In my guest lounge I’m using a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 50 powered by a late 2000’s Marantz SR4021 and the Marantz does a great job of keeping those tweeters playing nice.
For the KEF, the lower passive radiator has a shelf above it separating it from the active woofer. It has a circular port in it, tuning the lower radiator to handle the very low bass coming from the back of the active bass driver. So it is quite a complex mechanical reflex system.
It is fine to have just enough bass as long as the midrange and higher frequencies are rich and a little warm with no shrill highs. I heard the BRONZE 500 powered by Roksan black integrated amp and Roksan black cd player which played Christine and the Queens in TH-cam and it sounded fantastic.
Thank you for the video comparing these two speakers. I have had a Bronze500 for about 3 months now and I initially paired it with a YAMAHAR-N803 which got a upper medium quality sound from the system. Then I felt that these speakers had a higher potential than this and I decided to change and replace the previous system with Cambridge Audio for the CXN V2 source and for the AXR100 amplifier and I immediately realized that the detail level in the sound was much higher while the sound depth and bass were Has decreased. The sound became superficial and shallow. So I decided to upgrade the amplifier to CXA81. The result was wonderful and unique. This amp is fantastic And matching it with Bronze500 gave me an unimaginable result. In my opinion, if your amplifier is even a Yamaha YAMAHAR-N803 or models from Denon or Marantz, do not hesitate to buy it, considering the reasonable price of this speaker. There are three things I have to say about the features of this speaker First of all, the sound is highly detailed and not annoying and perfectly combined and homogeneous to the whole speaker so you can not be sure that it is playing from the top or middle of the speaker, which is not the case in KEF. Secondly, in this speaker, of course, the power and quality of the amplifier are important I emphasize, that you feel frequencies of the bass with your body that sometimes you do not hear it, and this makes listening to music very enjoyable. And thirdly why the extra money for grille !? I do not understand. Finally, in this price range, I prefer the Bronze500. Peace
He suggested using amp of at least 100 watts give or take. I have a rotel and adcom power amps rated at 60 watts per channel both of these amps should work well with these 2 speakers because they are high current. Although I can’t say for sure.
Hi thanks for the video. I just brought a denon AVR-x3700H it has 105 watts per channel 9.1. I also have a SVS cylinder subwoofers. My question is how do you think the monitor audio bronze 500 will sound, I was just about to buy them when I saw your video. I would like to get some kind of idea before I buy them. I like to listen to a lot of jazz music thanks.
I bought a pair of Bronze 500 and I found them to be very cheap sounding. While I do own a pair of B&W CM10 S2 speakers that are most definitely better sounding, of course the build quality of the B&W' is extremely better by far. But we have to be fair because a pair of the Bronze 500s runs about $1700 a pair as opposed to the B&Ws that run about $4,000 a pair. In all honesty, I would say save your money and get yourself something better like a pair of B&Ws or Martin Logan. Especially if you're going to be using these speakers for strictly a two-channel stereo audio system and not a home theater system. The Bronze 500 sound way too forward in the upper mid-range and actually not that bright, but dull in the high end. Is a rather strange sounding speaker. I am returning the pair of Bronze 500s I purchased because the B&Ws obviously are the winner. Stay clear of the Bronze 500! Very box-y sounding and very voice-y sounding that will drive you nuts. Some recordings will have some nice bass but for the most part overall it's a very dry sounding speaker. Take my word. Don't waste your time and money on the Bronze 500s
That would of been interesting to do at the time. There sure is a price difference. Both are very clear sounding speakers. if I remember right the monitor would be a little sharper and better bass with larger woofers. But I think the Focal brought out the most music detail.
@OldtradesReviews enough power for the q950s? I have the q350 and was thinking of upgrading. I love my powernode, but I want to make sure the powered is there for the q950 if I decide to upgrade. Thanks gor your input. 😃
I did have the 2 set of speakers at my home for 2 months... Bronze 500 is very treble/mids forward, too much for me. The bass is very lean and hard to get in the room if you are in small room size(15m2). You get the sense that you hear lots of details, but that is not exactly right. On the other hand Q950 is very easy to position, treble is good, mids have a little dip if they are not positioned right. Bass is much more present and authoritative, fast,dynamic, detailed and accurate!!!. I hear much more details and way better 3D sence! (Later in time I have tested Q950 with) I used integrated stereo amplifier 2x60 @ 8ohms warm sounding with NAD DAC + warmish audiophile cabling for the test.
You said that you can add bookshelf speakers to the top of floor standing ones (as you have in the background). I have Kef LS50s and was thinking about getting the Q950s and putting the LS50s on top just to add some height and more clarity. Do you have any concerns with that?
hello, I'm interested in buying a bronze 500 audio monitor. I have a marantz pm 7000n 60w amplifier per channel, do you think it's enough to enjoy the bronze 500 audio monitor to the fullest? what is the difference between a 100w amplifier per channel and a 60w amplifier per channel. is it louder or the same, thank you
Hello! I am looking to build a 5.1.2 system with a Denon X3700H ( if I can find one...) Could you please tell me which one is better at low volume? I leave in an apartment so I cant crank up the volume to much... Thanks!
