To Hans Wetzel,
I just want to know what you think about pairing Monitor Audio’s Silver 8 [speakers] and Hegel Music Systems’ H160 [integrated amplifier]? Would it sound too bright when playing rock and metal? The speakers I use today are way too bright with the H160.
Thanks and have a nice day,
Daniel Johansson
Sweden
Having previously owned Monitor’s Silver 10, which is larger but I believe uses an identical tweeter to the Silver 8, I feel confident in saying that I don’t believe the Monitor/Hegel combination will sound bright through the treble. Unlike the company’s less-expensive Bronze line, whose tweeter is a touch edgier and sharper in its delivery, the Silver tweeter is both highly resolving and quite smooth. I partnered my Silver 10s with the larger Hegel H360 DAC-integrated amp and never felt that the pairing’s high-frequency performance was too strident or harsh. Our own Philip Beaudette, who reviewed the smaller Silver 6 a couple years back, described the tweeter as sounding “crisp,” but took pains to explain more by also stating, “using a word like crisp to describe a speaker’s sound might seem to imply that that sound was bright. The S6 was not bright.” In sum, I think a pair of Silver 8s will partner fine with your Hegel H160. . . . Hans Wetzel
