Tuesday 13 October 2009

monitor audio br5 speakers

"Not your usual lightweight kit," Ramblin' Jay stated when she heard that I was picking up a pair of floor standing speakers from some where else in Reading after depositing me at Sainbury's after our weekend trip out with the Backpackers Club.

And indeed they aren't. These slim built cherry wood finished speakers weigh 23kg a piece so you won't be seeing these stuffed in a rucksack. Although I wish that I could take the sheer sound quality that these pair manage. The Arcam/Monitor Audio pairing is a marriage made in audio heaven. Bi-amped, the speakers offer unrivalled definition, clarity and articulation of whatever genre of music the CD player wants to throw at them. And unlike the B&W stand mounts that they replace they aren't tiring on the ears. I've listened to them for hours at a go and enjoyed the closing bars of the last track as much as I did the opening ones of the first - with a huge grin on my face throughout.

This leaves me with a dilemma; do I use my spare time listening to music or getting out on the hills...

5 comments:

Dave Hollin said...

listen to music when you cant get out on the hills and then when you can get out. Get out! :)

baz carter said...

That's what I intend to do. Weekday evenings in audio execellence; weekends in the wild.

Dave Hollin said...

everyone's a winner!
btw, on a slightly related thread I bought an ipod nano recently. Its great kit for backpacking with apart from the fact it is so small its easy to lose out in the hills!

Marcus said...

Hi Baz,

Good buy indeed and very aesthetically pleasing too.

I bought a pair of Bronze Br2s a while back and now their broken in they have transformed my listening experience. Only problem now is my amp could probably do a bit better!

Dave, I use a Nano on the hills too as my Ipod is just a bit heavy. Its so light you don't even notice its there and the battery lasted for 5 days of normal use on the last trip, including a hammering on Vortex!

baz carter said...

I've never bothered with a MP3 when out walking - I prefer nature's sound track :)That said I did listen to Bob's podcasts whilst doing my after work urban training walks through the City.

Marcus, I'm lucky that bought an Arcam Alpha 8 amp to which I added an Alpha 8P. Old kit but with the speakers bi-amped they work a treat together.