@@OldtradesReviews i´m still a new in the audio world. I realy like the looks of the yamaha receiver. Is there a pair of boxes you would recomend or i should look into to suite the yamaha specs more? Budget for boxes is +/-1000€. Need an allrounder. I´m also looking for a good record player . Any advice is welcome
If these were same price which would you pick? Also what Receiver would you recommend to use for KEF Q950 ? i saw kefs for 1200$ for the pair and considering buying them... but I only have yamaha rx-v-585... would I need new reciever? thx
Thats really cheap for the Kefs because 1 here is $1100. It depends on what kind of sound you want. And it would have to pair well with that receiver. Id look for something 125 watts x 2 and up.....Like a Marantz
I own the Q950's , I purchased these because of decent reviews. This is not recommended ,always demo the speakers your interested in.Silly me. The Q950's sound exactly how they look cold and metallic. They are unnaturally spikey in the middle treble range but actually seem to roll off the higher region of treble. They are very fatiguing and the mids sound unnatural and definitely not warm.Bass is ok but again nothing great. They do have a large sound stage but it's tin can sounding. I guess everyone has figured out ,I don't recommend them.
thank you for your review, then which speakers sound warm , soft and silky and not metallic according you?i'm curious, i'm looking for that sort of speaker..thank you...
Bronze 500 is a shitty design due to 8" midrange. 6.5" midrange already has quite low break up FQ to cross with a tweeter. That is done on purpose to have more expensive 3 way silver with double 8" woofers, 4" mid (ideal size). If they made bronze 2,5way with 4-5" mid it would make silver too expensive fir what you get compared to bronze.
In my guest lounge I’m using a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 50 powered by a late 2000’s Marantz SR4021 and the Marantz does a great job of keeping those tweeters playing nice.
For the KEF, the lower passive radiator has a shelf above it separating it from the active woofer. It has a circular port in it, tuning the lower radiator to handle the very low bass coming from the back of the active bass driver. So it is quite a complex mechanical reflex system.
It is fine to have just enough bass as long as the midrange and higher frequencies are rich and a little warm with no shrill highs. I heard the BRONZE 500 powered by Roksan black integrated amp and Roksan black cd player which played Christine and the Queens in TH-cam and it sounded fantastic.
Thank you for the video comparing these two speakers.
I have had a Bronze500 for about 3 months now and I initially paired it with a YAMAHAR-N803 which got a upper medium quality sound from the system. Then I felt that these speakers had a higher potential than this and I decided to change and replace the previous system with Cambridge Audio for the CXN V2 source and for the AXR100 amplifier and I immediately realized that the detail level in the sound was much higher while the sound depth and bass were Has decreased. The sound became superficial and shallow.
So I decided to upgrade the amplifier to CXA81.
The result was wonderful and unique. This amp is fantastic And matching it with Bronze500 gave me an unimaginable result.
In my opinion, if your amplifier is even a Yamaha YAMAHAR-N803 or models from Denon or Marantz, do not hesitate to buy it, considering the reasonable price of this speaker.
There are three things I have to say about the features of this speaker
First of all, the sound is highly detailed and not annoying and perfectly combined and homogeneous to the whole speaker so you can not be sure that it is playing from the top or middle of the speaker, which is not the case in KEF.
Secondly, in this speaker, of course, the power and quality of the amplifier are important I emphasize, that you feel frequencies of the bass with your body that sometimes you do not hear it, and this makes listening to music very enjoyable.
And thirdly why the extra money for grille !?
I do not understand.
Finally, in this price range, I prefer the Bronze500.
Peace
Thank you for watching and sharing your experience.
Старая модель звучит лучше Bronze500.о каком звучании вы говорите?
Hegel also combines well with the bronze 500, also the silver 500
An essential piece of kit for proper Hi-Fi; the Imperial AT-AT.
He suggested using amp of at least 100 watts give or take. I have a rotel and adcom power amps rated at 60 watts per channel both of these amps should work well with these 2 speakers because they are high current. Although I can’t say for sure.
Hi thanks for the video. I just brought a denon AVR-x3700H it has 105 watts per channel 9.1. I also have a SVS cylinder subwoofers. My question is how do you think the monitor audio bronze 500 will sound, I was just about to buy them when I saw your video. I would like to get some kind of idea before I buy them. I like to listen to a lot of jazz music thanks.
Hi, what do you think, does my receiver Pioneer VSX 1131 will have enough power for Monitor Audio Bronze 500?
I bought a pair of Bronze 500 and I found them to be very cheap sounding. While I do own a pair of B&W CM10 S2 speakers that are most definitely better sounding, of course the build quality of the B&W' is extremely better by far.
But we have to be fair because a pair of the Bronze 500s runs about $1700 a pair as opposed to the B&Ws
that run about $4,000 a pair.
