Monitor Audio Apex A40 Black Lacquer (Pair)

The Apex A40 sits at the top of Monitor Audio's Apex range — a compact, premium speaker family designed for installations where space is at a premium but performance is not. Positioned above the smaller Apex A10, the A40 is a larger satellite speaker that doubles as an exceptional centre channel, and is equally at home as a surround speaker in a multichannel system. Its die-cast alloy cabinet is finished in Metallic Black High Gloss lacquer, combining engineering rigidity with a visual statement that complements ultra-slim displays.

Cabinet & Construction

The A40's cabinet is cast from aluminium alloy — a material chosen for its acoustic inertness and structural rigidity compared with conventional MDF or ABS enclosures. The elongated, rounded form factor allows the speaker to be mounted horizontally below or above a screen, or vertically on a wall, without compromising driver performance. A single central through-bolt secures each driver, stiffening the baffle and eliminating the resonance paths that multiple smaller fixings can introduce. High-gloss lacquer is applied over the alloy, giving the A40 a finish that reflects the quality within.

Driver Technology

The A40 is a three-way design, deploying two 140mm (5½") C-CAM mid/bass drivers flanking a 25mm (1") C-CAM Gold Dome tweeter at the centre. C-CAM — Ceramic-Coated Aluminium/Magnesium — is a diaphragm technology developed and refined by Monitor Audio over decades. The alloy substrate is lightweight and stiff, while the ceramic surface coating adds hardness and damping, suppressing break-up modes that would otherwise colour the sound. Both mid/bass cones feature RST — Rigid Surface Technology — a dimpled geometry borrowed from aerospace that further increases rigidity without adding mass. The result is a pair of drivers that behave as true pistons across their working bandwidth, with a crossover network that hands off cleanly to the tweeter at 600Hz, and a second crossover point at 3.0kHz.

Bass Loading & Ports

A bass reflex alignment extends the A40's low-frequency reach beyond what an equivalent sealed cabinet of the same size could achieve. Unusually, the A40 uses twin front-mounted Dual HiVe II ports — Monitor Audio's proprietary port geometry, designed to smooth airflow at high excursion and reduce port noise. Front-firing ports have a practical advantage for wall-mounted installations: the bass tuning is less sensitive to the distance between the cabinet rear and the wall behind it, and the speaker can be mounted flush to the wall without port restriction.

Performance & Mounting

A sensitivity of 90dB (1W/1m) and a nominal impedance of 8 ohms make the A40 straightforward to drive. Monitor Audio specifies power handling of 200W RMS, with a recommended amplifier range of 50–200W — covering everything from a modest AV receiver to a high-powered separates system. Maximum SPL is rated at 116.8dBA, giving the speaker considerable dynamic headroom in a home cinema context. The wall bracket supplied with the A40 allows forward/backward tilt adjustment of 22.5° in either direction, enabling precise aim towards the listening position from above, below, or to the side of the screen.

What the Press Says

• Twice named Best Style Speaker Package at the What Hi-Fi? Awards