one last evaluation/assessment. After all, they were my first real speakers (and you never forget your first, right?:D )

As we all know, these speakers have not garnered accolades and have often been looked over in favor of it's smaller siblings, the 60's --or even the
50's:eek: Criticisms have ranged from bloated bass to the infamous "faulty tweeter" to the Monitor 70's = Rti8's pricepoint.

While the 70's certainly have their faults, they do many things exceedingly well. Bass management was never, ever an issue. At no point during set-up, could I ever pinpoint my sub. The 70's always blended seamlessly.

Moreover, upon demoing the 60's, I found that while they seemed to exhibit a lot of "ping" and "zing" on the top end, the 70's just sounded better from top to bottom. The 60's have always struck me as the perfect speaker for today's pop recordings -- hot treble with hot bass (in the form of a sub). A lot of punch and slam, but not much to involve me in the music. Give me the 60's for HT any day of the week, but the 70's are hands-down the more musical speaker IMO.

I say this because once I had finally provided the 70's with some adequate juice via the Rotel 980, they really took on a well-balanced nature. Soundstaging and imaging moved from the place of legend firmly into my living room (albeit limited). But more importantly, I became more involved in my recordings -- which was the intention all along. Probably due in no small part to the size of the drivers, the presentation was warmer, and more laid-back and engaging than others in the Monitor line-up. Not quick, fast, and dynamic, but lucid, sweet, and liquid at times.

More often than not, things sounded right, though it became apparent that I was becoming increasingly ready to move-up the audio chain. Tweeter problems? Blame Circuit City for pushing Sony receivers on the customers who plop down their cold hard cash to purchase the 70's -- four 6 1/2" drivers should never be sneezed at. Muddy sound? Again consider the predominance of big chain speakers purchases being founded upon a HT set-up. Again, the 70's don't (and will never) shine in this area.

But musically..... they're surprisingly good. Thanks for the memories.....:)