bx5a deluxe vs bx8a

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ESPplayer7

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I was wondering which of these two would be the better choice. They are about the same price range (im talking about the bx8a regular, not deluxe) but supposedly the deluxe has better drivers. Would the bx8a still be the better choice because they are bigger? THANKS A BUNCH GUYS!
 
the reason i am asking is because i have NO idea about monitors, so if someone could give me their opinion and why perhaps i could understand more. THANKS!!
 
the reason i am asking is because i have NO idea about monitors, so if someone could give me their opinion and why perhaps i could understand more. THANKS!!
I know this is not the answer you're looking for, but our opinions are irrelevant. Unless you happen to know that our ears and tastes are the same - which is about as likely as our tastes in food or movies or music being the same - there's no way for you to be able to calibrate our opinions to your tastes. When was the last time that you agreed with Roger Ebert on more than 50% of his movie opinions?

Plus a lot depends upon the room you're putting them in and how you plan on placing them.

You need to actually visit your local dealer(s) and listen for yourself to see which one actually fits your needs the best. If you don't have a showroom in your area that you can go to, work with a salesperson on the phone who understands that buying monitors is like buying shoes, you need to get ones that fit your ears comfortably, and that may require returning a pair and getting a different pair if they didn't work out for you when you got them.

And if you think you simply aren't ready or able to trust your own ears, then you pretty much aren't ready or able to mix or master music yet, either, and you're better off saving your money on monitors until you are.

Now, inevitably others are going to come in here and say, "I have these, they're awsome!" or "I have those, they're even awsomer!" :rolleyes: I want you to remember not only this post when you read those, but I want you to try this: go a search on monitor opinions, not only on this forum, but on any forum anywhere. Google "which studio monitor?" or something like that. Then come back and tell us how many times you've actually read someone say, "I have the ____, but frankly, they are not very good." I'll bet you the number of time you read something like that approaches zero.

G.
 
I think you're being a bit harsh Glen. Reading between the lines of his question, I think he's unsure what factors he should be considering to be able to make the decision so some guidance for how he should approach his investment decision is not unreasonable.

ESP, you need to do a comparison of the two models to see what the difference in the sound is and whether that appeals to you. A lot depends on the type of music you're listening to. In general the bigger speaker should have better bass response because it'll need less aggressive porting. However, that can mean less accuracy in the midrange because a larger woofer isn't usually so good at handling the midrange. For that reason some people opt for the smaller speaker and use a subwoofer to extend the range. Having said that, for your particular use deep bass might not be necessary and if your room is small or has poor bass response, it might not be desirable.
 
I think you're being a bit harsh Glen. Reading between the lines of his question, I think he's unsure what factors he should be considering to be able to make the decision so some guidance for how he should approach his investment decision is not unreasonable.
Yeah, I know my position is controversial, and can sometimes sound harsh. You're right, iqi. By coincidence of timing (I've been working on it for days now), I'll be posting Part 2 of a series on nearfield monitors on the IRN website later today or tomorrow (depending on when the burgers need to be cooked ;) :)) that I believe explains the point a bit better.

There are not many, if any, brand name loudspeakers marketed as "studio monitors" that are actually poorly designed or constructed, IMHO. Some are built better than others, sure, but there's no reason why - as long as they are not abused - any of these models should not be working to spec five years from now.

Maybe that answers his question more directly...or at least the first half of it.

Other than price, there are only two real difference between monitors: 1) how they sound, and 2) who's listening to them. Those two factors are inexorably linked. No one can tell someone else that one monitor sounds "better" than another, because everybody has a different definition of "better". And those definitions are not necessarily always directly related to measurable quantitative terms such as "flatness" or "accuracy".

This means that the only person that can, IMHO, answer the second half of ESP's question is ESP.

I know that is most definitely not the answer that everybody wants to hear, but I don't see how it can possibly fall out any other way. For anybody to say that Model A will work better than Model B for someone else - or vice versa - has at best a 50% chance of being right; this is the equivalent of saying they will be giving a wrong answer half the time.

If that sounds harsh, then reality is harsh in this instance, and I'm not sure how to make it otherwise.

Additionally, while I agree with the general concepts you lay out about the woofer size and crossover, which one will actually be better suited for ESP (or any other one person) will depend much on his actual room configuration. For example, if he's limited by circumstance to a smaller room where he is forced to have his monitors closer to the back walls or corners than we would normally recommend, he may actually get a more translatable response out of the smaller speaker.

For another example, in this specific instance of the mAudio BX series, even with the 8", it only goes down to 50Hz @ -10dB, and at real specs of ± 3dB or less, only about 60Hz. It could be argued that both the 8 and the 5, a subwoofer would be warranted for the real bass. And in fact, the mAudio subwoofer is speced to match these weakness rather well.

G.
 
Good reply Glen. I'll look out for that article.

I've been thinking about upgrading my monitors for years and the thing that stops me is that unless I put out several grand for a really good pair, I'm just replacing speakers that I know well with ones that sound different or nicer but aren't actually any more accurate than what I have.
 
Well, since I made that last post my family has rescheduled things for me :rolleyes:. I'm about to walk out the door for the afternoon/evening, so it probably won't be until tomorrow that it'll be up and running.

Enjoy your Sunday! :D

G.
 
Whoops, the holiday messed up my schedule. The new piece (Monitors Part 2) is now up.

G.
 
I don't think there's much there that you don't already know, though iqi. But you're welcome anyway :).

G.
 
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