HOME CINEMA CHOICE SEPTEMBER 2019
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46 REVIEWS
premium Platinum II lineup. Subtly modifi ed for the Gold
300, the brace of 8in Rigid Diaphragm Technology (RDT II)
bass drivers are wired in series, and work in conjunction
with the two airfl ow-smoothing, rear-facing HiVe II bass
refl ex ports, a partnership that helps the Gold 300 go
seriously deep (down to a claimed 30Hz at -6dB), and
is said additionally to benefi t both bass tautness and
transient response.
Dedicated to the midrange is a smaller (2.5in)
C-CAM driver that’s fast and responsive enough to team
seamlessly with MA's Micro Pleated Diaphragm (MPD)
ribbon-style tweeter. Again lifted from the Platinum II series
(step down to the company's Silver products and more
traditional dome tweeters are used), this is claimed to
have a 50kHz (-6dB) frequency ceiling and, because
it doesn’t suff er the kind of audible range break-up that
affl icts dome tweeters, aims to marry smoothness and
attack in a more convincing fashion.
The Gold 300 blends its high-spec drivers with a
sumptuous, classic design (available in Dark Walnut, Satin
White, Piano Ebony and the Piano Gloss Black fi nish seen
here). But what you can’t see is MA’s single-bolt-through
tech, which eff ectively locks together the main drivers and
the rear of the cabinet for increased bracing strength and
rigidity and, at the same time, decouple the drivers from the
front baffl e. With the anodised metal outrigger feet bolted
on, the speakers feel wonderfully solid, too.
Centre of excellence
It never does to underestimate the amount of heavy lifting
the centre speaker has to cope with in any home cinema
system, so it’s reassuring to see that Monitor Audio
hasn’t gone all demure and dainty for aesthetic kudos
with the Gold C250. While far from a behemoth, it is sturdy
and weighty enough for the task, and packs in two 6.5in
RDT II bass drivers fl anking the same combination of
2.5in C-CAM midrange and MPD tweeter found in the
Gold 300 fl oorstander.
Deeper bass duties fall to the Gold W12 subwoofer
which, with its front-fi ring 12in long-throw driver, pair of
8in (side-mounted) passive radiators and 600W Class D
Hypex power plant, should have the minerals to hit low
and hard – all the way down to a carpet-warping 20Hz,
suggests MA.
Finally, the Gold FX speakers aren’t just dedicated
surrounds but can switch between bi- and dipole operation
at the fl ick of a switch. On the two angled baffl es are a 4in
C-CAM midbass and MPD tweeter. The speaker looks neat,
and thanks to the recessed binding posts, fl ush wall-
mounting is an option. Neater still.
Almost time for some seismic Hollywood action, but
fi rst the subwoofer throws up user interaction, with some
level of complexity. A supplied microphone plugs into the
front-panel to initiate automatic room correction; much
deeper tweaking ('an abundance of features and
adjustments it just wouldn’t be possible to have all on
the subwoofer itself') is possible via MA's SubConnect
‘Bumblebee's crunching
chaos and body slams send
shockwaves juddering and
rippling through the room'