Monitor Audio MR2 Bookshelf speakers

It is music to shoppers' ears when an established hifi brand brings an affordable loudspeaker variety out. The BR (Bronze Benchmark) chain was Monitor Audio's budget offering until it had been replaced in 2010 by the somewhat-pricier BX set. A year after, the organization chose to redefine its 'significance of entry level' by introducing its most affordable variety yet: the MR (Monitor Reference) show.

Fundamentally, the MR show is based (given several tweaks occasionally) on the old BR variety, but at a reduced cost.

The MR2s have the type and style we have begun to expect from your brand despite being at the affordable end of the organization 's offering. Superbly finished in walnut vinyl or black oak, the front-ported cabinet has nicely rounded-off a bright, yet conventional, fascia as well as edges. They do sound somewhat less significant outside at the center of an area, although not disastrously so.

There is a maturity to the sound which is uncommon at this amount. The MR2s glow with insightful delicacy on the close piano notes as we play Michael Simone's Any Other Name. The sequence is not empty of variation, and every key is set inside the soundstage. As Kate Bush shows on 50 Words the MR2s are equally as satisfying with vocals also.

The Monitor Audios reveal her exceptional delivery and nuances that are psychological nicely -and this deftness is not without vigour. Elsewhere, bass is managed and tuneful. We discover these loudspeakers want for the treble to sufficiently incorporate itself using the frequencies under around a 100-hour run-in, but they lack the refinement of a number of the competitors.

Our new Award winning Wharfedale Diamonds 220s place the bar for dynamic and detail subtlety the MR2s can not reach. And although this brings them down a degree, they do budget hifi well.