Monitor Audio Bronze 500 vs Monitor Audio Bronze 100 Comparison

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Monitor Audio Bronze 500

Passive Floor-standing | 32-30k Hz

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Monitor Audio Bronze 100

Passive Bookshelf | 37-30k Hz

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Monitor Audio Bronze 500 vs Monitor Audio Bronze 100 Speaker Comparison

In this review, we will be comparing two different types of speakers by Monitor Audio. Monitor Audio Bronze 500 is a Floor-standing speaker whereas the Bronze 100 is a Bookshelf speaker.

Let's have a brief look at the main features of Monitor Audio Bronze 500 and Monitor Audio Bronze 100 first before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Key Specs	Monitor Audio Bronze 500	Monitor Audio Bronze 100
Design	2-way	2-way
Tweeter	1" gold dome C-CAM with uniform dispersion (UD) waveguide	1" Hard-Dome
Woofer	2 x 8" C-CAM	8" C-CAM
Frequency response	32-30k Hz	37-30k Hz
Sensitivity	90 dB	87 dB
Impedance	8 ohms	8 ohms
Power range	60-200 watts	30-100 watts
Weight	18.05kg / 39.7lbs	7.80kg / 17.2lbs
Dimensions (H x W x D)	38-7/16" x 11-9/16" x 14-3/8" 977.0 x 294.0 x 366.0mm	14.8" x 9.0" x 12.7" 376.0 x 231.0 x 325.0mm

Bronze 500 and Bronze 100 are members of Monitor Audio's Bronze series of speakers. Below you can find the loudspeakers from this series.

Monitor Audio Bronze Series History

Model	Body	Frequency	Sensitivity	Impedance	Woofer
Monitor Audio Bronze 2	Bookshelf	42-30k Hz	90 dB	8Ω	1 x 6.5"
Monitor Audio Bronze 50	Bookshelf	40-30k Hz	85 dB	8Ω	1 x 5.25"
Monitor Audio Bronze 100	Bookshelf	37-30k Hz	87 dB	8Ω	1 x 8"
Monitor Audio Bronze 1	Bookshelf	55-30k Hz	88 dB	8Ω	1 x 5.5"
Monitor Audio Bronze 500	Floor-standing	32-30k Hz	90 dB	8Ω	2 x 8"
Monitor Audio Bronze 200	Floor-standing	35-30k Hz	88 dB	8Ω	2 x 5.25"
Monitor Audio Bronze C150	Center Channel	66-30k Hz	88 dB	8Ω	1 x 5.25"
Monitor Audio Bronze 300 7G	Floor-standing	34-30k Hz	88 dB	8Ω	2 x 6"
Monitor Audio Bronze Centre 7G	Center Channel	50-30k Hz	88 dB	8Ω	2 x 6"
Monitor Audio Bronze AMS 7G	Surround	83-30k Hz	86 dB	8Ω	x 4"

What size room are the Monitor Audio Bronze 500 and Monitor Audio Bronze 100 speakers good for?

The size of the room in which you are planning to use these loudspeakers is an important decision factor. Here we have compared their suitability to various sizes of environments considering their size and max power parameters:

Listening Environment*	Monitor Audio Bronze 500	Monitor Audio Bronze 100
Near-field	Bad	Average
Small Room	Poor	Good
Mid-size Room	Good	Average
Large Room	Good	Poor
Very Large Room	Poor	Bad

(* Approximate Room sizes: Small < 100sq. ft / 9 m², Mid-size: 100-220 sq. ft / 9-20 m², Large 220-400 sq. ft / 20-36 m², Very Large: > 400 sq. ft / 36 m². Average Floor Height: 9" / 2.7m. Typical room sizes differ from country to country, and the actual listening experience changes depending on floor height, room shape, surface materials, listening position, speaker locations, etc.)

The sections below take each area in turn: drivers, frequency response, physical size and what you get in the box.

**This post contains affiliate links, and we will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through our links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Drivers

Both Bronze 500 and Bronze 100 are 2-way speakers.

Monitor Audio Bronze 500

Monitor Audio Bronze 100

TweeterWoofer

Front view, drawn to scale - cabinets and drivers share one scale, so sizes are directly comparable. Hover a driver for its size.

Driver	Monitor Audio Bronze 500	Monitor Audio Bronze 100
Driver Setup	2-way	2-way
Tweeter	1-inch	1-inch
Midrange	-	-
Woofer	2 x 8-inch	1 x 8-inch

Bronze 500 features a 1" gold dome C-CAM with uniform dispersion (UD) waveguide Tweeter and 2 x 8" C-CAM Woofer. On the other hand, the Bronze 100 features a 1" Hard-Dome Tweeter and 1 x 8" C-CAM Woofer with a Crossover frequency at 2200Hz.

