Loudspeakers

As anyone who tried to buy tickets for Oasis’ 2025 reunion tour will have discovered, nostalgia is big business. The hi-fi industry knows it too, and in recent years has been scouring the Seventies for speaker and amplifier designs to either leverage into new updates or directly resurrect. Monitor Audio, however, has now jumped a decade ahead, launching a new speaker “inspired by the Eighties”. Seeing as Hollywood has been tapping into that decade with revisits to the Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun and Ghostbusters franchises, the British manufacturer might be onto something.

The Studio 89, selling for £2,000, takes its cues from the company’s Studio series from the Eighties. Specifically, the promotional literature cites the Studio 15 standmount as inspiration, not for any acoustic reason, but because it apes that model’s visual style by blending gold-coloured drivers with a high-gloss black finish. Note that this is the only colourway available – Monitor Audio’s last Studio bookshelf speaker, a one-off model which ran from 2018-2020, came in a choice of grey, white or black, but sadly not the 89.

The first thing you’ll notice about the new model is the size of it. Off the top of my head I can’t remember seeing another speaker quite so slim, the Studio 89 measuring just 157mm side to side. Neither is it especially tall, at 340mm, although a depth of 361mm means it’s unlikely to ever be installed on a bookshelf, something further precluded by the dual HiVe (high-velocity) II slot ports, with their now-familiar rifled edges.

These, one at the top and one at the bottom, combine with what Monitor Audio describes as: “precisely calculated and positioned” internal walls to limit potential port noise while helping tune the Studio 89’s low-frequency response down to a claimed 53Hz (–6dB) before any boundary loading.

Providing this low-end – and facilitating the cabinet’s slender design – are two RDT (Rigid Diaphragm Technology) III mid/bass drivers featuring a three-layer construction of C-CAM cone, Nomex ‘central core’ and a woven carbon-fibre backing. Monitor Audio lists these as 108mm designs, although the diameter of the dimpled cone is even smaller still.

As seen on previous Monitor Audio speakers, including the recent Gold 300 6G, the Studio 89’s mid/bass drivers’ magnets are through-bolted to the rear of the cabinet to improve rigidity. On this model the drivers are also mounted to an aluminium plate that’s isolated from the 18mm-thick MDF baffle behind it via a layer of foam suspension, with the two units sandwiching the Studio 89’s tweeter in an ‘MTM’ arrangement.

The company describes this D’Appolito layout as a ‘point source’, which is debatable, the same claim more realistically made for its top-of-the-range Hyphn floorstander, which places six midrange drivers around a central tweeter. Similarities to the Hyphn are more strictly observed in the Studio 89’s tweeter, which is another of its MPD (Micro Pleated Diaphragm) III designs, contrasting with the more conventional C-CAM domes of the Silver and Bronze ranges.

Marshalling the output of these drivers is a third-order crossover set at 2.4kHz. The crossover network, says MA, is: “simplicity personified,” but makes use of: “only the very best” polypropylene and polyester capacitors, alongside air-core and low-loss steel-core inductors. There’s no option for bi-wire/amping, but the Studio 89’s binding posts are sculpted to make tightening easy.

The speakers themselves are also smartly styled, with an appealing contrast between the gloss black cabinets and the gold-coloured drivers, and the small badge, with its ‘M’ logo, that graces the front. Accepting the lack of a traditional wood veneer, is the design particularly ‘Eighties’? Not really – I’d argue it’s far more classy-looking than much of the products released back then, particularly if you stump up the £500 asking price for Monitor Audio’s dedicated Studio 89 stands. These help maintain the speaker’s sleek appearance by virtue of a slim black aluminium column with integrated cable management system. Four feet, adjustable for level and fitted with either metal spikes or rubber domes, screw into outriggers on the base – and each gets a gold-coloured top to match the look of the stylish enclosures above.

Once assembled, and with the Studio 89 cabinets bolted into place, you end up with a standmount speaker that takes up precious little room or floor space. As for where to put them, however, you’ll need to head online and download Monitor Audio’s full manual, as the instructions supplied in the box are decidedly vague in this regard.

