Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G feature image 2

Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G standmount loudspeaker review

This Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G bookshelf loudspeaker is the second model I’ve auditioned from the Essex-based loudspeaker specialist in the last few months. While I thoroughly enjoyed the company’s reimagined ‘studio monitor-quality at home’ Studio 89 bookshelf speaker with its modern MTM (mid-tweeter-mid) driver arrangement and slender front baffle when I reviewed it last year, the new Gold 100 6G is arguably a more interesting design.

Priced at £3,000 per pair, the 100 6G is an all-new bookshelf model joining the 6th iteration of Monitor Audio’s Gold series. Other models in the latest Gold series lineup include the 50 6G bookshelf speaker (£1,700), a 300 6G mid-sized floorstander (£4,000), plus a 500 6G flagship floorstander (£5,500). There’s also a C250 6G centre channel speaker and a pair of On-Wall 6G speakers for home cinema setups.

Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G feature image

Stealthy in gloss black, the Gold 100 6G are also available in Macassar wood veneer and Satin White

Golden years

As an all-new model in the latest Gold lineup, the 100 6G is the first three-way bookshelf speaker in the series since it originated in 1988. In fact, it’s the first three-way design in the company’s entire lineup of bookshelf speakers, and a milestone development in the company’s loudspeaker heritage.

Monitor Audio’s technical director, Michael Hedges, told me that introducing a second bookshelf model to the Gold series was a longstanding desire for the sixth generation. After all, the company’s Bronze and Silver ranges already include two bookshelf models each. But with the new Gold series, Monitor Audio wanted to make something special, “something with excellent bass performance and all the benefits of a three-way system, but in a more compact footprint,” Hedges says.

It’s not alone in its thinking. Several heritage hifi brands have also recently introduced classic three-way bookshelf designs, including Wharfedale with its Aura 2 (£3,000), JBL’s L100 Classic MkII (£4,000), and KEF’s R3 Meta Bookshelf (£1,900). As such, I wouldn’t mind betting that we’ll see more brands follow with three-way designs in 2025, introducing the sonic benefits of multiple drivers to modern hifi audiences.

Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G front and rear

The Gold 100 6G is a three-way driver configuration combining a 203mm C-CAM bass driver partnered to a 76mm C-CAM midrange driver and micro-pleated 32x36mm diaphragm tweeter array

Contemporary classic

You see, most of today’s bookshelf speakers are two-way designs, meaning that the frequency range is split between two drivers. But with three-way systems, each driver is designed to specifically handle high, mid, or low frequencies. It’s a challenging design development to get right, but typically means that a three-way speaker offers superior midrange accuracy and clarity around vocals and instruments over a two-way version (there are of course two-way speakers with more than two drivers, but you wouldn’t typically find these in standmount designs)

In hifi’s heyday, most speakers were configured this way. But after more than 20 years of reviewing loudspeakers, this is the first three-way bookshelf design I’ve tried at home, and it’s good to see the configuration making a comeback.

Monitor Audio says that the size of each driver in the Gold 100 6G has been carefully chosen for its specific frequency band. The crossover circuits between each have also been optimised to get just the right tonal balance and seamless integration between the drivers.

With three drivers to accommodate inside a bookshelf categorised cabinet, the Gold 100 6G is of stout proportions measuring 448 x 230 x 357mm (HxWxD). As such, the speaker categorisation (or any so-called bookshelf speaker for that matter) is a misnomer, and for optimum performance you’ll need to factor in placing the cabinets on good-quality speaker stands. My review pair didn’t come with stands supplied, but I’m told that the Gold 100 6G speakers are compatible with Monitor Audio’s ST-2 universal stands. They come in black or white finishes and cost £550 per pair.

The cabinets are constructed from thick MDF and use rear bolt-through technology for a seamless front baffle aesthetic. My review unit was undeniably well finished in high-gloss black – satin white and Macassar wood veneer finishes are also available at no extra cost.

At the back of the 100 6G, there’s a single high-velocity HiVe II bass reflex port tuned to 38Hz. There are also two pairs of high-quality 4mm speaker terminals to accommodate either bare wire, spade or banana connector (if you remove the plastic plugs) cable terminations. Removing the links between the high and low terminals also allows the speakers to be used in biwired or biamped setups.

Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G rear terminals

At the back there’s a single HiVe II bass reflex port tuned to 38Hz, as well as two sets of speaker terminals to facilitate biwiring or biamping setups

Precious metal

The midrange and bass C-CAM (ceramic-coated aluminium magnesium) drivers employ the company’s new hexagonal diaphragm technology (HDT), derived from its £70k Hyphen flagship floorstanders. The metal cone’s textural flourishes combined with MA’s signature dispersion pattern protecting the tweeter, and the beautifully machined frame around the mid and bass drivers, push the latest Gold series’s design beyond what I’d expect to see at the price.

