MAudio BX5's....

B

bmorris

New member
I just received these monitors and I am curious to know what type of quality should I expect? Got em' cheap (199.00) and they sound tons better than my old fostex that I payed the same price for. They have an acoustic control switch that supposedly compensates for any room problems such as proximity to wall. It also comes with high and low end adjusters that allow for variance in high and low problems mixing. I believe there are two -2,0,+2 switches that change the decibel levels of highs and lows in these increments. I imagine that with any monitors you have to know your monitors and how they translate elsewhere, but all in all can anyone help determine the face value quality of these...

-Humble-
 
I paid $250 for mine so you got a nice deal. Actually for small monitors and cheap small monitors they sound real good. I'm going to be upgrading to some HR824's which are much better but for for what you piad you got what you paid for and more I think.,
 
how in the world did you get the BX-5's for $199???! I've seen the old SP-5B's for that price, since they've been discontinued, but never the BX-5 that cheap!
 
I picked up a set of the BX5's a few weeks ago for my mobile rig (and as secondary monitors - KRK V6 with a sub are my primary monitors), and out of all the small monitors I tried, I liked them the best. In my experience, most small monitors have a tendency to hype the midbass (to give the illusion of deeper bass), and the M-Audio's seem fairly flat in the midbass, and just rolloff naturally. They are a titch bright (even with the the high switch set to -2), but not harsh in the least bit. Overall, they are a good buy (especially at the price you got them for).

Disclaimer: Speaker preference is subjective, and my opinon means nothing to anyone but me. ;)
 
has anyone A/B'd the SP-5B's vs. the BX-5's? Other than the more "aerodynamic" styling and the switches on the back, I'd like to know how different they really are.
 
I've spent the last 10 minutes looking, and I can't find it. There's a good website that has a review that compaires the two models.

Basically, the review said that they liked the BX5 better. I personally own the BX8's, and am very happy with them. I'll keep looking for that site, because I know it is SOMEWHERE and it is very useful.
 
I'd love to see that review echomancer. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it either :(

I'd also be interested to see how the SP-5B's or the BX-5's stack up against the Event TR-5's. I haven't been able to find a decent TR-5 review at all actually!

Here's an old SP-5B vs. TR-5 thread, but it doesn't really have any useful info about the speakers themselves. https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=69999&highlight=event+tr5

Has anyone gone into a store and been able to A/B the SP-5B's or BX-5's against the TR-5's? I'd love to hear some specific comments from people who've done this, or actually own a pair of one of these.
 
oh yeah...also, does anyone actually own a pair of the Samson Resolv monitors??? I'd love to hear someone's A/B experiences.

The Resolv 50a is a bi-amplified pair for $219 at Samash.com or music123.com. And the Resolv 65a is a similar but bigger pair for $299. They're nice in that they're front-ported, unlike the Studiophile speakers, so you don't have to worry as much about placement far from the wall, at least in that regard. Their external design reminds me a lot of the KRK V4's.
 
I broke down and picked up a pair of SP-5B's for $199 on web special at musiciansfriend. I came soooooo close to getting an open box pair for only $159.99, but someone beat me to it, while I was putting in my billing info :( :( :( But I'm really REALLY glad I didn't wait around for another blemished pair, because now they seem to be sold out of the SP-5B's totally!!!

Anyway, $200 for these is still a pretty damn good deal, although not as good as Bmorris' BX5's for $200!!! I'll let you guys know what I think of 'em once I get a chance to play around for a few weeks with placement, etc.

Bmorris, you still liking the BX5's???
 
i have the sp5b's

and i like em a lot. they're very crisp and quite accurate and have no mud at all. the problem is that there's not nearly enough thump in the bass....but what can you expect with 5in cones? these are great for the acoustic music i've been doing--once i got used to them, they seemed to translate pretty well to other systems.

there are two absolutely "most important" pieces to the sp5b's, though. the first one is placement. you have to get these monitors placed exactly right.....the sweet-spot is pretty small. you'll be staying in that sweetspot for hours on end, so make sure that they're setup properly (and comfortably) in the first place.

the second is that you need to be aware of what you're NOT hearing (as much as what you ARE hearing). as i said before, bass is there--it's well-defined and clear, but there's none of that deep low end crushing thump that you'll find on larger monitors. you may find yourself overcompensating and having extremely bass-heavy mixes as a result. once you learn how to mix for what's not there, your mixes will improve dramatically. it's sorta like learning to eq by reduction instead of addition.

work with em for a while, you'll prolly like em. i really dig the mid range and highs on these monitors. that said, i must admit that i'll prolly be picking up a set of NS10's or YSM1's at some point just so i have a secondary reference that's a little "bigger" sounding. it's the natural evolution of things.


wade
 
Just wondering if anyone has an update on on their BX-5s. They sound like good little monitors for the money, overall. In particular, since everyone seems to like the highs and mids, has anyone tried adding a small sub to boost the bass a tad?

J.
 
I have used my BX5's with my sub, and they sound very good...not a good as my KRK V6's (IMHO), but good enough to create a translatable mix. BTW, the sub I'm using is by no mean small...it's made from 24" Sonotube, stands 5'3", and has a 15" Eclipse (TC Sounds) driver. I am thinking of getting a small sub to mate with the BX5's though. I have my eye on the Event 2020 S250, or maybe even the M-Audio SP-8S for easier portability.
 
So, I've have my SP-5B's for a few weeks now, and I gotta say I'm LOVING them! Keep in mind that this is my first pair of monitors though, so I don't have experience comparing them to anything besides what I've listened to at some stores. They're small speakers but they pack quite a punch in my opinion! I have them placed at the short side of a 20' or so long rectangular room, and having them turned up only 1/4 of the way produces loud, crisp, clear sounds! It's true that the bass response is a bit lacking, and I'm not a huge fan of the rear port, but I think it's easy enough to get used to them such that your mixes won't suffer. Interestingly, when playing any professionally-mixed tracks through these monitors I've found the bass to be quite accurate and aurally pleasing, despite the rear port. Placement IS key though, as others have said.

Anyway, that's my rather uninformed and inexperienced take on these monitors. From what I've seen, you can't beat 'em for the price, and they're GREAT as first monitors for a newbie like myself. Unfortunately musiciansfriend.com seems to have jacked the price up again, to $299.99, which is the same as the BX-5's, and I think it'd be silly not to buy the newer "improved" BX-5's when they're the same exact price! However, you can also get a "blemished" pair for $239.99 there. Now I'm REALLY glad I bought them when I did though, because the price went up $100 only a few days later, and hasn't come down since!!! Whew, that was a close call!!! :)
 
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