Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G

Monitor Audio has been making the Bronze 50 bookshelf speakers in one form or another for 25 years. As the name suggests, the 7G range is the 7^th iteration of the product, designed for the new audiophile or for someone with no desire to spend bigger on the company’s Silver, Gold or, more recently, Platinum series loudspeakers. 

There are five models in the Bronze range. This 50 7G is the smallest of the lot, and seems like it would be ideal as part of an all-in-one or desktop hi-fi system in tandem with electronics from the likes of Cambridge Audio, NAD or similar. I’ve been familiar with Monitor Audio and its products for 30 years or more, and am very interested to find out how a new £500 entry-level model stacks up in the here and now.

The Bronze 50 7G directly replaces 2020’s £400 Bronze 50 6G, and has been redesigned from the ground up. Everything has been looked at and, where possible, refined or changed according to the rules of the company’s Transparent Design Philosophy.

For instance, the 18mm plywood baffle is new. I have lately heard and reviewed a spate of plywood-baffle speakers, some of them very expensive. It is strong and extremely rigid, so won’t vibrate and thus influence the sound. The 7G’s bass/mid driver has grown from the 6G's 127mm to 152mm, and is made from a lightweight ceramic-coated aluminium magnesium (C-CAM). This material was originally intended for the aerospace industries as it is very light but also very rigid - it allows for excellent pistonic motion, which means it reduces break-up issues (the bending that can cause distortion). Thanks to a larger voice-coil and stronger magnets it now has better power- handling, though at 86dB/m is still fairly inefficient by today’s standards (even if that’s a 1dB increase on the previous model). 

The 25mm dome tweeter is a C-CAM gold-plated model - Monitor Audio introduced its first gold-domed tweeter back in 1986. It has a new UD (‘uniform dispersion’) Waveguide II intended to create a clearer, wider soundstage and improve time-alignment, and has a cute etched hexagonal aluminium dome grille to protect it from my cat and any stray children. The drivers use through-bolt bracing, tightly coupled to the rear of the cabinet, in an effort to reduce internal resonances. 

For the review I use 90W RMS KT88 valve and 45W solid-state amplifiers, and it seems evident this speaker works well with amplifiers up to 100W / 8-ohm (the company suggests 200W if using a 4-ohm output amplifier). My review sample is finished in white - black and a walnut veneer are also available. At 335 x 185 x 328mm (HxWxD) it is fairly small, but nevertheless a little larger than the previous model.  That important plywood baffle is exposed at the corners, not painted over - so you can see it in all its glory. For me it looks slightly ‘DIY’, especially in white - but with the magnetically attached front grilles in place it does look contemporary. And this is a better-looking grille than on the 6G, too.

Sound quality

No one’s expecting earth-moving bass from a small £500 loudspeaker - but bass extension here is notable. The rear-facing reflex port is tuned to 47Hz and low-frequency extension is down to almost 40Hz - so when Patrick Moraz is banging on a Steinway D grand piano or Patricia Barber’s percussionist is kicking away on a bass-drum it sounds both effective and fun. I do feel the bass presentation can sound slightly remote from the rest of the frequency range, though. 

It’s certainly an exciting-sounding speaker, to the point the mid-range can sound just a tad overzealous at times. With the punchy sound the 50 7G makes, music sounds big and colourful - think of the ‘enhance’ colour adjustment on your photo-editor!  As well as electronica, jazz and popular music, it works well with the strings in classical music and all the 70s ELO I play too. 

That midrange is full-bodied, adding to that solid punch from the bass. The highest frequencies are very clear, sounding especially tight on cymbals - and with the speakers toed lightly out so that the tweeters face my ears, the soundstage is very clear and has very reasonable ‘forward/back’ integration.

Living with the Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G

Despite being the baby of the range, having a port and gold-plated terminals on the rear means the Bronze 50 7G requires a reasonably deep shelf to sit it on. Put it on a stand (as I did), or on either side of your desktop all-in-one music system, though, and it makes for an ideal partnership. The speakers are supplied with tiny stick-on rubber feet to give better isolation, and foam cones to block the rear port should you wish to reduce that boom. 

Despite the boxy appearance it really is solidly made, the excellent internal bracing means the cabinet is very rigid - and it can be bi-wired, should you wish to spend as much on the cabling as the loudspeaker. 

This is the perfect speaker for someone wanting a simple, smaller design, but a big sound, in their music-room.

Conclusion

The Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G really creates a sound that can defy its small size and its £500 asking price. It’s an exciting listen, and enjoys bass extension that really does give Monitor Audio something to shout about. It may look less exciting than some similarly priced alternatives, but the sound has obviously been foremost in the design here - and it shows. Don’t want to spend the earth, but still want the ground to shake? The Bronze 50 7G will make you, though possibly not your neighbours, very happy.

Listening notes

Patrick Moraz Windows of Time
This is a purely pianoforte album that reminds us the keyboard is truly a ‘percussion’ instrument. Whilst holding the damper pedal and attacking the instrument as a drum kit, the keyboardist shows off both his musique concrète and conventional pianoforte skills, making this album ideal to test out bass extension, transient speed and note decays, plus all the details in the top registers. The Bronze 50 gives an exciting rendition -  it is not afraid of being abused, much like the piano!

Patricia Barber Verse
With beautiful close-mic vocals mid-stage and precision drums, bass, guitars and brass, this is a brilliantly recorded album. Moon shows off her distinctive poetic voice mingled with piano and acoustic guitar, plus a trumpet conversation answering her vocal calls - it’s a great showcase of the speaker’s ability to combine lots of horizontal musical ideas without the result sounding confused. The acoustic bass rhythm, relaxed reverberant whispering voice mid-frequency and ride cymbals at the top end all work really well in this entry-model loudspeaker, showing good cross-over design.

The Sick Man of Europe The Sick Man of Europe If you remember Kraftwerk’s Autobahn or perhaps Sparks from the 80s, then this electronica will be right up your street. With unexciting vocals underneath fast transients from the synthesizer montage, this really tests out the speakers’ lightweight cones to perfection, as well as its ability to create a soundstage. The tweeter is particularly tight and well controlled.

With the amount of detail, excitement and extension you get for your £500, this is a very fluent performer. If you are a new audio fan, young or perhaps just want to enjoy music at minimal cost, this is a great speaker to audition. Alongside my similarly sized reference monitors (which are eight times the price), I find the Bronze 50 7G to be more fun!

The Bronze 50 7G is a great candidate for a desktop system, and no one undrerstands that 'small' = 'beautiful' better than WiiM. Use the brilliant little WiiM Amp to drive the Momitor Audio and you've a great-sounding music-streaming system for less outlay than you might think possible.