These elegant front baffle details aren’t just for show. The MPD III (micro-pleated diaphragm) tweeter and 76mm midrange driver array are isolated from the 203mm bass driver in a steel ‘mid-pod’ enclosure for solid acoustic reasons. Interestingly, it’s placed higher up in the front baffle of the 100’s large cabinet, and breaks through the surface like a spine. Monitor Audio says that this ensures the output and voicing of the new 100 6G are consistently matched with other models in the Gold series. The Gold 500 6G floorstander has a similar design.

The 203mm bass driver of the 100 6G crosses over at just below 700Hz, and the midrange crosses to the tweeter at 2.6kHz. While I love seeing the speaker drivers on display, individual magnetic grilles are supplied to cover and protect the drivers should you prefer.

Performance

With the Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G speakers placed on a pair of Hi-Fi Racks stands, I was immediately struck by their open and insightful sound. The expansiveness of the soundstage is something I enjoyed about Monitor Audio’s Studio 89 design, and with the larger Gold 100 6G in place the soundstage is even bigger. That’s likely due to the combined effect of MA’s larger cabinet and midrange driver development, along with the clever dispersion grille over the MPD III tweeter.

Driven via my Musical Fidelity M6 500i integrated amplifier connected to a Cambridge Audio CXN100 network player, I was lucky enough to audition the speakers at home in December and through to the New Year. Music is playing through my hifi pretty much all the time in my household, and everyone who visited over the seasonal festivities commented on the MA’s big soundstage and clarity of their sound with all kinds of material including classical pieces and pop tracks from the 1980s .

Streaming tracks from my go-to playlist for my review, I realised that I was adding more and more hi-res content to the playlist as I listened. While my vinyl collection and CD-quality streams sounded good, I could clearly hear that I was getting more enjoyment from higher-quality recordings than I was used to, as Tidal’s hi-res tracks had more realism around vocal performances with these speakers in place.

Looking back at my Studio 89 review, I’d started with Beyoncé’s version of Blackbiird streamed via Tidal at 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC, and revisited the track with the Gold 100 6G speakers in situ. Of course, I no longer had the Studio 89 speakers at home, so I turned to my listening notes to jog my memory for comparison.

With the Gold 100 6G, there was definitely more realism and warmth in the vocal performance thanks to the dedicated midrange and tweeter array. The track sounded nuanced and expressive, with this speaker delivering the kind of insight and musical connection I’d expect to hear from considerably more upmarket designs. The song’s expansive soundstage was well ordered, with instrument placement that sounded authentic and stretched beyond the plane of the speakers.

Moving on to test the rhythm and bass elements of the Gold 100 6G’s performance, I added Let’s Groove by Earth Wind & Fire to the track queue. Musically, the track is described as a post-disco, pop and funk track. It has excellent production, and Tidal’s 24-bit/96kHz FLAC version manages to defy the track’s 1981 year of recording. The song includes synthesizers and keyboards along with live electric guitars, and it gave a fantastically toe-tapping performance on the Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G speakers with the volume level cranked up.

Bass levels were big with plenty of energy to drive the track along. But while the song was cruising and bass notes sounded tight with most tracks, there was a slight sense of dryness and bass roll off with others.

As a standmount design, the Gold 100 6G doesn’t dig as deep or hit the lowest notes quite as well as my favourite floorstanders. That’s hardly surprising given the standmount-sized cabinet, but there’s a notable roll off when playing Mark Ronson’s Don’t Leave Me Lonely (feat. Yebba), for example, that I missed. Nevertheless, that didn’t detract from an otherwise tremendously enjoyable performance and sonic spotlight on the track’s fantastic vocal performance.

In summary

As many modern speaker designs are getting smaller, I confess that I initially thought Monitor Audio’s larger Gold series ‘bookshelf’ design was something of a risk. But having spent time auditioning them at home with all kinds of material, I’m hooked.

The bigger design pays off to deliver one of the most enjoyable and insightful sounds I’ve heard in a long time. The handover between the three drivers is imperceptible, and although there were times when I missed a bit more bass depth, the midrange detail around vocals and instruments more than makes up for any feelings of being shortchanged.

These are easy to install speakers ideally suited to mid-sized rooms. Just remember that despite the bookshelf categorisation, you’ll need to factor in the additional cost of a pair of dedicated speaker stands.

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