The new Gold Signature range from Monitor Audio replaces the Gold Reference line-up, and you'll not be surprised to hear that the maker claims improvements in every area. In most cases, happily, there is no increase in price. In fact, one model (not the GS10 reviewed here), has actually been reduced in price while construction quality and materials appear to have been improved (this is presumably the benefit of off-shore manufacturing).

The GS10 is the smallest stereo model in the new range, if we ignore the dedicated home cinema centre and surround effects speakers. The GS10 pushes all the right buttons straight from the box. First it's a sensible size, small enough to fit comfortably on pedestal stands, but big enough to offer the promise of respectable bass extension.

Second, finish is clearly a little special. It's wood veneered on all surfaces, but there is no danger that this veneer could be mistaken for vinyl. The GS10 is enhanced further by the radiusing of all the edges and corners, back as well as front.

Third and last is the impressive, though mostly unobtrusive detailing, which extends from the diecast surrounds around the drivers, to the design of the terminal block, the unique rifling of the internal wall of the reflex port, and even the discrete nameplate on the back edge of the top panel.

The only criticism, and in fairness almost all manufacturers fall into this trap, concerns the stamped metal plate links that short the bi-wire terminals for mono-wire systems. If this is how you will use the speakers, our advice would be to ditch them in favour of better quality cable links - the difference is surprisingly audible.

Give us details

Technically, the GS10 hardly sets out to break the mould. It is a rear-vented two-way, based on a 150mm bass/mid unit and a 25mm tweeter, using a metal cone and dome respectively as is Monitor Audio's wont. So far, so so, but a lot of detailed design work has gone into the drivers, both of which are new and not refugees from the old GR range.

The bass/mid chassis, and the external clamp that holds it in place on the baffle, for example, are made from cast aluminium and zinc respectively, the different materials chosen to provide mutual damping. The cone has a revised profile and is formed with hundreds of concentric dimples, which are said to reduce mass (though it's not clear how), increase stiffness and eliminate the bending associated with conventional metal cone designs (again, how?).

The cone was refined using finite area analysis, and legitimised like almost every aspect of the design by its own acronym - in this case RST2, for Rigid Surface Technology 2.

The new gold anodised C-CAM ceramic coated aluminium/magnesium alloy tweeter dome drives frequency coverage to beyond 40kHz, though reading between the lines, the first HF resonance is probably around 25kHz. The rifling of the HIVe reflex port is claimed to aid airflow and reduce turbulence, and according to Monitor Audio, the bottom line is a more powerful bass coupled with superior transient response. We don't doubt these things are so, but it must have been difficult to prove.