Sound quality
While the Studio 89 has the dimensions of a ‘budget’ speaker, its performance steps up to the mark of its above-budget price tag. Standout traits include a punchy low-end, dynamic attack and good detail retrieval – ingredients that add up to a pretty fun listen whether you’re nodding along to a string symphony or letting rip with classic rock. Best of all, however, is the wide-reaching soundstage on offer, which ensures these compact cabinets deliver an enveloping performance.

Through the Studio 89, driven by a Primare A35.2 power amp, the Eastern-tinged synth notes that kick off Rainbow’s Gates Of Babylon from the Long Live Rock ’N’ Roll LP move smoothly and seamlessly across the soundstage with a fulsome, fluid tone. The effect is every bit as eerie as it was originally intended, implying a journey into a cavernous space before the mix becomes more centre-focused, layering Ronnie James Dio’s vocals atop Cozy Powell’s fast rhythm section – here given plenty of bounce and detail. The performance isn’t about the last word in resolution, but individual strands, from the crashing percussion to Bob Daisley’s fluent bass, are easy to discern amid the mayhem.

Nor is Adam F’s Brand New Funk, from the compilation set Planet V, an exercise in listening to fine detail but that’s down to the music at hand – drum ’n’ bass with a funky edge designed to get the body moving rather than the mind whirring. Still, it is highly enjoyable to hear the speakers’ diminutive cabinets build a wide soundstage that extends far beyond their reaches, presenting a large spread of synths and effects from which brass notes leap out with stabby, dynamic attack. The stuttering breakbeat rhythm that follows also snaps with vigour, in unison with an ominous bass motif carrying a decent amount of weight.

A mediocre production means this piece doesn’t sound its best at high volumes with some upper-frequency elements becoming a little coarse. Yet Joe Bonamassa’s sweetly recorded Blues Deluxe from the album of the same name proves the Studio 89 can be pushed hard without getting too flustered along the way, impressing from the outset with the bite that’s brought to the lead guitar and control over the bassline.

Bonamassa’s vocals have great texture and emotion, and are nicely positioned front and centre, but his singing isn’t the star attraction here. At around the 3 minute 45 second mark, he stamps on his guitar overdrive pedal and the band follows suit, turning the piece into an all-out, epic-scaled slab of blues rock. Not to be outdone, the Studio 89 also leaps into action, conveying the edge-of-the-seat nature of the performance thanks to its energetic sound.

John Lee Hooker and Bonnie Raitt’s I’m In The Mood off the late, great bluesman’s wonderful The Healer long-player via download is a hue of a much more intimate nature, with a mix that puts Hooker slightly to the right and back of the image, with plenty of reverb, while Raitt takes her place a little to the left. The difference in vocal styles is a delight to behold, while the feel of a live performance and the space of the recording venue is further aided by the Studio 89’s expansive sound. Also on show is the ability of the speakers’ mid/bass drivers to offer an authentically deep, resonant low end that some might not expect from such a slender design.

Time to get intense! Cueing up Alice In Chains’ semi-acoustic track No Excuses from the Jar Of Flies CD causes me to jump a little due to the transient attack of the opening bars of percussion. This sense of directness is further underpinned by the subsequent instrumentation, which the Studio 89 portrays with plenty of clarity but little in the way of warmth.

Similarly, the harmonica in Billy Joel’s Piano Man cuts through almost too much above the fine delivery of his exquisite vocal and the rolling weight of the piano. The performance here, therefore, is arguably not as ‘crowd-pleasing’ and soft around the edges, as that of some of MA’s more wallet-friendly standmounts, such as the Bronze 100 (HFC 489). Yet I am regularly surprised by the performance. Kendrick Scott’s Touched By An Angel sounds thrillingly present, those sustained notes from the discordant jazz piano decaying with grace as the Studio 89 slows down the pace to allow this contemplative album closer to fully unfurl. It’s mesmerising, with insight, subtlety and scale bang on the money for such a slim, lush-looking cabinet.

Conclusion
The Studio 89’s svelte cabinet is a welcome break from the brand norm that will earn plenty of admiring looks. Those seduced by its size and style will be rewarded with a direct, energetic and captivating sound that goes much ‘bigger’ than expected. MC    

DETAILS
Product: Monitor Audio Studio 89
Type: Two-way standmount loudspeaker

FEATURES
● MPD tweeter
● 2x 108mm RDT III mid/bass drivers
● Quoted sensitivity: 86dB/1W/1m (6ohm)

Read the full review in  Issue 521