In this review, we will be comparing Silver 500 8G and Triton Five, two Passive Floor-standing speakers from Monitor Audio and GoldenEar.
Let's have a brief look at the main features
of Monitor Audio Silver 500 8G and GoldenEar Triton Five first before getting into our more
detailed comparison.
Monitor Audio Silver 500 8G Key Specs
- 3-way Design
- 1" gold dome C-CAM Tweeter
- 3" Midrange
- 2 x 8" C-CAM RST III Woofer
- 28-35k Hz Frequency Response
- 90 dB Sensitivity
- Impedance: 8ohms
- Power Range:60-250watts
- Weight:24.30kg
- Dimensions (H x W x D): 44-1/8" x 13-3/8" x 17" ( 1120.0 x 340.0 x 432.0mm )
GoldenEar Triton Five Key Specs
- 2-way Design
- " Folded Ribbon Tweeter
- 2 x 6" Polypropylene Woofer
- 26-35k Hz Frequency Response
- 90 dB Sensitivity
- Impedance: 8ohms
- Power Range:15-400watts
- Weight:18.18kg
- Dimensions (H x W x D): 44-1/2" x 11-1/16" x 16-9/16" ( 1131.0 x 281.0 x 421.0mm )
What size room are the Monitor Audio Silver 500 8G and GoldenEar Triton Five 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 Silver 500 8G |
GoldenEar Triton Five |
| Near-field |
Bad |
Are you nuts? |
| Small Room |
Poor |
Poor |
| Mid-size Room |
Average |
Average |
| Large Room |
Good |
Good |
| Very Large Room |
Average |
Good |
(* 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.)
In the following sections, we will get into more detail in order to better understand how the Monitor Audio Silver 500 8G and GoldenEar Triton Five compare and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one of these loudspeakers is the better choice for you.
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through my links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Drivers
One of the fundamental differences between these two speakers is that Silver 500 8G is a 3-way design whereas the Triton Five is a 2-way speaker. 3-way designs utilize a midrange driver in addition to the tweeter and woofer on 2-way designs. Designing a crossover for a 3-way speaker is a complicated process and generally increases the overall cost of the speaker.
| Driver |
Monitor Audio Silver 500 8G |
GoldenEar Triton Five |
|
Driver Setup
|
3-way
|
2-way
|
|
Tweeter
|
1-inch
|
-inch
|
|
Midrange
|
1 x 3-inch |
- |
|
Woofer
|
2 x 8-inch
|
2 x 6-inch
|
Silver 500 8G features a 1" gold dome C-CAM Tweeter , a 3" Midrange and 2 x 8" C-CAM RST III Woofer with a Crossover frequency at 640Hz and 2800Hz. On the other hand, the Triton Five features a " Folded Ribbon Tweeter and 2 x 6" Polypropylene Woofer .
Frequency Response
Silver 500 8G has a frequency range of 28-35k Hz whereas Triton Five has a frequency range of 26-35k Hz. With a minimum frequency of 26Hz, the Triton Five can go slightly deeper then the Silver 500 8G's min frequency of 28Hz.
Below graphs depict how these two speakers compare with the max, min and average values of the Min and Max Frequencies of other speakers in the Floor-standing class in our database.
Low Frequency
Floor-standing Speakers
High Frequency
Floor-standing Speakers
Monitor Audio Silver 500 8G
None of these speakers achieves full range experience which is commonly agreed as 20Hz-20kHz. In order to achieve lower lows / deeper bass, we recommend you pair these with a subwoofer. Visit our Powered Subwoofers section to find out more about the available options.
Impedance and Sensitivity
Silver 500 8G and Triton Five have the same Impedance of 8 ohms and their sensitivity is also same at 90 dB.
Sensitivity
Floor-standing Speakers
Power Range
Power
range is the range of input power in watts RMS that a loudspeaker is designed to handle. While using
an amplifier within this range ensures the nominal performance , inputting a power that is higher than the
max wattage can result in a damaged speaker.
Silver 500 8G can handle a max power of 400 watts RMS from the amp the whereas Silver 500 8G has a max power handling value of 250 watts RMS , 150 watts less than the Triton Five.
Keep in mind that a higher max power handling value doesn't necessarily make that a louder speaker
compared to a lower max handling speaker. Loudness or the sound level is also impacted by parameters
such as Impedance, sensitivity and system efficiencies.
Input Type and Bi-Amping / Bi-Wiring
Silver 500 8G features 5-way Post type posts and Triton Five has a 5-way Post type posts. None of these speakers feature bi-amping/bi-wiring.
Cabinet Type and Port Position
Both Silver 500 8G and Triton Five have rear firing ports. Rear ported speakers generally need more room between the backside of the speaker and the wall compared to sealed and front/bottom ported speakers. Placing the speakers too close to the walls may cause the bass to sound boomy.
If you are limited in space and can't get the speakers away from the backwall, check our Speakers with Front Firing Ports page.
Physical Specs
Size of a speaker can sometimes become 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 Silver 500 8G's and GoldenEar Triton Five's external dimensions. Monitor Audio Silver 500 8G has external dimensions of 1120.0 x 340.0 x 432.0mm ( 44-1/8 x 13-3/8 x 17inch) whereas GoldenEar Triton Five has external dimensions of 1131.0 x 281.0 x 421.0mm ( 44-1/2 x 11-1/16 x 16-9/16inch) .
GoldenEar Triton Five is 59mm narrower and 11mm less deeper than Monitor Audio Silver 500 8G but it is also 11mm taller.
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 Silver 500 8G is approximately 1468.8cm2 / 227.7inch2 and base area of the GoldenEar Triton Five is approximately 1183.0cm2 / 183.4inch2. The Silver 500 8G requires 24% more surface area than the Triton Five which gives it a small disadvantage on placement in tight spaces.