Two years ago I had the opportunity to sample the most excellent B&W Nautilus whilst chilling out in a rather nice hotel in Portugal. I can easily say that it was the most amazing sounding speakers I have ever heard in my life and sent me on a crusade to upgrade my existing setup.
Now I fully appreciated that these speakers are worth somewhere in the region of £50k before adding the expense of a decent amplifier(s), but I had been used to a £50 5.1 virtual surround sound system fronted by a pair of 10 year old Phillip’s HiFi speakers. Not that there was anything wrong with them, but the difference in sound was absolutely out of this league, staggering. Probably the first time I ever sat down and found myself appreciating the quality of the music rather than the actual music itself. After a while though you start listening the music itself again and the quality is just *there* not overshadowing it (difficult to explain). Anyway I came away from that experience wanting nothing short of B&W perfection.
Following this I moved into a new flat with my girlfriend and the speakers took a back seat to more needed items/commitments. It wasn’t until around 6 months ago I started getting serious about upgrading my audio, queue the next few months of avforums browsing, whathifi reviews and bugging my girlfriend to go into every HiFi shop to listen to what they had available every time we went anywhere.
On one of these occasions I went to small outfit in Gloucester and they had some Monitor Audio BR5’s on demo, I stood there listening to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and thought they sounded incredible. Up to this point I was still suffering from the B&W syndrome so had discounted anything ‘not B&W’s’, but these Monitor Audios showed me I was being ridiculous.
I decided that I wanted a system that would play probably 60% music 40% film/tv. Initially looked into KEF 2005 ‘eggs’ and was very impressed, but wanted something a bit more musical and with a bit more presence. The B&W 685 home theatre package was an obvious choice, however I wanted floorstanding speakers, mainly for aesthetic purposes. I looked into the B&W 683 package very closely but ultimately decided that this would end up being a lot more than I wanted to spend.
In the end I went back to the initial brand that showed me that B&W weren’t the only decent players in the field, Monitor Audio. I tried to get hold of the end of the line RS6 range but by the time I had made my decision these were quite rare and out of stock in most places. I spoke to one retailer who had some left but he offered me some fantastic discounts on the new RX range, sold. Although I had missed some bargains in the RS range I am now actually pleased that I did, boy are these speakers fantastic!
Obviously looks and sounds are subjective but I think they look more elegant than the RS and B&W’s and the sound is just perfect for my requirements. I am pairing them with a Yamaha RX-V2065 (I just couldn’t justify the extra £350 for the RX-V3900).
First album I sat down and listened to was Dark Side, the resonance and clarity from the clocks at the start of ‘Time’ is spot on and the vocals on ‘That Great Gig in the Sky’ just sound emotional. Then I slapped on Transformers, the sound of the opening credits whizzing around all speakers really puts you right in the middle of it from the very start. Band of Brothers also amazing, the sound of bullets whizzing past your head or a rocket being launched from behind you and exploding in front of you just never gets boring.
So if anyone is looking to upgrade their home audio in the near future this setup comes fully recommended from me!
Full system:
Monitor Audio Silver RX6 Fronts
Monitor Audio Silver RX Centre
Monitor Audio Silver RXW-12 Sub
Monitor Audio Bronze BR-FX (Didn’t consider the RX rears to be worth the extra cost)
Yamaha RX-V2065
Van Damme Studio Grade Blue Speaker Cable 2.5mm
Total Cost: £2340
And some pics:
Thanks for reading!
Now I fully appreciated that these speakers are worth somewhere in the region of £50k before adding the expense of a decent amplifier(s), but I had been used to a £50 5.1 virtual surround sound system fronted by a pair of 10 year old Phillip’s HiFi speakers. Not that there was anything wrong with them, but the difference in sound was absolutely out of this league, staggering. Probably the first time I ever sat down and found myself appreciating the quality of the music rather than the actual music itself. After a while though you start listening the music itself again and the quality is just *there* not overshadowing it (difficult to explain). Anyway I came away from that experience wanting nothing short of B&W perfection.
Following this I moved into a new flat with my girlfriend and the speakers took a back seat to more needed items/commitments. It wasn’t until around 6 months ago I started getting serious about upgrading my audio, queue the next few months of avforums browsing, whathifi reviews and bugging my girlfriend to go into every HiFi shop to listen to what they had available every time we went anywhere.
On one of these occasions I went to small outfit in Gloucester and they had some Monitor Audio BR5’s on demo, I stood there listening to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and thought they sounded incredible. Up to this point I was still suffering from the B&W syndrome so had discounted anything ‘not B&W’s’, but these Monitor Audios showed me I was being ridiculous.
I decided that I wanted a system that would play probably 60% music 40% film/tv. Initially looked into KEF 2005 ‘eggs’ and was very impressed, but wanted something a bit more musical and with a bit more presence. The B&W 685 home theatre package was an obvious choice, however I wanted floorstanding speakers, mainly for aesthetic purposes. I looked into the B&W 683 package very closely but ultimately decided that this would end up being a lot more than I wanted to spend.
In the end I went back to the initial brand that showed me that B&W weren’t the only decent players in the field, Monitor Audio. I tried to get hold of the end of the line RS6 range but by the time I had made my decision these were quite rare and out of stock in most places. I spoke to one retailer who had some left but he offered me some fantastic discounts on the new RX range, sold. Although I had missed some bargains in the RS range I am now actually pleased that I did, boy are these speakers fantastic!
Obviously looks and sounds are subjective but I think they look more elegant than the RS and B&W’s and the sound is just perfect for my requirements. I am pairing them with a Yamaha RX-V2065 (I just couldn’t justify the extra £350 for the RX-V3900).
First album I sat down and listened to was Dark Side, the resonance and clarity from the clocks at the start of ‘Time’ is spot on and the vocals on ‘That Great Gig in the Sky’ just sound emotional. Then I slapped on Transformers, the sound of the opening credits whizzing around all speakers really puts you right in the middle of it from the very start. Band of Brothers also amazing, the sound of bullets whizzing past your head or a rocket being launched from behind you and exploding in front of you just never gets boring.
So if anyone is looking to upgrade their home audio in the near future this setup comes fully recommended from me!
Full system:
Monitor Audio Silver RX6 Fronts
Monitor Audio Silver RX Centre
Monitor Audio Silver RXW-12 Sub
Monitor Audio Bronze BR-FX (Didn’t consider the RX rears to be worth the extra cost)
Yamaha RX-V2065
Van Damme Studio Grade Blue Speaker Cable 2.5mm
Total Cost: £2340
And some pics:
Thanks for reading!
Last edited:
