2.0 Speakers Compilation: Best for <$500 - Page 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve-o27 

How does the BX8a Deluxe compare to the BX5a Deluxe? I know the first one has a larger low frequency speaker and goes a bit lower but is it really worth the extra money? I'm thinking of replacing my AV40s and I'm in search for some decent near field monitors. My budget is around 300€, give or take 15€ for shipping.

They're near identical minus the BX8a's better low range.  Mind you that they pack a WHOPPING 8" driver.  Not exactly desk friendly. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Defenestrator 

Ports are where you plug in the power cable?

The ports are bass reflex ports.  Most speakers are ported like that.  The port can be located on the front of the speaker, rear of the speaker, or even the side (though I can't think of a speaker right now that has the port on the side).  Rear ported speakers need to be located 6" or 12" or more from the wall so the port can breathe.  Put the speaker too close to the wall and you get bloom in the bass.  Front ported speakers are more flexible in placement since the port isn't going to get restricted by a wall next to it.

Front ported speakers are more difficult to design cause there is not that much space on the front of a speaker cabinet, both physically and structurally, for a port.  So front ported speakers often have to make specially shaped ports which adds complications and cost in building the speaker.  The back of the speaker has lots of open space and it is easy to put a simple round port there.  There is also an issue with the wave from the port interacting with the wave from the driver so there are sonic complications to a front port as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kawai_man 

Ok maybe I can shed some light on this subject, I've been researching monitors and the best ones almost always use torroidal transformers, in fact the first three from the list use torroid transformers the rest as far as I know use regular EI transformers. Usually only higher end monitors like genelecs and dynudios use them because torroids are more expensive, only a few monitors under 500 use them which I will list below. The audioengines and swans are overated IMO, not that they are bad and these also use torroid transformers, but they use passive crossovers to separate the highs from the lows and use one amp to power both speakers. Active speakers use active crossovers which don't suck clarity from sound like passive ones do and each speaker has its own amp and power supply, as some of you may know in audio getting good clean power and good power distribution is like 50% of the battle to getting good sound. By design an active speaker is always going to sound better.

 

These are the top 4 best sounding monitors IMO under 500 in ranking order these all use torroid transformers as well.

 

JBL 2325p

Tapco S5  ( identical to MR5's)

Mackie MR5

BX5a

The speakers with the 8" woofers you will be sacrificing some midrange for more bass, the ones with the smaller woofers will have better midrange but a little less bass , I've owned or listened to all those monitors above and they have more  enough bass for small to medium rooms I wouldn't want more bass, the 2325p's in have the best bass, while the tapcos and mackies and m-audio bx5a's have best midrange, you cant go wrong with any of them IMO.

the 8" versions of those monitors also use toroidal transformers

I just came back from GuitarCenter.

I went to check out the BX5a Deluxe and whatever else they had in the same price range.

I was glued listening to both the BX5a Deluxe and Yamaha HS50M.

They both sounded very good, but IMHO the Yamaha HS50M were definitely better.

The clarity of the mids and highs were so crisp and clear. I fell in love.

I also went to guitar center today, had a brief listen to the KRK RP5's and I was quite impressed. Im pretty sure those are going to be my next set of computer speakers. Got to love the front port, no placement problems, they go quite loud and seemed to have a surprising amount of bass output, i was looking for a subwoofer. Though, they only extend to about 55 hrz, they do that really well. 

My journey in powered monitors started about 3 years ago when I picked up a pair of Audioengine A2's. Nice little speaker considering the size, but a sub is definitely  recommended. Then I came across a pair of KRK V4 and the Audioengine quickly went to a spare guest room. Much better definition in the KRK's and bass was present enough that I could almost turn off the old B&W subwoofer. 

Fast forward to the present where a pair of Event Tuned Reference 8 are sitting on each side of my monitor. For me, this is as good as it's gonna get without breaking the bank. The subwoofer has been turned off permanently and every time I listen to them I'm surprised how pleasant they sound. Never harsh, never dull, just right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kawai_man 

 The audioengines and swans are overated IMO, not that they are bad and these also use torroid transformers, but they use passive crossovers to separate the highs from the lows and use one amp to power both speakers. Active speakers use active crossovers which don't suck clarity from sound like passive ones do and each speaker has its own amp and power supply, as some of you may know in audio getting good clean power and good power distribution is like 50% of the battle to getting good sound. By design an active speaker is always going to sound better.

 

These are the top 4 best sounding monitors IMO under 500 in ranking order these all use torroid transformers as well.

 

JBL 2325p

Tapco S5  ( identical to MR5's)

Mackie MR5

BX5a

Swans M200 MKIII do have Bi-amplification and Active Crossover, they're very different than the M200 and M200 MKII, here are the specs :

General Data
Model	HiVi M200MKIII
System Series	2.0 Professional active electron filter multimedia speaker system
Acoustic System
System Type	2-way, 4th order active vented box speaker system
Drivers Configuration	5.25" mid range,25mm dome tweeter
Frequency Range	53Hz-20kHz
Sensitivity	87dB (2.83V/1m)
Nominal Impedance	4Ω
Power Range	10-80W
Amplifiers System
Rated Power	60W for single channel 120W for two channels
Active Crossover Frequency	1.8kHz
Bass Adjust	±3dB (100Hz)
Treble Adjust	±3dB (10KHz)
Separation	>56dB
Signal-to-Noise	>85dB
Distortion	THD<0.1% ( 8Ω、10W )
Input sensitivity	680mV
Input impedance	32kΩ
Other Parameter
Finished	Matte black finish and solid wood side panels
Dimension (W×H×D(mm))	192×335×270
Net Weight	Active Speaker : 8.0Kg  Passive Speaker : 5.8Kg

