Monitor Audio Studio 89 loudspeaker review

You won’t have missed that vintage loudspeaker designs are making a comeback as hifi heritage brands, including JBL and Wharfedale, revive selected popular classic loudspeakers with modern iterations.

Unlike many tribute designs though, Monitor Audio’s new Studio 89 standmount speaker ditches the 1980s’ styling of the original Studio series and reintroduces it with a contemporary design philosophy that has a lot in common with the company’s approach to its eye-catching £70k Hyphn flagship floorstanders. Despite a nod to luxe design that uses high-end materials and the latest driver tech, the new Studio 89 passive standmounts are a lot more attainable, starting at £2,000 per pair (minus stands).

For anyone unfamiliar, Monitor Audio’s original Studio series has special significance among the Essex-based loudspeaker maker’s heritage, and it’s great to see the ‘studio monitor-quality at home’ series return and bring the series up to date. As a fresh-faced hifi hobbyist back in the 1980s, I confess I was unfamiliar with MA’s original Studio speaker series back then. More recently though, I was lucky enough to get an early demo of the ‘one off’ Studio series reimagining that showcased in grey, black, and white satin finish options at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show in 2018, but this latest revival is the first time I’ve been lucky enough to audition the series at home.

The heritage series that looks even better today

From unboxing these meticulously packaged speakers to assembling their matching stands, everything about Monitor Audio’s Studio 89 speakers is impressive. I’m not easily swayed by a speaker’s looks — I’ve been living with a large pair of unassuming floorstanders in my listening room for several years — but the new Studio’s proportions are eye-catching and the sophisticated drivers and finish makes the Studio 89 speakers look more fitting in my listening room than I’d anticipated.

Even though the matching Studio 89 stands seem costly at £500 per pair, they’re exceptionally well crafted, easy to assemble, and come with interchangeable carpet spikes and rubberised feet to protect stone or wooden floors. There’s even a useful cable tidy at the back of the stand’s central support column. When in use the speakers can be secured to the stand’s top plate via four security screws that also help give the ensemble greater stability.

The new Studio 89 version has the same intriguing cabinet and driver arrangement as its 2018 ancestor. It doesn’t look like anything else in the company’s extensive loudspeaker range, and also like its predecessor, the Studio 89 exists as a stereo standmount speaker pair only. There are no multi-channel Studio models or smart home integration options.

The speaker’s compact proportions include an 18mm-thick front baffle and rigid 15mm side walls. At the back, there are identical twin high-velocity HiVe II slotted bass reflex ports said to allow airflow to funnel with low turbulence and air noise via the slots at the top and bottom of the cabinet. There’s also a single pair of high-quality speaker terminals.

I love the slender front baffle with an MTM (mid-tweeter-mid) driver arrangement that mixes twin 108mm (4¼-inch) RDT (rigid-diaphragm technology) III C-CAM metal mid/bass drivers either side of an MPD III (micro-pleated diaphragm) with a luxe, high-gloss black cabinet. In fact, it’s the high-gloss finish that’s key to the Studio 89’s heritage, and Monitor Audio says the Studio 89 is so-called because it echoes the finish applied to the classic Studio 15 launched in 1989 — a glossy two-way standmount with anodised gold-coloured drivers.

Some may be disappointed by the black-only cabinet finish with gold-coloured drivers (although in my listening room, the drivers look more copper-coloured), but I’d wager that the Studio 89 will look great in any surrounding.

Performance

Given the smaller dimension of the Studio 89 compared to my regular speakers, swapping out my Dynaudio Excite X38 floorstanders and listening to MA’s Studio 89 standmount for the first time wasn’t nearly as big a sonic adjustment as I’d imagined. In fact, installing the standmount speakers in my home system driven by a Musical Fidelity M6 500i integrated amplifier connected to a Cambridge Audio CXN100 network player made me wish I’d had the opportunity to experience some of MA’s early Studio models.

The Studio 89 has a high-fidelity sound and scale that’s bigger than its compact dimensions might suggest. In fact, I was immediately struck by the expansiveness of the soundstage from my rudimentary placement of the speakers on their stands in my listening room. Admittedly, I’ve tested dozens of speakers over the years so I know what placement works best in my unconventionally-shaped room at my regular listening position, but the Studio 89s are one of the least fussy speakers I’ve encountered in terms of placement. In some ways, the Studio 89 standmount performed better in my setup than my regular floorstanders. Let me explain…

Although I always look to position the speakers to sound their best in the main listening area, I’m not necessarily the kind of music listener that sits transfixed in one particular spot. I acknowledge that there’s often an optimum listening position and speaker placement to achieve the best stereo imaging and sound, but I’m a fidgety listener who likes to move around the room, particularly if I feel a musical connection. As such, I appreciate a sound that’s just as captivating at the back of the room or off to the side, as when sitting in the ‘sweet spot’ on the sofa.

This is where Monitor Audio’s Studio 89 standmounts excel. Although there are benefits from tinkering with their placement, they have a lovely sense of stereo soundstage even when plonked awkwardly in the room.

Beyoncé’s Blackbiird streamed via Tidal in 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC has a wide soundstage that gives individual elements placed in the left and right speakers an enormous sense of openness. Everything feels nicely arranged, and the Studio 89s give one of the most immersive experiences I’ve heard from a pair of standmount speakers.

Beyoncé’s silky smooth vocal is firmly anchored to the centre of the soundstage, and the harmonies sound lush and soulful. The track sounds a lot richer and warmer than I anticipated from a mid-sized standmount, and although some high frequency details are less pronounced on tracks like Tinseltown by The Blue Nile (16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC via Tidal) than I am used to hearing on speakers with a more assertive sound, there’s a great sense of insight without any one thing being put in the spotlight.

The handover between the main drivers and MPD tweeter is imperceptible, showing that Monitor Audio has done an exceptional job of developing a balanced cabinet design that works in perfect harmony with the drive units and crossover.

Bass frequencies go impressively low to showcase Geoff Castellucci’s unfeasibly deep vocal range on The Sound of Silence (16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC via Tidal). The track has all the presence and gravitas that I’d expect to hear from my regular floorstanders, and although there’s no sign of complaint you can see the Studio 89 is working hard as the main drivers visibly pulsate to generate the track’s lowest notes.

With tracks like Let’s Go by Deadmau5 streamed at 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC via Tidal, the MAs showcase a good grasp of rhythm as the track hangs together with expert timing and speed. If I’m being super critical, there’s perhaps a lack of the get up and go that comes from more assertive-sounding speakers that have a bit more punch, but the Studio 89 doesn’t ever feel lacking.

In summary

In reviving the Studio series, Monitor Audio has delivered a carefully considered studio monitor-quality standmount speaker for the home with the power to entertain. The Studio 89 shows the company’s commitment to refining and finessing its designs with a triumphant design that’s confident and sounds utterly compelling with all kinds of material, and achieves an astonishingly strong and immersive soundstage even in non-uniform listening room layouts.