Chess:

I have the new updated Silver S6. The old ones Silver 6i or any model with the "i" or termed "Full Metal jacket" series had issues because they were still ironing out the bugs on the CAM drivers. The new models definitely are great. How do I describe the sound of the Silver S6? Well just imagine the M22 in a biger box with bigger drivers and getting all the frequencies down to 35 Hhz. When I am sitting with tweeter at ear level the M22s give great stage and depth. But I find I lose a bit of that standing up. The Silver S6 still keeps the stage and depth at a bigger sweet spot. The Silver S6 just seems to have a little more depth but not much. The M22 as mentioned by a lot of people are great little speakers. Remember we are comparing a $550 CDN speakers vs a $1250 CDN MA Silver S6. How many speakers can do that? What missing low level frequencies is th M22 the Silver S6 does have. When I listen to music I never use a sub. I like to hear the music the way it was meant to be heard (without any help from other devices). Two issues I noted though with the Silver line of products. First is the bass. It can be very unruly. In both the S6 or S8 the bass can get outta hand. I do not know if it has to do with the port. If they implemented a port design like the Axioms I think it might control the bass a little better. I am using port bungs today to control the bass. Maybe I am used to the British type sound (Dynaudio, Tannoy, PMC, Proac, Acoustic Energy) which is clean and clear (like the M22 Axioms) and lots oft lower mids bass heavy sounding (B&W, PSB, Bose, Paradigm Monitor & Active Series, JBL).
You also need higher power to make any of the Silver line sound better. Why? I don't know. Even my Rotel at 120W in 2 channel still doesn't sound the same when played with Bryston or Krells. When on those amps I seem to enjoy the speakers without the port bungs. Since I can not afford the other 2 I am opting for either the IRD or possibly the Outlaw. Even an article in UHF and Inner Ear and Stereophile has noted that for some reason it sounds better with tight high power amps. They even say it "sings" (thats relative though) like the big boys. And also the bigger the space the better the S6 will sound. The room in my new place that will house the speakers will be 16x12 by 17 feet high so I hope that is big enough for the S6. If you are planning to get any Monitor Audio and will be in a smaller room I suggest to only go for the GOLD Reference 10. For bigger rooms the Reference 20 or Silver line if you like bass.

Theses are the current speakers I am looking at for the future:

Bookshelf:
Dynaudio Contour 1.1
Proac Tablette 50 signature (if I can find em)
Revel Performa M20
PMC TB2
Monitor Audio GOLD Reference 20

Floorstanding:
Axiom M80
PMC FB1
Traingle Antal or Celius
Vandersteen 2C



http://www.quadloft.com/hometheater- new HT