anybody compared the bx5 to the new bx5a?

[treymonfauntre]

i was in a sam ash about 2 weeks ago because they were having some big "spend over $200 get $50 off" sale. there were a million people even inside of the monitor room. i was surprised that the maudio bx5s were on sale for $200 and then i realized they were closeout because there was a new bx5a for $300. a salesman came over real quick and was like "you looking at the 5? the new 5a blows it away, you'll immediately hear the difference. want me to show you?" and i said sure. he said ok and walked out of the room real quick going somewhere and i never saw him again. so i left.
i went back a few days ago and all the bx5s were gone, only 5as.
pairs of these are going on ebay for like $150 used and one site has them still for $200. has anybody heard the 5a and noticed a difference worth $100 more?

 

[jeffree]

Haven't heard the new 5As, but I noticed that the 5's four EQ switches have disappeared--a shame really since such room adaptability was a big selling point of the 5s (for me). Add a sub, and the 5's an excellent (low-cost) monitoring solution, and the current $200 price is so low, it's laughable. Search this forum for more info. about the BX5.

Best,
J.

 

[jonnyc]

I owned the bx5's. I demo'd the 5a's about 2 weeks ago. Same amount of power pretty much the same size and the bass response seemed a tad tighter but it could've been the differences in the room. Biggest difference I noticed was the tweets did not seem as tinny and shrill on the 5a's vs. 5's. I had a real problem with my 5's being way too trebly to the point where it was harsh to listen to, I used to put my ears right up to the tweets and it sounded awful, i did the same thing with the 5a's and it didn't have nearly the harshness of the 5's. I think 300 is a fair price and I think most would notice a small difference between the two.