10-17-24
I like to see what my competitors are doing. Let’s check out which speakers the guys across town are pushing.
Price Range, Roughly $4000 Per Pair
Ours
Bryston A2s, $4000 Per Pair
No, there’s no FAKE SALE PRICE. A2s are worth $4k.
*Made in Canada, 20 year warranty
*Two, 6.5” Pure Aluminum woofers
*Two 5.25” Pure Aluminum midrange drivers
*Two Titanium tweeters
Bryston runs doubles of drivers to provide a taller/deeper soundstage, handle more power,
and travel half the excursion for better detail at lower volume levels
*Power Handling 400w
*31Hz-20kHz +/- 3 dB, This is a measured spec that A2 achieves, not an advertisement
*63 Pounds: Cabinet doesn’t run parallel walls, it’s braced internally, horizontally and vertically.
Theirs
Monitor Audio Gold 200, Retail $6700 Per Pair
But hey, it’s your lucky day, they’re ON SALE for $4354.
Do you really think they’re $6700 speakers?! REALLY?
*Made in China, 5 year warranty
*Two 6” Sandwich woofers, woven fiber cones
*One 2.5” Sandwich midrange, ceramic/aluminum
*One AMT plastic tweeter
*Power Handling 200w
*35Hz-50kHz with NO REFERENCE, if tested +/- 3dB this isn’t close
*48 Pounds: Cabinet is rectangular and invites standing waves
Monitor Audio Gold 300, Retail $9500 Per Pair
But hey, it’s your lucky day again, they’re ON SALE for $6178.
Do you really think they’re $9500 speakers?! REALLY?
*Made in China, 5 year warranty
*Two 8” Sandwich woofers, woven fiber cones
*One 2.5” Sandwich midrange, ceramic/aluminum
*One AMT plastic tweeter
*Power Handling 250w
*30Hz-50kHz with NO REFERENCE, if tested +/- 3dB, this isn’t close.
Stereophile (10/19) measurements reveal Gold 300 is rated 90dB SPL efficiency, but it measured 87. That means it needs TWICE the power to drive it as their spec implies!
Hi-Fi News (10/24) measured tweeter DIFFERENCES, left to right, of 2.5dB. Mass production is NOT the friend of accuracy!
*67 Pounds: Cabinet is rectangular and invites standing waves
Please Consider
*Bryston is made in its own house in Canada with 20 year warranty
Monitor Audio is made in China with 5 year warranty
*Bryston positively WILL support repairs of its speakers for well over two decades.
The Chinese parts will be unavailable in ten years. You’re out of warranty in 5.
*Bryston runs contiguous, pure aluminum drivers. This minimizes flex/distortion.
Bryston doesn’t make sandwich drivers, of this glued to that.
Monitor Audio makes sandwich drivers. This, is glued to that. Almost everyone else does too!
*Bryston runs cabinets that don’t have parallel walls- to control bass tuning.
Bryston speakers go deep and are tuneful, not boxy.
Monitor Audio makes rectangular cabinets. Of course they’re easier/quicker to mass produce.
*Bryston runs doubles of all drivers.
You get a taller/deeper soundstage, better power handling and superior resolution
because you’re asking for half the excursion of a single driver at a given SPL.
Monitor Audio does run a pair of woofs, but not its other drivers. Their power handling is far below Bryston’s
*Bryston’s freq response is measured, not just claimed.
The Chinese don’t spec a plus/minus standard of reference. With them, this spec is just a claim from the advertising department.
PSEUDO SALE!
This… is the oldest trick in the book. All the Chinese built speakers play on our gullibility. They know we’re SUCKERS for a deal. They claim a bogus MSRP, that the speakers never sell for. Every time you shop, hey, it’s my lucky day, they’re ON SALE. Like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, it never ends.
Bryston doesn’t BS you. Please recognize that. The price is the price. They are not marked up only to throw you a knuckleball to take advantage of your naivety.
Further…
After the Monitor Audio splash, the speakers below were Sony, B&W, Definitive, Polk, SVS & Yamaha. They’re all running the same formula- made in China. And hey, it’s your lucky day, they’re all ON SALE.
There are only a couple of exceptions. The Klipsch Heritage Series is made in the US with no pricing games. The lower Ks are made in China, complete with pricing trickery. The top B&W 800 Series is made in the UK. The cheaper ones are made in China. What does it cost to get a B&W 6” 2-way made in England with 5 year warranty? $9500 Per Pair!