Monitor Audio (UK) were formed in 1972, designing and manufacturing high quality loudspeaker systems in the Cambridge area.
These Silver S2's were released to the marketplace in 2001/2002 and had a price tag of US$750/pair - these Silver systems were aimed at the price conscious audiophile market.
These Silver S2's were one of the last to be manufactured in England by Monitor Audio, they moved their manufacturing operations offshore in 2004 - yes to China of course!
This loudspeaker system I am offering is truly all British designed and made, Gov!
Monitor Audio has not only great technical ability but a refreshing outlook on their products and their relationship with the customer, take a look at their website to see what I mean ...
https://www.monitoraudio.com/en/about-us/
HISTORY OF THESE LOUDSPEAKERS:
These loudspeakers were used in our previous audio post production facilities (mastering/editing and archival work) as near field monitors or general purpose monitoring and shared these duties with our Tannoy's and Yamaha NS10's
It was always important to ensure the client's finished product sounded great across a range of speaker systems, such as will be found in the "real world" - it is absolutely pointless producing a top class musical product that sounds odd on an "ordinary" sound system.
These S2's were used to simulate a "middle of the road" sound system - these were usually driven by an Alesis power amp..
We had them for around 20 years and when the business closed down they were put into "retirement" while I decided what I might do with them.
I have no business need for these any longer and my hearing is pretty crook these days so off they go to a new home which can appreciate their sound.
Professional review comments and my own personal experiences with these speakers are detailed further down in this description...
Monitor Audio (UK) Two Channel Loudspeaker System
Bookshelf format (medium size)
2 Way Bass Reflex design - rear ported
Model: Silver S2
Designed & Manufactured in England
Released 2001/2002
Rosemah colour (timber (not plastic!) veneer which looks like a Rosewood colour)
Clear satin timber top coat finish
Screw down/banana plug type connectors with strapping
Weight of each cabinet: 7.5Kg
Dimensions of each loudspeaker: 200mm wide x 270mm deep x 360mm height
Each cabinet contains:
1" dome tweeter
7" driver/woofer (yes, it is 7" not your usual 6")
Part numbers:
Tweeter: TS025 6 OHM P/O 2362
Driver: BS44-7P 4 OHM P/O 2254
Power handling is 100W per channel RMS
L-R-C Passive crossover network - Part # XS 2S3
PCB attached to the rear connectors, well built and using ALL soldered connections - no spade terminals at the crossover or the speakers.
Heavy duty interconnect wiring
Manufacturers Specifications:
Sensitivity 91dB
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Overall these loudspeakers are in very good cosmetic condition.
The Rosemah/Rosewood veneer is timber and bonded to the 3/4" MDF throughout the cabinet.
Base, sides and top are veneered but the rear is flat black.
Some signs of ageing to the satin protective finish on the veneer - I did consider sanding this down and resealing but it was a project I never got around to.
This is not to say they look "bad" - they don't, but with a little resealing they would go from a very good look to stunning!
No damage to any of the cones or dust covers
One speaker front grille (olive green material) has a very small hole - barely noticeable
Both grilles are clip lock and stay in place firmly when fitted
NO unsightly scratches or marks
There has been a slight change of colouring (due to sunlight in our previous studios) which means that the colouring is not even all around the cabinet. As mentioned above, add a little stain/oil to even up the colouring then reseal with a satin finish and you have a "like-new" pair of classic Monitor Audio speakers.
TESTING:
These had been sitting nice and quietly in my storage units since the business closed down (retirement) some time ago.
My floor standing Dali's have been off for upgraded tweeters so these S2's have been my listening source for the last two months prior to this advertisement.
I have been playing all of the music I list here on my website and although my hearing is not the greatest these days, I love these speakers. I think I am hearing detail that was lost with my Dali's, particularly while playing demanding free form jazz music.
I did not hear anything out of the ordinary with these and they give what I would call a nice "balanced" sound at low level (usually because of the neighbours) but when pushed hard, these speakers don't complain at all - it must be the C-CAM material used because with many "ordinary" cones, when the cone is moving rapidly in very complex patterns, the resulting sound can get very "muddled up" - these speakers don't do this.
That's my personal opinion but if you look around online there are lots of forums discussing these loudspeakers, here is a link to a professional review of the system back in 2002
https://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/907/index.html
My "listening room" is just that, my home office and it has no special acoustic treatment.
To really hear speakers such as these at their optimum performance, the room should be acoustically "treated" (heavy curtains/acoustic baffles if possible) otherwise you may have great speakers but the room will screw up the sound that is received by your ears through multi-path reflections and resonances.
These S2's should be placed on a surface or speaker stand that has them sitting at about eye level - so your ears are roughly level with the tweeters.
So there you have it, a nice looking piece of furniture that also sounds great and at a price that represents great "bang for the buck" - don't pay similar money for many of the loudspeakers at the retail stores, most are over-priced junk - truly.
I can ship these bookshelf speakers, packed safely for travel, with either Australia Post or a courier - my website can only provide pricing for Australia Post at the moment so if you desire to use a courier, please ask me for a courier based shipping quote. Often couriers are more competitively priced than Australia Post, although this depends upon where it is being shipped to.
