mtnsloth’s posthaven

The price of these active monitors recently dropped from $799 to $349. I've had my eye on them for some time as an upgrade to a pair of M-Audio BX5a monitors for one of my workstations; and decided that the price drop was reason enough to finally pull the trigger. There is not enough room behind the workstation for even a bookshelf speaker, so monitors have had to be the way to go. Note that these won't work with a stereo receiver or AVR that lacks a pre-out; and, even then, you will need some means for controling the volume. I'm using mine with a headphone amp that has pre-outs in addition to the headphone jack.

These suckers are big . . . really big. If you don't have a large desk or don't have a pair of beefy speaker stands, then this is too much speaker for you. Here is a shot of a BX5a perched on top of a Prodipe Ribbon 8.

Each speaker weighs about 25 pounds, and the footprint is approximately 10.5" (wide) by a little over 12" deep. The speakers are almost 15.5" tall, and I would recommend speaker pads as the design includes a forward facing port below the bass driver that can be seen in the following picture. It is beyond my skill to try to convince anyone that these speakers are attractive, but the sound is pretty sweet. My initial impressions are that the highs are still detailed (maybe more so than BX5a), but not as harsh as the BX5a could be at times. Bass is well presented, but bass heads (or those wanting to use these for movies) will still want a sub. The mids are maybe a bit warmer than the BX5a, but not overly colored. Overall, a no less accurate sound than the BX5a, but more enjoyable to listen to. Less sterile. However, I am not yet comfortable recommending these speakers - except to say that I prefer them to the BX5a to this point.

The back of the speaker:

As you can see, inputs include an unbalanced RCA plug (for consumer equipment) and balanced XLR or 1/4" TRS plugs for pro gear.

I'll post a review on gdgt.com in a few weeks when I get some more time with these speakers.