Monitor Audio - Radius 45 Cubes

[raghupb]

The pups have landed finally. Was on the lookout for discreet speakers for the 5.1 setup.
This Christmas during sale in UK, was able to pick up 2 pairs of these for GBP 200 (GBP 99 per pair).
Winter birds got them to India.



Model: Monitor Audio Radius 45
Specs are here: https://www.monitoraudio.com/en/product-ranges/radius/radius-45/
They are tiny speakers; 4 inch cubes with a rear facing tweeter!!
Hooked them up into my main rig and gave them a spin.
They sound big for their size (of course lacking bass; spec'd at 120Hz and up).

Will hook them up into AVR, IA, pre+pwr; play around and post impressions later.
Waiting for some cables and banana plugs to arrive this week.
I have a lot of playtime ahead of me

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[jr83]

Congratulations! Those look so good!

I opted for the Cambridge Audio Minx Min 12 satellites for my surround and Atmos speakers. They're BMR based single driver speakers, and are the same spec 120hz and above. I'd love to know how the rear facing tweeter works in these.

 

[liverpool_for_life]

The pups have landed finally. Was on the lookout for discreet speakers for the 5.1 setup.
This Christmas during sale in UK, was able to pick up 2 pairs of these for GBP 200 (GBP 99 per pair).

Sweet deal. Enjoy!

 

[Deleted member 38504]

Congratulations they look very nice indeed!

 

[john mathew]

Congrats Reghu.
How did you purchase them. Directly or through any online site.
If through online please give the site and seller willing to ship to India. I tried to purchase some stuff from Amazon.uk but sellers are not ready to ship to India.
John

 

[raghupb]

Congrats Reghu.
How did you purchase them. Directly or through any online site.
If through online please give the site and seller willing to ship to India. I tried to purchase some stuff from Amazon.uk but sellers are not ready to ship to India.
John

A cousin of mine from UK procured these for me.
They are tiny enough to carry on flight. So told him to do so.
Most UK/US vendors don't ship such items out of their respective countries.
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[john mathew]

OK. Thanks for The info.

 

[elangoas]

This Christmas during sale in UK, was able to pick up 2 pairs of these for GBP 200 (GBP 99 per pair).

Thats a killer price for 2 pairs.. Planning to use these for surrounds and ?..

 

[raghupb]

Thats a killer price for 2 pairs.. Planning to use these for surrounds and ?..

Got lucky!! Was on the lookout for a while now (almost 2 years).
US pricing was ridiculous (it still is) USD 375 per pair. UK pricing had never dipped below GBP 200 until now.
During the sale I bit the bullet and told my cousin to order one pair at GBP 150 (25% off).
https://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/ is the store/dealer
A few days later the same thing was listed at GBP 100 (50% off).
So my cousin called and asked them what's the deal. The politely said they'll refund GBP 50.
This prompted me to grab another pair.

As for usage, I am still not clear what to do with them.
I have a NR1605 AVR (non-ATMOS) but 7.1
Currently my config is a melting pot or mish-mash. (https://www.hifivision.com/threads/showcase-your-audio-video-setup-here.1167/post-807931)

Will try these combos:

• AVR driven 5.1 (4 MAs + B&W center + sub) - most likely config
• Add one pair as surrounds to existing 3.1 allowing second pair as zone 2 (to my boy's bedroom or as kitchen speakers)

Both will require extra cabling; I have Finolex electrical wire; need to see how messy it will get.
Not in a hurry as of now.

Edit: Today I found out, MA has stylized wall/ceiling mounts for these
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[elangoas]

Got lucky!! Was on the lookout for a while now (almost 2 years).
US pricing was ridiculous (it still is) USD 375 per pair. UK pricing had never dipped below GBP 200 until now.
During the sale I bit the bullet and told my cousin to order one pair at GBP 150 (25% off).
https://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/ is the store/dealer
A few days later the same thing was listed at GBP 100 (50% off).
So my cousin called and asked them what's the deal. The politely said they'll refund GBP 50.
This prompted me to grab another pair.

That's a great gesture by the dealer.. We can only dream of such things happen in India..

Edit: Today I found out, MA has stylized wall/ceiling mounts for these

MX has camera TV mounts for abt Rs 500 a pair (or) less.. Check if they fit MA 45..

 

[raghupb]

That's a great gesture by the dealer.. We can only dream of such things happen in India..



MX has camera TV mounts for abt Rs 500 a pair (or) less.. Check if they fit MA 45..