In all honesty, I would say save your money and get yourself something better like a pair of B&Ws or Martin Logan. Especially if you're going to be using these speakers for strictly a two-channel stereo audio system and not a home theater system.
The Bronze 500 sound way too forward in the upper mid-range and actually not that bright, but dull in the high end.
Is a rather strange sounding speaker.
I am returning the pair of Bronze 500s I purchased because the B&Ws obviously are the winner.
Stay clear of the Bronze 500!
Very box-y sounding and very voice-y sounding that will drive you nuts. Some recordings will have some nice bass but for the most part overall it's a very dry sounding speaker.
Take my word. Don't waste your time and money on the Bronze 500s
how would you compare the Monitor Audio to the Focal Chora?
That would of been interesting to do at the time. There sure is a price difference. Both are very clear sounding speakers. if I remember right the monitor would be a little sharper and better bass with larger woofers. But I think the Focal brought out the most music detail.
Thanks for your feedback!
Anyone try the kef q950 with the bluesound powernode? Just wondering. Thanks
Bluesound is a good unit
@OldtradesReviews enough power for the q950s? I have the q350 and was thinking of upgrading. I love my powernode, but I want to make sure the powered is there for the q950 if I decide to upgrade. Thanks gor your input. 😃
is it possible for you to perform a sound test?
I did have the 2 set of speakers at my home for 2 months... Bronze 500 is very treble/mids forward, too much for me. The bass is very lean and hard to get in the room if you are in small room size(15m2). You get the sense that you hear lots of details, but that is not exactly right. On the other hand Q950 is very easy to position, treble is good, mids have a little dip if they are not positioned right. Bass is much more present and authoritative, fast,dynamic, detailed and accurate!!!. I hear much more details and way better 3D sence! (Later in time I have tested Q950 with)
I used integrated stereo amplifier 2x60 @ 8ohms warm sounding with NAD DAC + warmish audiophile cabling for the test.
Thanks for sharing that
You said that you can add bookshelf speakers to the top of floor standing ones (as you have in the background). I have Kef LS50s and was thinking about getting the Q950s and putting the LS50s on top just to add some height and more clarity. Do you have any concerns with that?
It should fit on top. just check the measurements. the 950 is a bit speaker.
hello, I'm interested in buying a bronze 500 audio monitor. I have a marantz pm 7000n 60w amplifier per channel, do you think it's enough to enjoy the bronze 500 audio monitor to the fullest? what is the difference between a 100w amplifier per channel and a 60w amplifier per channel. is it louder or the same, thank you
I know you said preferably 125w per channel, but what’s your thought on either speaker paired with the Cambridge AXR 100?
I have not listened to that receiver. I had the CXA80 for a short time and did not care for the sound quality.
Hello!
I am looking to build a 5.1.2 system with a Denon X3700H ( if I can find one...)
Could you please tell me which one is better at low volume?
I leave in an apartment so I cant crank up the volume to much...
Thanks!
Is the Yamaha RN803D receiever a good pair with the KEFQ950. There is a deal on the KEFQ950 for 900€ for a pair at the moment
I have not listened to that receiver but more power is probably better to get the passive radiators moving on the Kef
@@OldtradesReviews i´m still a new in the audio world. I realy like the looks of the yamaha receiver. Is there a pair of boxes you would recomend or i should look into to suite the yamaha specs more? Budget for boxes is +/-1000€. Need an allrounder. I´m also looking for a good record player . Any advice is welcome
you gonna get upper medium sound quality . I had it
Love your Hulk statue
Thanks
where are klh kendall. u never did review.
If these were same price which would you pick?
Also what Receiver would you recommend to use for KEF Q950 ?
i saw kefs for 1200$ for the pair and considering buying them... but I only have yamaha rx-v-585... would I need new reciever? thx
Thats really cheap for the Kefs because 1 here is $1100. It depends on what kind of sound you want. And it would have to pair well with that receiver. Id look for something 125 watts x 2 and up.....Like a Marantz
I own the Q950's , I purchased these because of decent reviews.
This is not recommended ,always demo the speakers your interested in.Silly me.
The Q950's sound exactly how they look cold and metallic. They are unnaturally spikey in the middle treble range but actually seem to roll off the higher region of treble.
They are very fatiguing and the mids sound unnatural and definitely not warm.Bass is ok but again nothing great.
They do have a large sound stage but it's tin can sounding.
I guess everyone has figured out ,I don't recommend them.
You’re the only person on the planet I’ve heard this opinion from.
thank you for your review, then which speakers sound warm , soft and silky and not metallic according you?i'm curious, i'm looking for that sort of speaker..thank you...
Bronze!!!!
Bronze 500 is a shitty design due to 8" midrange. 6.5" midrange already has quite low break up FQ to cross with a tweeter. That is done on purpose to have more expensive 3 way silver with double 8" woofers, 4" mid (ideal size). If they made bronze 2,5way with 4-5" mid it would make silver too expensive fir what you get compared to bronze.