Monitor Audio R952MD was introduced at the Chicago CES in June 1987 and the top of this British manufacturer's range, the R952MD is a floorstanding loudspeaker, available in a number of real-wood veneers.
The '952 represents a growing design philosophy in the UK, in which considerable attention is paid to getting the drive-units to roll off naturally and smoothly out of their intended passbands.
As with the inexpensive loudspeakers produced by Acoustic Research for so many years, any crossover can then be very simple, and the current thinking in the UK is that the less complicated the crossover, the more transparent will be the sound.
Less will be more.
I must straight away admit that the Monitor Audio R952MD will not be for everybody.
Stereophile's correspondence column reveals that many listeners need that last octave of low-frequency extension sacrificed by the R952MD in favor of lower-midrange accuracy and sensitivity.
In addition, their tonal balance will not match well with typical "solid-state" sound, where the high frequencies tend to be over-etched.
But if, like me, you favor transparency and music over sheer quantity of sound, when used with neutral solid-state or tube amplification, these speakers can be highly recommended, even with their Transatlantic price premium.
One final thought strikes me.
As the R952MD's bass is well-damped and reasonably extended, this speaker should mate well with a subwoofer, crossed over around 50Hz to avoid adverse effects on the stereo imaging.
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