Yo Stocktony! When I first started building my studio, I was building it to record a project CD, but the mixing and mastering were to be outsourced, which turned out to be a very good decision. So- I had to cut a few corners, and I cut some of them on the monitor chain, figuring if I was going to track it, not mix it, I needed good mics, preamps, and instuments more than good monitors. That was also true. But, I needed to have something to listen to the music with, so I bought a pair of M-Audio SP5B's, which were the forerunner of the BX5's. They actually work pretty well, but for reasons I did not understand, the bass ports are in the back, so if you want to hear the bass, you have to walk around behind them, or put a hard reflecting surface, like plywood behind them.
Later, I found out that the SP5B's, and for that matter, the SP8B's (same deal with 8" drivers) were made to work with a powered subwoofer (I forget the number now). In any event, the new designation is BX5 and BX8, and the subwoofer is designated SBX. Well I learned to mix with these little bass-weak puppies, and they have served me rather well. About 6 months ago, I added the SBX sub ($500 list, $400 street price, GC sold it to me for $300 new) and Hola! I have bass, and can adjust it.
Most people on this board will recommend passive monitors, but the price of a good poweramp adds quite a bit to the budget. My recommendation is that you get a set of BX8-s if you can swing the money, and a set of BX5's if you can't. When the money becomes available later, add the SBX sub. Remember that the important thing about monitors is not whether they sound good. It's whether they will transmit the information to you that you need to make mixes that sound good on a home stereo or in a car. Monitors are built to reveal the sounds in music that suck- noise, hum, phase distortion, clipping.
They are not built to fill a room with sound. They are built to fill 2 square feet with sound. In the end, once you adapt to them, you can make good mixes with a pair of BX5's. Just remember that you will have a tendancy to turn the bass up too much, because the bass response of the monitors is weak, and when you play it back in the car, you may find that the bass blows your head off.-Richie
