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Studio monitors are generally built to be about as tough as they come. As butch as the stubble on Jason Statham’s chin, they should be able to shrug off the endless travails of studio life with ease, and – despite what manufacturers tell us – are quite a different kettle of fish to the sort of standmount speakers that hi-fi enthusiasts like to have perfectly positioned in their listening rooms. So it’s rare to find a near-field monitor, which is ordinarily plonked on a mixing desk with an engineer hunched behind it, offering the sort of performance that makes it perfect for home listening. But that’s precisely what we’ve got here. Developed by Andy Munro (previously of Shure and founding member of Dynaudio), Philip Smith and James Young (of Sonic Distribution), MunroSonic has come up with the radical ‘egg geometry’ you see before you here. The idea is to virtually eliminate the diffraction and internal resonance issues that are so painfully common to conventional box-shaped monitors, and the result is the EGG100.

EGG-stra special sound
An active two-driver near-field loudspeaker that looks like no other you’ve seen before, the EGG100 is fed by a dedicated 30W-per-channel amplifier with balanced XLR inputs and features a 25mm soft dome tweeter paired with a 100mm bass driver. There’s a downward-firing bass port on the underside and a Speakon cable socket around the back. Happily, when we tested the EGG100 back in the November issue we discovered that it sounded every bit as good as it looks. Perhaps the first thing to make us sit up and take notice was the level of clarity on show. We’d expect a certain amount given its pedigree, but its five stars for sound rating is no exaggeration. The EGG100 provides sublime rendering of timbral texture and colour alongside a stunningly low noise floor that genuinely allows notes and ambient reverberation to decay into inky blackness. In short, it’s simply awesome. For more information on MunroSonic’s EGG speakers, visit www.munrosonic.com.

And thanks to the good folk at MunroSonic, you can experience the majesty of the EGG100 for yourself. The first correct answer pulled out of the HFC hat will win a pair all for themselves, but that’s not all. The second correct answer will nab themselves an Apogee Groove portable DAC/headphone amp and the next three entries will each receive a set of Extreme Isolation EX29W headphones. Generous or what? Answer the ridiculously easy question by clicking the link below to be in with a chance of winning. Good luck!

1st prize – MunroSonic EGG100

Awarded five stars in issue 403, the EGG100 blew us away with its combination of stunning design partnered with sound to match. It’s a dream to listen to and presents music in such an unsullied, spatially convincing, believable and coherent form. In short, you’re unlikely to hear better focus, speed and timing from anything at or near the £1,300 price.

2nd prize – Apogee Groove

The £300 Apogee Groove is a portable USB DAC and headphone amp for listening to music on your Mac or PC. Groove takes the same high-quality audio technology found in the world’s most prestigious recording studios and delivers it to your laptop. Its output provides ample power at any impedance and Apogee’s Constant Current Drive technology makes your headphones sound great.

3rd prize – Extreme Isolation EX29W headphone

Priced at £142, the Extreme Isolation EX29W headphone is no slouch when it comes to the important business of blocking out unwanted distractions. The dynamic closed-back headphone with 40mm drivers boasts a frequency response of 20Hz-20kHz and comes bundled with a 9ft (275cm) premium twin-lead cable.

Click here to enter

Terms & conditions

1. Entrants must be over 18 years old and resident in the United Kingdom. 2. Employees of AVTech Media or My Time Media and companies supplying competition prizes are not eligible to enter. 3. Proof of posting will not be accepted by the magazine as proof of delivery. 4. No responsibility will be accepted for entries lost, damaged or delayed in the post. 5. No alternatives, cash or otherwise, will be offered to the winners as prizes. 6. The editor’s decision is final. 7. The closing date is 22 December 2015.