I own both the BX5a Deluxe and the A5's. I think the A5s were much better (especially at louder volumes). There's a certain charm to the laid back sound and the vocal clarity was perfect. I use the BX5a's in the basement now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheaphifi 

 

Swans M200 MKIII do have Bi-amplification and Active Crossover, they're very different than the M200 and M200 MKII, here are the specs :

 

M200MKIII

General Data
Model	HiVi M200MKIII
System Series	2.0 Professional active electron filter multimedia speaker system
Acoustic System
System Type	2-way, 4th order active vented box speaker system
Drivers Configuration	5.25" mid range,25mm dome tweeter
Frequency Range	53Hz-20kHz
Sensitivity	87dB (2.83V/1m)
Nominal Impedance	4Ω
Power Range	10-80W
Amplifiers System
Rated Power	60W for single channel 120W for two channels
Active Crossover Frequency	1.8kHz
Bass Adjust	±3dB (100Hz)
Treble Adjust	±3dB (10KHz)
Separation	>56dB
Signal-to-Noise	>85dB
Distortion	THD<0.1% ( 8Ω、10W )
Input sensitivity	680mV
Input impedance	32kΩ
Other Parameter
Finished	Matte black finish and solid wood side panels
Dimension (W×H×D(mm))	192×335×270
Net Weight	Active Speaker : 8.0Kg  Passive Speaker : 5.8Kg

Those are NOT bi-amped.  A bi-amped speaker would have separate amplifier ratings for the tweeter and woofer in each speaker.  For example, my Quad 12L Actives have 40W going to each tweeter and 60W going to each woofer.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimragone 

My journey in powered monitors started about 3 years ago when I picked up a pair of Audioengine A2's. Nice little speaker considering the size, but a sub is definitely  recommended. Then I came across a pair of KRK V4 and the Audioengine quickly went to a spare guest room. Much better definition in the KRK's and bass was present enough that I could almost turn off the old B&W subwoofer. 

Fast forward to the present where a pair of Event Tuned Reference 8 are sitting on each side of my monitor. For me, this is as good as it's gonna get without breaking the bank. The subwoofer has been turned off permanently and every time I listen to them I'm surprised how pleasant they sound. Never harsh, never dull, just right.

yeah the V4 are also fantastic and uses the high quality torroid transformers,  I would have added them to my little list I made but its discontinued speaker

Those M200 MKIII are not active speakers

Quote:

Originally Posted by wgb113 

 

Those are NOT bi-amped.  A bi-amped speaker would have separate amplifier ratings for the tweeter and woofer in each speaker.  For example, my Quad 12L Actives have 40W going to each tweeter and 60W going to each woofer.
 

The product page at Swan Speaker and the manual available at Audio Insider indicate that it is an active bi-amped speaker with an active crossover and four channels of amplification.  The speaker with the amps has 4 channels of amplification inside.  60W at 4 ohms for the woofer and 60W at 4 ohms for the tweeter.  The cable that connects from the amped speaker to the non-amped speaker has four wires so it's powering the woofer and tweeter separately.  Interesting design to stuff all the amps in one speaker.  Makes for a more computer speaker friendly setup since there can be one volume knob that controls both speakers.  Would save on costs as well since you would only need one power supply for all the amps rather than having a power supply in each speaker.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich 

The product page at Swan Speaker and the manual available at Audio Insider indicate that it is an active bi-amped speaker with an active crossover and four channels of amplification.  The speaker with the amps has 4 channels of amplification inside.  60W at 4 ohms for the woofer and 60W at 4 ohms for the tweeter.  The cable that connects from the amped speaker to the non-amped speaker has four wires so it's powering the woofer and tweeter separately.  Interesting design to stuff all the amps in one speaker.  Makes for a more computer speaker friendly setup since there can be one volume knob that controls both speakers.  Would save on costs as well since you would only need one power supply for all the amps rather than having a power supply in each speaker.

Not to nitpick but I used to own the mark 2 version of this speaker and it was certainly not a bi-amped speaker nor did it have an electronic crossover.   I read your linked material for the Mark 3 and could not find any mention of of it in any of the specs or user guides.  There is only a vague mention of 120 watts total.  Certainly NO mention of 4 channels of amplification.

EDIT:

It is mentioned in the text preceding the specs.

EDIT:

APOLOGIES to the Pork man

I know the reviews also say they are biamped and use an active crossover,  but why don't they make it perfectly clear in the specs.  

They are not clear at all in the marketing material or the manual about what exactly the speaker system is doing.  I had the piece the info together from multiple locations.  They need to work on their marketing.  Being active differentiates it from speakers like the AudioEngine which are passive speakers that happen to have an amp inside.

The last page of the manual (PDF file at Audio Insider) mentions the power specs to each driver (60W to woofer and 60W to tweeter).

It also says the woofer is magnet proof.  I assume that's engrish for magnetically shielded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by t1337Dude 

I own both the BX5a Deluxe and the A5's. I think the A5s were much better (especially at louder volumes). There's a certain charm to the laid back sound and the vocal clarity was perfect. I use the BX5a's in the basement now.

That's the only thing the A5 was good at, vocals. Anything upbeat like modern rock sounds much better on the BX5a. The tweeter in undeniably better on the BX5a. The BX5a is also much crisper to my ears. If you listen to slow tunes, I can understand why you would prefer the A5. Anything that is speedy and requires a certain energy spark the BX5a is far better to me in that aspect. Ultimately, the A5 sound too warm for me which I am not too keen about. The rounding of the transients and mid bass hump is colorization that sealed the A5 off for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich 

 the woofer is magnet proof. 

I almost fell out of my chair with that one.  

If I had a dollar for every poorly translated sentence.