Just like in the US, I learnt that there is 30-day price protection in UK too.
If the same dealer or any competitive site/vendor has a published and verified price drop, they will refund the extra amount or give store credit.

Thanks for the tip on MX camera mount. Will check it out.
Have pinged a fellow FM for satellite stands on sale too.
Let's see how it goes.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[raghupb]

Experimentation continues ...

Rewired the cubes to the AVR. Set up only one pair for now.
Surrounds will have to wait for later; need to make (braid) lengthy speaker wire.
It is a 3.1 config fully powered by AVR (Marantz NR1605)
L/R is MA Radius, Center is an old B&W, Sub is an old Onkyo.
In the pic below, big boys on stands are the stereo rig



Ran Audessey. Results were hard to comprehend.
Movie soundtrack was all muffled. Tried 2.1 music; sounded bad.
So sat and tuned by ear. The settings were quite opposite of what Audessey gave.
Either my hearing is bad (very possible) or I don't know how to run Audessey

Item/Parameter	Audessey	My Ears/My Setting	Comments
Front	Small	Large	Agree to disagree
Center	Small	Large	Agree to disagree
Sub	Yes	Yes	Agree
Front L Distance	9.0 ft	9.0 ft	In the ballpark
Front R Distance	8.8 ft	9.0 ft	In the ballpark
Center Distance	8.9 ft	8.0 ft	In the ballpark
Sub Distance	12.3 ft	12.0 ft	In the ballpark
Front L Level	-2.5 dB	+12dB	What happened here
Front R Level	-2.5 dB	+12dB	What happened here
Center Level	-4.5 dB	+6 dB	What happened here
Sub Level	-11.5 dB	+6 dB	What happened here
Front X-over	250 Hz	150 Hz	30 above what MA can do
Center X-over	40 Hz	80 Hz	20 above what B&W can do
Sub Mode	LFE+Main	LFE+Main
LPF for LFE	200 Hz	200 Hz

With my settings (can't really call them tweaks), movie sound is passable; work in progress .
Music content is sounding sweet; volume is between 20-30 (depending on recording sample)

Intermediate verdict (based on 2.1 mode in "stereo" option)
I had tried only 2 cubes in my stereo setup as described in the first post of thread; they were lean as expected.
Monitor Audio mids and highs are pretty impressive with sub lending low end heft.
There is a bit of high end treble tingle that needs taming (maybe the Graphic EQ from Audessey is hyping it).
Till date (almost 5 years) I was never convinced about the AVR's music capability.
I think the AVR and MA cubes (with a sub) are a good match; it was proven today.
Next week, will hookup surrounds (2nd pair) to complete 5.1, tinker around more and post impressions.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[elangoas]

Ran Audessey. Results were hard to comprehend.
Movie soundtrack was all muffled. Tried 2.1 music; sounded bad.
So sat and tuned by ear. The settings were quite opposite of what Audessey gave.
Either my hearing is bad (very possible) or I don't know how to run Audessey

There seems to be huge variance between Audyssey Vs Manual settings w.r.t speaker levels.. If the speakers distance are correct, then the speaker level too would mostly be right.. To me, the speakers are below ear level.. This could be one of the reasons for very high high spk levels settings (manually)..

Have you tried keeping the L/R over your existing BS and checked how it is..

What other Audyssey presets are enabled on the AVR menu ? Reference / Flat ? Dynamic EQ = ?, Dynamic Vol = ?..

 

[raghupb]

There seems to be huge variance between Audyssey Vs Manual settings w.r.t speaker levels.. If the speakers distance are correct, then the speaker level too would mostly be right.. To me, the speakers are below ear level.. This could be one of the reasons for very high high spk levels settings (manually)..

Have you tried keeping the L/R over your existing BS and checked how it is..

What other Audyssey presets are enabled on the AVR menu ? Reference / Flat ? Dynamic EQ = ?, Dynamic Vol = ?..

Yes this is not the most optimal placement for listening. I tried it based on aesthetics.
Other Audessey parameters are left at calibrated levels.

The other issue I have is that the sub cannot be placed anywhere else (for now).
Sub has to be in the corner and angled at 45 deg due to twin firing.
Will try rearranging after the surrounds are hooked up and try again.
Over the next few days the setup is going to be used to evaluate 2.1 performance.
More of a music listener and I have a good" reference system to compare with.

