Monitor Audio Bronze 100 review - first impressions

I remember hearing the Gold Series at my friend's home more than 15 years ago, and that first impression set off a journey which involved one set of Bronze, two sets of Silver and one set of Gold series.. 

The first set, the Bronze BR series is still working, and playing in a friend's home, still giving sterling service. Their main proposition, value for money.

Monitor Audio has been producing speakers which are very competitive for their price and their shift to a manufacturing base in China has helped to allow low prices with fine cabinets.

The immediate predecessor of the new Bronze series has been around for more than five years, a long time in the speaker world. But despite being long in the tooth, it has been selling well and was very well reviewed. So does the new series compare well?

It's the Covid times and many places are under lockdown. But I have managed to get a pair of the Bronze 100 and the Centre for a review. I must add that these are the pre-production models, and whilst the sound may be pretty much what you get, the cabinets and final sound may be tweaked further.

With that caveat, let's see what they can do.

The design is totally new and will be available in a variety of finishes:


• Bronze 50 – bookshelf 
• Bronze 100 – bookshelf
• Bronze 200 – floorstander
• Bronze 500 – floorstander
• Bronze C150 – centre speaker
• Bronze FX – rear speaker
• Bronze AMS – Dolby Atmos enabled speaker
• Bronze W10 – subwoofer

Finishes:

• Black – black vinyl and satin dark grey front baffle
• White – white vinyl and satin light grey front baffle
• Walnut – walnut wood vinyl and satin dark grey front baffle

• Urban Grey – grey wood vinyl and satin light grey front baffle

Unboxing the 100s and Centre, you notice the larger size and heft of the 100s, and comparatively you will notice the difference. 

The 100 is actually significantly larger than the older Bronze 2, with a more squat design and clean sharp corners. Most importantly, the port has been moved to the rear, so those who would like a front ported design are out of luck.

The typical metal tweeter (C CAM as they call it) is retained, but now sits in a shallow wave guide with a mesh cover. This distinctive tweeter cover is meant to make this speaker series instantly recognisable. 




You still get a grille and twin speaker posts. The 100 has an eight inch driver, up from the 6.5 inch driver. So it's actually more than a replacement for the older Bronze 2.The woofer cone has no dust cap and the new look is more radical but also more unique.

As for the cabinet, there is true quality, and you will be hard pressed to differentiate this from veneer. Fit and finish are good, even for a pre-production model. I like the Walnut version best.



Actual retail prices should be revealed in due course. 

So how does it sound?

Bear in mind, what I have is a pre-production model, courtesy of my local MA distro..

I used them with my Atacama HCM 2.1 stands which are half filled with Atabites. They are driven with a Marantz based setup which actually costs more than 10 times the price of these speakers, but they are my mid priced reference system. 

I used the NA 11S1 as a source, with the PM 11S3 and QED XT40 cables. 

I tried a variety of music, ranging from "Sunflower" a pop tune with good mid bass, "Budapest" with good bass and a deep male voice and finally "Spanish Harlem" by Manuel and the Music of the Mountains.

After running in for a few days, I sat down and had a listen. The initial impression was not as good whilst the drivers were being run in, so thankfully with the Covid shutdown, I could keep them longer and tried again in a week.

Now after that, I can say, I'm impressed. You get a nice mid bass, and genuine impact, a clear treble which does not roll off to make things polite and a good mid.

This means that you get the same kind of signature Monitor Audio sound, and they will partner well with a neutral to warm amp, and the Marantz setup works well with it. 

With the two pop hits, you get plenty of bass, with good PRAT, excellent separation of the beats and despite the poorer recording, it still sound good and for more budget buyers, this is a good place to begin your MA journey. They will make lossy and lossless music sound good, giving the music an honest sound.

With the orchestral piece, there is good depth in the soundstage. It's a bit more forward, but there is good definition and you can discern the individual instruments well. Not bad for a few hundred dollars. Do pull out the speakers from the wall to get a better bass definition.

With the current lockdown, it's difficult to say when will these speakers reach the market, but given my initial impression, I would say that it's worth waiting for.

There are few minuses, but it will be fair to say that these speakers perform well on good stands, and need some space behind them to breath properly. You will also want to avoid really bright amps or other partnering equipment. 

Footnote: 

As a comparison, I pitted them against the venerable Usher S520 which is a real pocket rocket. Those use a 1" silk dome and a 5" woofer. 

They are front ported and have a much smaller cabinet. These speakers have received excellent reviews over the years and are known to be giant killers.

The Ushers have a clean sound, more neutral, and a very good sound stage. There is real depth to the soundstage, and good separation. However, having smaller drivers, they do not go as deep, missing out on half to one octave of the lowest pieces I played. However for the three songs I choose, with two pop songs with a thump in the mid bass, they played surprising well and bear well in comparison. 


So the new Bronze 100 will give you more depth, a bigger bass and are not too expensive. Partnered with a nice stereo setup, or in a small home theatre system that incorporates a good sub, they will perform well. They can also be used in an all MA HT system too. 

I'm pretty excited about the whole range.. 
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 I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.