Frequency Response

Bronze 500 has a frequency range of 32-30k Hz whereas Bronze 100 has a frequency range of 37-30k Hz. With a minimum frequency of 32Hz, the Bronze 500 can go significantly deeper on the low side and provide stronger bass compared to the Bronze 100's min frequency of 37Hz.

The graph below depicts how these two speakers compare with the max, min and average Low Frequency values of other speakers in the Floor-standing class in our database.

Low Frequency

Floor-standing Speakers

Bronze 500

Bronze 100

Min

Average

Median

Neither pair reaches down to 20Hz, the usual definition of full-range, which is normal for speakers of this size. If you want the bottom octave for movies or bass-heavy music, add a subwoofer to whichever you choose. Visit our Powered Subwoofers section to find out more about the available options.

Impedance and Sensitivity

Bronze 500 and Bronze 100 have the same Impedance of 8 ohms but where they differ is the sensitivity levels. Bronze 500 sensitivity is rated at 90 dB and the Bronze 100's is at 87 dB. This 3 dB difference makes the Monitor Audio Bronze 500 a more sensitive speaker compared to Monitor Audio Bronze 100, hence will play louder with the same amount of watts.

Sensitivity

Floor-standing Speakers

Bronze 500

Bronze 100

Min

Average

Median

Power Range

Power range is the range of input power in watts RMS that a loudspeaker is designed to handle. Staying within that range gives nominal performance; driving the speaker beyond its maximum wattage can damage it.

Bronze 500 can handle a max power of 200 watts RMS, whereas Bronze 100 has a max power handling value of 100 watts RMS, 100 watts less than the Bronze 500.

Note that higher power handling does not make a speaker louder: that depends mainly on sensitivity and impedance. The calculator below shows how loud each of these actually plays on a real amplifier.

Which plays louder on your amplifier?

Starting with a popular amplifier — change it to the one you own, or any you are considering, and watch both numbers move.

Amplifier — change this

Distance

Playing as

Monitor Audio Bronze 500

Monitor Audio Bronze 100

Input Type and Bi-Amping / Bi-Wiring

Both Bronze 500 and Bronze 100 features dual binding post speaker terminals for bi-amping or bi-wiring.

Physical Specs

The size of a speaker can sometimes be an important decision factor due to space constraints or in some cases purely for esthetic reasons. In this section, we are going to compare Monitor Audio Bronze 500's and Monitor Audio Bronze 100's external dimensions. Monitor Audio Bronze 500 has external dimensions of 977.0 x 294.0 x 366.0mm (38-7/16 x 11-9/16 x 14-3/8inch) whereas Monitor Audio Bronze 100 has external dimensions of 376.0 x 231.0 x 325.0mm (14.8 x 9.0 x 12.7inch).

Monitor Audio Bronze 500 is clearly the larger of the two speakers. Its body is 63mm wider, 601mm taller and 41mm deeper than Monitor Audio Bronze 100.

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Monitor Audio Bronze 500 and Monitor Audio Bronze 100 in scale.

Comparison image of Monitor Audio Bronze 500 and Monitor Audio Bronze 100 Size and External Dimensions

Base Surface Area Comparison
Base surface area of a loudspeaker may become a determining factor when the space in your room or desk is limited. The base surface area of the Monitor Audio Bronze 500 is approximately 1076.0cm² / 166.8inch² and base area of the Monitor Audio Bronze 100 is approximately 750.8cm² / 116.4inch². The Bronze 500 requires 43% more surface area than the Bronze 100 which gives it a small disadvantage on placement in tight spaces.

What's in the Box of Monitor Audio Bronze 500?

Here are the items that are included inside the box of Bronze 500:

Floorstanding loudspeaker
Grille
4 Outrigger feet (w/ 4 adjustment dials and locking-nuts)
4 Spikes (pre-installed on outrigger feet)
4 Rubber feet
4 Large course-thread screws
4 Small machine screws
2 Terminal-jumpers (pre-installed)
2 Foam port plugs
Hex-key
Quick Start Guide
Important Safety Instructions

What's in the Box of Monitor Audio Bronze 100?

