Monitor Audio has a well established reputation in the loudspeaker business and if its profile is not as high as it once was that's not for want of delivering consistently classy looking products to the market. The GS10 is the stereo standmount in the new Gold Signature flagship range, a selection of very smart looking two and multichannel-oriented designs that includes two floorstanders (GS20 and GS60) and all the elements you need to build a home cinema system. Gold Signature actually takes over from the Gold Reference and leaves one wondering what they'll opt for when the next range comes along - iGold anyone?
Significant features on the GS10 start with a cabinet that is described as being of 'traditional tongue and groove' construction, and while it's a well established furniture-making technique this is not actually traditional for loudspeakers, though it sounds like a good idea when combined with extensive bracing inside the box. The main driver is fixed by a zinc alloy clamping system which, when combined with the cast aluminium chassis, provides a degree of resonance damping.
The mid/bass driver itself has a dimpled aluminium cone, the shape of which has been refined with the use of finite element analysis (FEA) to achieve better break-up control and wider dynamic range. The dimples are designed to increase stiffness and minimise bending.
The gold anodised tweeter's dome is made of ceramic coated aluminium in order to increase its stiffness over conventional alloy domes. This is said to let it operate pistonically up to 25kHz and to offer useful output to 40kHz, making it a supertweeter by anyone's standards.
The real wood veneered cabinet is attractively devoid of grille mounting lugs thanks to the slots around the main driver that fulfil this function. Finishes available include rosewood, walnut, cherry and oak alongside piano black and silver gloss.
Sound quality
The first impression you get with this speaker is that the upper midrange and treble are rather prominent, which means that you can hear an awful lot of detail from instruments whose balances centre on this part of the spectrum. Instruments like the hi-hat cymbal and electric guitar always take pride of place in the presentation. Fortunately this is coupled with a very clean presentation that stops the sound from becoming too bright - so long as the partnering amplification and source are evenly balanced. It's not difficult to imagine the GS10s sounding aggressive with a less than smooth CD player or underpowered amplifier. But put something that's up to the job in front of them and they make a very convincing case for their take on tonal presentation.
One benefit of the balance is that the sound has a degree of immediacy that makes for gripping entertainment. It has been suggested that this speaker requires 500 hours of run-in before it comes on song. In the comparatively brief amount of time we had it, we couldn't check this out fully, but it's safe to assume that the GS10 will mellow with use - most speakers do.
Fortunately it's easy for the ear to accommodate tonal idiosyncrasies. This is how we are able to recognise voices in totally different environments, we can filter out the anomalies in response that external factors introduce. Which explains why I soon forgot about the balance and started to enjoy some great music with this speaker. Luckily for Monitor Audio perhaps, Classic Records' copy of Led Zeppelin III arrived on the same day and had to be played at appropriate volume. The speaker did not let this superb vinyl pressing down, revealing so much of what made Zeppelin the greatest rock band in the world (ever). It managed to carry off the same trick with other familiar albums as well, delivering a snappy sense of timing and decent bass power for the speaker's size.
There is a slight sense that the bass is not quite as nimble and articulate as the treble but there's no denying the impressive power handling of the speaker as a whole. Amplification inevitably affects the quality of bass and expensive power amps with plenty of grunt could extract an attractively tuneful result, more appropriately priced integrated amps on the other hand had more difficulty keeping things under control.
Speaker designers have to make a fairly fundamental choice with compact two-way designs like this. Do they go for as much bass extension as can sensibly be achieved without leaving the speaker undriveable or do they go for less extension and look for a customer who prioritises musicality over bandwidth. As such customers are in the minority MA has gone for bandwidth in the GS10 and achieves a balance of compromises that will work well with most types of music and with more powerful amps.
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This speaker does a lot of things very well, images escape the boxes with ease and there's a vivacity to the sound that makes for engaging listening. In the context of a decent amplifier and refined source it makes a very good case for itself.
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