Factory tour and the MAG business road-map for 2024
Last week, We met up with the full team from Monitor Audio at their HQ in Rayleigh, Essex.
It was our first time visiting the brand since we became retailers of their fine products 3 years ago - since then we've progressed from Bronze to Platinum Series as well as offering a full custom-installation service for their top tier CINERGY system.
Find our range of Monitor Audio products here.
Our day started with a round-table meeting to discuss our business, our objectives/differentiation and naturally to learn what Monitor Audio has coming up in the next year in terms of new products and their business roadmap.
The session was hosted by Michael Johnson (Director of Marketing), Nick and Jon from UK Sales and later, Michael Hedges (Technical Director) and Charles Minett (Design Director) giving us some incredibly interesting insight of what is happening in the world of Monitor Audio, Roksan, and BLOK. From this, we gained confidence on how the year ahead is looking for not only our business but the HiFi world too.
Michael Johnson impressed upon us the new branding that Monitor Audio have taken on as of late and the importance of "Listen Again". Their mission is to have people hear more information, connect better at an emotional level with music and be drawn into the action/moment during movie playback. It's clear there's a new, softer tone of voice that echoes throughout the product set of the latest release products as well as what's up and coming - system synergy, bolder aesthetics that lean more into higher end lifestyle whilst improving the pedigree of the product underneath.
After umpteen cups of tea we moved onto a tour of the design and marketing department (via the "in progress" Monitor Audio Museum and demonstration rooms) opening this year for dealers to explore new products as well as for training events.
The design hub is an open plan workplace that hosts technical design, product engineering, product modelling/3d testing, R&D and test beds of upcoming releases as well as software, hardware and marketing. One can really appreciate the clear channels of communication between what's happening at a demand/design level right the way through to production within this fascinating space.
It was also here we were allowed a sneak peak into what's up and coming from Monitor Audio Group - with exciting products seen from CI, a new series of Loudspeakers (cannot WAIT for these to arrive), new amplification from Roksan and furniture from BLOK. Let's just say this - the year ahead is very exciting!
Above in the creative studio, the team behind Hyphn giving an overview of the materials used.
We then moved on to the factory tour consisting of the warehouse, assembly and technical inspection.
Being able to see the physical process of how the flagship Hyphn speakers and electronic components for this extraordinary speaker is assembled was superb - as was picking the guys brains on the assembly challenges.
We also saw briefly the full production line for Roksan (including their oldest serving member of staff who works in the service department - truth be told, I was impressed to see his work completed by lunchtime with few product faults on the go!) as well watching the process of the Xerxes turntable being built and serviced.
Above: Lee picking the brains of Michael (TDA) and Charles (Design) in the Hyphn assembly room.
Above - assembly line of the ROKSAN product range.
The Hyphn and our thoughts.
The Monitor Audio Hyphn Floor standing speakers stand as a beacon of audio perfection, seamlessly rectifying sonic excellence on every song we played through our Luxman C10x/M10x and HiFi Rose RS130 streamer.
They certainly didn’t fail to impress and put a smile on our faces with every track we played. Not only do they impress the ears, but they impress the eyes. Crafted with precision from a material with a lot of natural stone in it, these speakers have modern design queues, incredible thought leadership with the M Array (mid-range array of 6 x midrange drivers with an MPD centred) and opposing force-cancelled bass drivers (x4) which provided incredible energy, control and definition that was incredibly live sounding.
Hyphn have stunningly designed edges and a luxury build quality that deliver an audio experience that captivates even the most discerning enthusiasts.
And so they should - retailing at £70,000.
Are they a loudspeaker for everyone? No. They're a stake in the ground for Monitor Audio to pivot around - this is already happened as the identical MPD is featured in the Platinum and Cinergy range of loudspeakers.
They're also everything a piece of art should be: beautiful, exclusive, pushing boundaries on the design and technology front .... and it just so happens to sound incredible.
We listened to a few tracks we knew well, including Queen Mary by Francine Thirteen which includes an insane 3-dimensional panning and low fast bass which the Hyphn preformed incredibly well with, and 30HZ by Fellsius which has a constant underlying bass tone of 30HZ and below. Both songs sound incredibly good with details being brought forward that were previously less clear in other speakers. Our music choice certainly had more of a fast beat, three dimensional testing characteristics and the speakers performed effortlessly. With more delicate tracks - they were natural, with instruments perfectly placed with incredible depth and width to the soundstage.
The Hyphn are fast yet agile, delicate at lower listening levels yet come alive when driven. I was surprised at how easy they were to drive too considering we've used the same reference system on the Platinum series as well as flagship speakers from other speaker brands in store. I expected them to be power hungry - and whilst they can take an impressive 1000w of RMS, they seriously don't need it to sound sweet!
Comparison to the Platinum's
In comparison to the Platinum's the Hyphn offer's a level of improvement which exceeds expectation's, with a cleaner, more 3 dimension high-frequency range and much improved cabinet design they put on a show which Platinum's simply cant do. Lower frequencies interestingly we're very similar in presentation but the Hyphn's simply went down lower, with more sustain and decay with absolutely zero cabinet noise / resonance to excite the floor. Again - this opposing-force drivers really coming to play here as well as an acoustically inert product which transfers no waste energy to the surroundings!
This comparison is based of the exact same system but in 2 slightly different room's, whilst using the PL300 3G and the Hyphn's.
In conclusion, the Monitor Audio Hyphn is one serious loudspeaker that we've had the pleasure of hearing with our electronics for a few hours. The highly detailed M-Array with the dedicated 2-inch mid-range drivers you get a real sense of character when listening to any song you play but most importantly the bass response is fun and engaging with a strong response down to 20Hz due to the down-firing ports and opposing bass drivers.
We highly recommend giving them a listen. Perhaps you'll see them in our store soon! - they're exciting, different but incredibly refined.