Here are the items that come with the Bronze 100:

2 Bookshelf loudspeakers
2 Grilles
4 Terminal-jumpers (pre-installed)
2 Foam port plugs
8 Self-adhesive rubber feet
Hex-key
Quick Start Guide
Important Safety Instructions

Reasons to choose Monitor Audio Bronze 500 over Monitor Audio Bronze 100

Max Input Power	200 watts vs 100 watts	Handle more power from your amplifier
Sensitivity	90 dB vs 87 dB	Play louder with same amount of amplification power
Number of Woofers	2 vs 1	More woofers
Low Frequency Response	32 Hz vs 37 Hz	Generates deeper bass
Dolby Atmos Drivers	Optional vs No	Dolby Atmos Compatibility

Reasons to choose Monitor Audio Bronze 100 over Monitor Audio Bronze 500

Height	376mm vs 977mm	Easier to fit in smaller spaces
Base Surface Area	750cm² vs 1076cm²	Takes less floor space
Price per pair*	675USD vs 1496USD	costs less (*prices may change depending on the seller, location and time)

Monitor Audio Bronze 500 vs Monitor Audio Bronze 100 Specs Table

Detailed comparison of specifications

General	Monitor Audio Bronze 500	Monitor Audio Bronze 100
Brand	Monitor Audio	Monitor Audio
Speaker Type	Floor-standing speaker	Bookshelf speakers
Power Range	60-200 watts	30-100 watts
Sensitivity	90 dB	87 dB
Impedance	8 ohms	8 ohms
Impedance	n/a	4.5 ohms
Frequency Response	32-30k Hz	37-30k Hz
Drivers
Woofer Quantity	2	1
Woofer Size	8"	8"
Woofer Composition	C-CAM	C-CAM
Woofer Surround Material	Rubber	Rubber
Tweeter Size	1"	1"
Tweeter Type	gold dome C-CAM with uniform dispersion (UD) waveguide	Hard-Dome
Aimable Tweeter	No	No
Midrange Driver	No	No
Crossover Frequency	n/a	2200Hz
Firing Direction	n/a	rear
Physical Specs
Height	977.0mm (38.5")	376.0mm (14.8")
Width	294.0mm (11.6")	231.0mm (9.1")
Depth	366.0mm (14.4")	325.0mm (12.8")
Weight	18.05kg (39.7lbs)	7.80kg (17.2lbs)
Enclosure	Bass Reflex	Bass Reflex
Finish	MDF/Vinyl	MDF/Wood-grain vinyl
Available Colors	Black	Walnut, Black, White, Urban Grey
Mounting Bracket	No	No
Recommended Stand Height	n/a	22-26"
Grille	Yes	Yes
Moisture Resistancy	No	No
Connections
Biamp Inputs	Yes	Yes
Other
Parts Warranty	5 Years	5 Years
Labor Warranty	5 Years	5 Years

Verdict

Siblings in Monitor Audio's Bronze series, so they share a family sound. It comes down to size, output and price.

Area	Better	Why
Bass	A	Monitor Audio Bronze 500 digs deeper - 32Hz against 37Hz. A subwoofer would even that out.
Amplifier needs	A	Monitor Audio Bronze 500 is more sensitive (90dB vs 87dB), so it goes louder on the same amplifier.
Headroom	A	Monitor Audio Bronze 500 takes more power (200W vs 100W) - more in hand in a big room.
Size	depends	Monitor Audio Bronze 100 is easier to place; Monitor Audio Bronze 500 is bigger, which usually goes with fuller bass. Your room decides.
Type	depends	A Passive Floor-standing against a Passive Bookshelf - a different job rather than a better one.
Expandability	A	Monitor Audio Bronze 500: bi-amping and Atmos drivers; Monitor Audio Bronze 100: bi-amping.
Price	B	Monitor Audio Bronze 100 is cheaper - $675 against $1,496, about 55% less; arguably a different class.

A Monitor Audio Bronze 500 B Monitor Audio Bronze 100
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, placement or how you will use them. Only specs published for both speakers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.

Which should you choose?

The usual trade-off: Monitor Audio Bronze 500 measures better, Monitor Audio Bronze 100 costs about 55% less. Whether that gap is worth the money is the call only you can make - and in a normal room it is often smaller than the numbers suggest. If a subwoofer is in your plans, the bass gap largely stops mattering - you would be crossing over above 37Hz anyway, which makes the cheaper Monitor Audio Bronze 100 much easier to justify. Match it to your room: we rate Monitor Audio Bronze 500 the better fit for a mid-size room and a large room, and Monitor Audio Bronze 100 for near-field listening and a small room.

And remember what a spec sheet cannot show: how each looks in your room and whether the finish suits it, what dealer support and warranty are like where you live, and how they actually sound to you. If you can hear them first - ideally with your own music - that will tell you more than any number above.