Following an initial announcement in February, Monitor Audio has officially launched the next generation of its renowned Bronze series of budget speakers.
The sixth generation of the line, called Bronze 6G, comprises eight models: two standmounters (Bronze 50 and Bronze 100) and two floorstanders (Bronze 200 and Bronze 500), with a centre speaker (Bronze C150), surround speaker (Bronze FX), Dolby Atmos speaker (Bronze AMS) and subwoofer (Bronze W10) rounding out the range for AV use.
Pricing for the range starts at £260 with the Bronze 50s, with full pricing below.
Monitor Audio says the range takes both performance and build quality further to make the best Bronze Series yet – an expected but nevertheless bold claim considering how successful the range has been.
Earlier generations of Bronze speakers have picked up many What Hi-Fi? Awards and five-star reviews over the years, with the three-time-award-winning Bronze 2 from 2015 even included in our list of the best 13 Monitor Audio products of all time.
Boldly (perhaps riskily), given that success, Monitor Audio has opted not to simply upgrade the existing Bronze models, but to design new speakers from the ground up.
Even the dimensions are new, with the new cabinets generally a little larger than the equivalents from the previous generation. The Bronze 100, the bigger of the two standmounters and arguably the core model in the range, is in fact dimensionally identical to the Silver 100, so a fair bit larger than the Bronze 2 it replaces. It features a larger driver, too – an 8in, single-piece C-CAM dome rather than the 6.5in unit of before. Monitor Audio is keen to point out that this isn't a cost-reduced Silver driver, but a custom, bespoke Bronze driver.
The entry-level Bronze 50 is bigger and more of a 'proper' stereo speaker than the outgoing Bronze 1, too, which was often thought of as more of a satellite speaker for surround systems.
The C-CAM gold dome tweeter also now features a uniform dispersion waveguide for greater dispersion of sound. It sits behind a new version of the honeycomb-speckled grille first seen on the Silver range. Monitor Audio is keen that its speakers be instantly recognisable, and it seems that this tweeter grille is key to that.
It certainly gives the new Bronze speakers a very smart appearance, particularly when combined with the clean lines, lack of a front-facing reflex port (it's now been moved to the rear), and new finishes, which consist of white, black, walnut and a very fetching 'urban grey'.
The new Atmos topper is an exciting addition. Surprisingly, it's the first speaker of its type that Monitor Audio has produced, and is designed to dimensionally match the 6in-driver speakers - so the Bronze 50 standmounter and Bronze 200 floorstander. It has its own, upward-firing 4.5in driver.
We briefly heard the new Bronze 100 as part of the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2020, our first impressions of which are documented in our Monitor Audio Bronze 100 hands-on review. We expect to have review samples very soon.
In the meantime, here's the full line-up and pricing:
Bronze 50 standmounter - £260
Bronze 100 standmounter - £325
Bronze 200 floorstander - £570
Bronze 500 floorstander - £770
Bronze C150 centre - £175
Bronze W10 subwoofer - £525
Bronze FX surround - £300
Bronze AMS Atmos topper - £300
The speakers will be available in black, white, urban grey and walnut finishes, save for the Bronze FX and AMS, which are limited to black or white colourways.
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