For a while now I've been swooning over Monitor Audio's Silver RS range of speakers and of course I've seen your reviews of these and other MA speakers. I visited our local dealer yesterday to order a pair of RS6's and an RSLCR centre channel. Prior to the visit I'd struggled with which timber finish to go for, walnut or rosenut? Turns out MA's Aussie distributors have made the decision for me by only importing black, walnut and cherry. So, walnut it is.
The problem is that I wasnt sure what I was looking at in the store and prior to checking thought I was indeed looking at the Rosenut. The RSLCR was clearly walnut, dark, chocolately colour, strong grain etc etc. The RS8's they had in store however - also supposedly walnut were MUCH redder, with a more linear grain, less whorls and a much smoother finish.
I have to take my hat off to Sunnybank HiFi as although it was clear that there was a major variation between these speakers, they checked their order, checked what finishes were available on system from the distributor and eventually trawled out the boxes, confirming that at least all of the speakers were according to what they ordered in and what was labelled on the box, walnut.
They also had a pair of RS1's also supposedly in Walnut which were close but not idential to the RS8's and again WAY different to the RSLCR.
Now I understand that these speakers are a timber veneer and therefore some variation in colour and finish is to be expected though i have to point out that all of the full packages advertised by MA and featured in your magazine all appear to match perfectly.
My questions are thus then, have you encountered these kinds of wide variations in finish in the packages of speakers provided for review and if so, how much of a varitaion is acceptable? And to be clear, I'm not singling MA out here as the RS6's are awesome and I have ordered them regardless but as a general guide for all speakers made with timber veneer etc, what should we expect or what is reasonable? And what experiences have others had?
The problem is that I wasnt sure what I was looking at in the store and prior to checking thought I was indeed looking at the Rosenut. The RSLCR was clearly walnut, dark, chocolately colour, strong grain etc etc. The RS8's they had in store however - also supposedly walnut were MUCH redder, with a more linear grain, less whorls and a much smoother finish.
I have to take my hat off to Sunnybank HiFi as although it was clear that there was a major variation between these speakers, they checked their order, checked what finishes were available on system from the distributor and eventually trawled out the boxes, confirming that at least all of the speakers were according to what they ordered in and what was labelled on the box, walnut.
They also had a pair of RS1's also supposedly in Walnut which were close but not idential to the RS8's and again WAY different to the RSLCR.
Now I understand that these speakers are a timber veneer and therefore some variation in colour and finish is to be expected though i have to point out that all of the full packages advertised by MA and featured in your magazine all appear to match perfectly.
My questions are thus then, have you encountered these kinds of wide variations in finish in the packages of speakers provided for review and if so, how much of a varitaion is acceptable? And to be clear, I'm not singling MA out here as the RS6's are awesome and I have ordered them regardless but as a general guide for all speakers made with timber veneer etc, what should we expect or what is reasonable? And what experiences have others had?
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram