Monitor Audio Studio 15
This review was published in 1991 when Monitor Audio was under the ownership of the flamboyant, Mercedes driving, Rolex-wearing Mo Iqbal and not today’s owners. The review also demonstrates the very different writing style one could employ back then.
Monitor Audio has built its reputation on turning out reliable, value for money, well finished, workmanlike loudspeakers. Recently the company decided to attack the high end: first with the well-received Studio 10, a £1000 two-way small box design, and now with the Studio 15, a £1500 (with 5 pence change), two-way design in a slightly bigger box. There’s also the Studio 20 which is part of the same family but comes in a bigger box still, with a commensurately larger price tag, £2000. Mathematicians will have perhaps noticed the correlation twixt model numbers and their cost!
The Monitor Audio Studio 15
The Studio 15 measures a modest 51 x 20 x 25.5 cm (H x W x D) in its all-Medite enclosure, which is finished in lacquer black, and reflex ported at the rear. The finish is well executed but rather utilitarian for a speaker at this price: I’m sure that many potential customers would welcome the option of one of MA’s selection of often exquisite real-wood veneers.
The drive units in the ’15 are both of the metal variety; a 26mm gold anodised alloy dome tweeter, and a 165mm ceramic sandwich aluminium alloy coned bass/midrange unit. Monitor Audio’s claims for this driver include “mid range clarity (finest available anywhere), power attack, and smoothness”. The company is equally modest in its description of the tweeter: “now accepted as the best example of a high frequency unit available anywhere in the world”.
The two drivers are wedded by a simple, hard-wired six element crossover network; all internal wiring uses MA’s own stranded cable and is soldered throughout. While inspecting the inside of the cabinet I noted that both sound deadening panels were affixed to the enclosure walls, and a reasonable amount of acoustic wadding had been used to soak up unwanted rear radiation from the drivers. Overall construction was to a very high standard indeed, right down to the gold-plated 4mm binding posts (two pairs thereof for bi-wiring).
With a speaker at this price only the best partnering equipment will suffice: the Studio 15 might look unexceptional but it costs more than the Naim SBL, and nearly as much as the Quad Electrostatic. Serious wad! I used an LP12, ARO, Ortofon MC5000 for records, Arcam Delta CD170 transport and Black Box 2 for CD, with Naim NAC52/NAP250 amplification.
Monitor Audio’s own stands were not supplied with the review speakers so I tried a similar design from Pirate, the amazingly heavy K4, to begin with. I wasn’t happy with the results – the bass was far too slow and ill-defined – so I changed these for Epos ES11 open frame stands which wrought some improvement and seemed better suited to the Studio 15. I had the speakers positioned about a metre clear of the rear wall and toed in slightly towards the listening position.
First into the CD player was – predictably – Mary Black’s No Frontiers. I find this disc to be invaluable for reviewing with its mix of female vocal, acoustic bass, piano, guitar and drums. The disc is an exemplar of finely recorded brilliant musicianship: the songs are near perfect, and Black’s voice is simply divine. The Studio 15 didn’t seem to have a tight enough grip on the bass: leading edges to notes were softened and the notes had an unnatural bloom which rendered the instrument’s sound rather slurred. Neither was pitch on the lowest notes resolved to my satisfaction.
Rhythmically things didn’t appear to happen with any feeling of deliberateness; overall the band’s playing sounded a little too relaxed. Black’s voice was less intimately conveyed than I expect it to be, there being a sense that she was somewhat removed from the listener. Willy De Ville’s deliciously slow Spanish Jack sounded lacklustre and failed to excite me. The presentation seemed veiled and lacking immediacy, lending it a lethargic air. Instruments lacked bite and the expressive qualities of his voice were diminished. It was like watching the performance through a slightly misty window.
Contemporary classical music was represented by a piece I’d heard performed live a couple of nights before the review: Dave Heath’s The Frontier played by the LCO. The Studio 15′s vaunted smoothness didn’t help it to convey the angularity and jarring contrasts in this exciting composition. It also failed to give a consistent insight into what the sections of the orchestra were doing, there being some loss of transparency during ensemble playing.
Even the crystal-clear Technics’ recording of Panufnik’s Bassoon Concerto seemed muted and less informative than usual. The breathiness of the solo instrument seemed reduced, dynamic contrasts appeared to have been smoothed over, reducing their impact upon the listener. As with other selections I played there was less drama than usual, or to use a more pretentious art-world term, chiaroscuro.
I know I’ve painted a dismal picture of the Studio 15. I can only say that it is because it did not impress or excite me sufficiently. At £1500 a product needs to offer something special: competing models like the Naim SBL, Celestion 700, Quad ESL-63, and Roksan Darius, all have distinct qualities – like them or not – which make them stand out from the crowd. The Studio 15 did nothing special for me. It presented a musical face that was just too anonymous. In my view it lacked that essential spark of character that brings music to life.