My hearing is bad; this is a fact. Will get wife and son to evaluate over the next few weeks.
Boy has finals, so limited time to experiment.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[elangoas]

Yes this is not the most optimal placement for listening. I tried it based on aesthetics.
Other Audessey parameters are left at calibrated levels.

Missed an other point.. It is said not to lower the L/R x over than what Audyssey has detected during the calibration.. 250Hz seems low for the speakers, when the manufacturer like MA suggests 120Hz.. Something not right, could be because the speakers were not at ear level..

The other issue I have is that the sub cannot be placed anywhere else (for now).
Sub has to be in the corner and angled at 45 deg due to twin firing.

Ok.. understand the space limitations.. Have you thought of putting the sub behind the TV on the TV table (if you have space)?.. So this way the sub is hidden and in the middle of the room which would be better than the existing position..

 

[raghupb]

Missed an other point.. It is said not to lower the L/R x over than what Audyssey has detected during the calibration.. 250Hz seems low for the speakers, when the manufacturer like MA suggests 120Hz.. Something not right, could be because the speakers were not at ear level..

Ok.. understand the space limitations.. Have you thought of putting the sub behind the TV on the TV table (if you have space)?.. So this way the sub is hidden and in the middle of the room which would be better than the existing position..

Possible that measurements went wonky because of height of L/R.
Also the center is a back ported unit.

Sub on TV table!! Will bring the TV to the edge of table.
Scary because the panel is size zero and it shakes at slightest touch.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[elangoas]

Some thoughts..

Possible that measurements went wonky because of height of L/R.
Also the center is a back ported unit.

- You have 2 pairs of MA 45.. You have an opportunity to make identical L-C-R, nicely spread out for a better (movie) experience..

Sub on TV table!! Will bring the TV to the edge of table. Scary because the panel is size zero and it shakes at slightest touch.

- If you can bring up the TV table by 6 - 7 inches from the wall, guess it would make sufficient space behind the TV to place the subwoofer and they don't touch each other.. Subwoofer can lean to wall and the TV stand can take the (partial) weight.. Not knowing where the subwoofer is really cool experience ..

 

[raghupb]

Some thoughts..

• You have 2 pairs of MA 45.. You have an opportunity to make identical L-C-R, nicely spread out for a better (movie) experience..
• If you can bring up the TV table by 6 - 7 inches from the wall, guess it would make sufficient space behind the TV to place the subwoofer and they don't touch each other.. Subwoofer can lean to wall and the TV stand can take the (partial) weight.. Not knowing where the subwoofer is really cool experience ..

I plan to use the 2nd pair of MA as surrounds. B&W is MTM and definitely lends "wazan" to voice.
Guess it will take at least 5-6 more placement tweaks to get things going.
Playtime!! And it is fun to drive family members up the wall
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[raghupb]

Ran Audessey again after placing L/R cubes above standmounts.
42 in height and 7 feet separation. Also brought the sub a bit forward and angled it differently.
Distances were accurate. Similar levels on calibration -3/-4/-3/-10 dB (L/C/R/Sub).
Movie/TV sounds better now. Music thru TV-Chromecast was also passable.
Tried 6 variations in sub orientation (different firing angles).
One or two sounded coherent. For now picked the best sounding.
More in a week's time. Will try subwoofer crawl also.
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[raghupb]

After a long time I decided to listen to music on the AVR setup.
This curiosity was sparked due to some queries/responses on another FM's thread about satellites for mains.
Chain:
CC-Audio --> AVR (Opt) --> MA Radius 45 L/R + Onkyo Sub
I think I have the calibration (plus tweaks) nailed down, as best as I could, for the listening space.

Must say the guys at MA have done some serious engineering to cram 120Hz and above into a 4" inch cube.
The bass reinforcement is decent with sub (for music a better sub will shine; mine is an old one)
Mids and vocals are surprisingly warm given the diminutive profile of the cubes.
There is still a bit of edginess on the high end that can be smoothened out.
I guess it has something to do with the placement of the speakers.
MA recommends it to be about 6-9 inches off the back wall (using their custom mount).
Something about the back facing tweeter and reflections to create a wider and mellow soundstage.
Got to try this; currently they are sitting on top of the main speakers about 3 feet away from the wall.

For those exploring to downsize their HT setup without a downgrade/degrade in SQ, these pups will work.
A good center and a decent sub (+integration) will allow for discreet deployment of mains/surrounds/heights.
They will definitely win in the WAF department (can personally vouch for this).

Cheers,
Raghu