I'm putting together a new 5.1 system and after much auditioning (Paradigm Studio, B&W 600 & CM, MA Silver and KEF Q), I've settled on MA as my best bet.
My usage is 70/30 Movies/Music. MA Silver 8s sounded awesome BUT my dealer doesn't carry MA Gold GR 10 so I couldn't give it a listen. My budget is somewhat flexible - I can probably spring for the Gold 10s, center & surrounds (if they're noticeably better than the S8 combo) but not for the Gold 20s.
The HT room is 21 X 14 room with vaulted ceilings. The receiver is NAD 753...subwoofer is SVS 25-31. Would appreciate hearing from MA fans who've compared Silver to Gold.
george_k
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Posted on
Based on the size your room and your amp I wouldn't recommend the Gold's as they are 3dB less efficient than the Silver's
What does the 3dB difference really mean? If you took home both sets of speakers and played the silvers at a given loudness (say movie reference = 85 dB) you would need twice the power to achieve the same loudness with the gold's.
In your situation I would opt for the speaker which exhibits better mid&high frequencies since the low end will be handle beautifully by the SVS.
If you decide on getting the golds I would suggest you set the crossover on your SVS higher, since lower frequency require more power and hence you'd be taxing your amp trying to get those loud SPL's.
TomD
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Thanks George, the sensitivity issue you've raised had escaped me. If the Golds are worthwhile, I may have to consider the NAD 763. Haven't purchased the receiver yet.
Any comments from folks who've directly compared the Gold 10 to the Silver 8?
The Gold 10 as I recall, at $4K per pair, I auditioned at length in the deluxe equipment room at Good Guys with Denon equipment. I recall they had a welcome time-coherency that reminded me of my Thiels, they had a sweet, smooth, crystal clear top end and mid-range detail of a well developed, tonally accurate quality. I didn't hear even a trace of cabinet noise or diffraction. At it's price point, though, it was rather deficient in bass output and extension. Not weak or shabby, but at 4K, as the subwoofer was cycled in and out of the audition, it was just obvious that the LOW bass output was not competitive at that price point. Given the hefty price tag, I would verify that you find the bass sufficient or not. I found the SILVERS to be underperforming speakers in unattractive, costly cabinets. If the gold 20 was a thousand dollars cheaper (or more), it would beone of THE speakers to own, with the correct cables and source equipment. I found the tidy sound, the drive, the balance to be quite nice, but not worth $3K, in my opinion, by any means.
TomD
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Posted on
Chicobiker, I appreciate your input. It turns out that Gold 10 is no more than $1500 per pair MSRP, not a lot more than what a pair of Silver S8s is available for. The Gold 20 is $3K per pair.
I'm surprised you found the Silvers to be underperforming - the fact that you heard them with Denon may have something to do with it...Denon and MA don't go well together IMO!
It's been a while but I listened to both the S8 and the Gold 10. It seems like they were comparable in price but I don't remember for sure. My preference was for the S8 mainly because of the fact that I didn't feel like I would have to add a sub when listening to music. Don't get me wrong, the Gold 10's sounded awesome within the range that they were designed. Very crisp and clean but lacking the bass response that I was looking for without the sub.
Sometimes I get the model #'s and prices mixed up, but I remember the sound. The gold 10 (the bookshelf) are OK, but have no Bass, which you can't expect from a cabinet that small. So for the price and EXPENSIVE stands, I don't recommend them. For $500 ish, you could try Paradigm Monitor 5 and with fully upgraded cables and interconnects you'd have far superior sound than those pricey Brit bookshelfs. The gold ref20's, which have undeniable pace, drive, cabinet construction, and a nice midrange, simply fall short in deep bass extension for $3K. In my listening notes, on the S8 and S6, I noted expensive, costly cabinets with underperforming drivers. While not horrid, I didn't find them price competitive with speakers from KEF, BW and Pardigm - whose models simply outperform for less money.