[EnOYiN]

I made a small review on the Behringer MS-40. I was asked to write down some impressions about these speakers and here they are. I am not sure whether I am supposed to post it here or somewhere else. Since they are computer speakers I thought it would be appropriate to post it here. If you are a moderator and feel different about this, feel free to move it wherever you like.

I will try to not review them as monitor or high-end speakers. They simply aren’t. I think that you can see them as an alternative to the Logitech speakers a lot of people ( which included me - a while back) own. Just fun speakers for people who do not want to spend too much money and still want decent sound. They are magnetically shielded so they can be placed next to a CRT without a problem.

These speakers can be had for $189.99. I got them cheaper though.

On the front there are 4 knobs with which you can adjust the bass, the treble and the volume. There are 2 knobs for the volume. One per line input.

Some specs:

Loudspeakers
Tweeter Ø 65 mm (2 1/2"), 8 Ω
Woofer Ø 120 mm (4 3/4"), 4 Ω
Audio inputs
Line 1 1/8" TRS stereo, impedance 20 kΩ
Line 2 2 RCA, impedance 20 kΩ
Digital inputs
Optical TOSLINK
Coaxial RCA
Converter 24-bit
Sample rate < 192 kHz
System specifications
Output power 2 x 20 W
Frequency response 50 Hz to 25 kHz
Power supply
Mains voltages USA/Canada 120 V~, 60 Hz
Europe/U.K./Australia 230 V~, 50 Hz
China 220 V~, 50 Hz
Japan 100 V~, 50 - 60 Hz
General export model
120/230 V~, 50 - 60 Hz
Power consumption 90 W
Physical
Dimensions (H x W x D)
11" x 6 4/5" x 9 5/8"
279 mm x 173 mm x 245 mm
Weight right: 10.78 lbs. (4.9 kg)
left: 7.04 lbs. (3.2 kg)

Here is a link to the website of Behringer:
http://www.behringer.com/MS40/index.cfm?lang=ENG

Well, they are speakers all right. It’s a 2.0 model with 2 woofers and 2 tweeters. It would be optimistic to call those somewhat larger speakers woofers( I would call them bigger tweeters), but Behringer does, so who am I to disagree. If you are planning on really irritating your neighbours I would try something else.

Bass
I played the 8 mile soundtrack to check whether they did indeed provide enough bass and good bass. My parents sure did think so. You are able to get a small breeze going, but not so much more than that. The speakers are moving in a way which is really scary, but there is hardly any distortion even at volumes I would rarely use. The bass sounds pretty tight at low volumes and there is enough impact.

When turning up the bass and the volume the speakers will start moving in such a way that I didn’t dare to turn up the volume more. Like I said before: If you want bass get something with a subwoofer. These speakers might not satisfy someone who is listening to Hip-Hop a lot or trance a lot. ( or whatever bass-head)

They are able to give enough bass for me and I like my neighbours enough to not want to bother them too much.


Mids
The mids are better than the bass which isn’t that strange because the speakers are quite small. It does clearly a better job at this part of the music. Things like punk rock can be played loud. LOUD and it will still sound good. I think, listening to it closely, you can go deaf at these volumes. It’s a shame I can’t measure it. Sounds like more than 85dB though.

I played an album called Dookie to see if I am just writing absolute **** or whether it still has something to do with the reality. If you don’t know Dookie I suggest you look it up. Just because you should.

The first thing I noticed when playing the first track was that the snare drums sound a bit muffled. Some people might want to call it laid-back. It’s not the Grado sound of a snare drum, that’s for sure.

Guitars are pretty much how they should sound, but also a bit muffled. These speakers just can’t get the truth aggressiveness of an electric guitar across.

The mids are not extremely detailed, but they are there. You can adjust the bass and the treble to get somewhat better mids if you fiddle around with the knobs on the front a bit. It will not be spectacular though.


Highs
I played the album New For MS made by Roni Size Reprazent to see how well they do with highs. I also played The Songs by Samuel Barber.

The highs are detailed. Very detailed. The cymbals sound like they should sound. You can tell everything apart. Nothing muffled here like there is in the mids. The vocals are clear. I don’t have a woman here to check out how it sounds in reality, but I imagine this is quite close.

I would say the highs are the biggest plus for these speakers.


General
Built-in 2 x 20-Watt powerful amplifiers with immense headroom

That’s what it says on the website of Behringer. Immense headroom…. Well, immense is something else, but they will blow any Logitech 2.0 away. You will not have to worry about distortion or compression when listening to them at normal volumes at all.

High-quality components and exceptionally rugged construction ensure long life

That’s what it says there as well. I don’t doubt it as a matter of fact. They seem very durable. They are made of something which either looks an awful lot like wood or is wood and hard plastic. I can’t say anything about the high-quality components, but it can’t be that bad.

2-way active studio monitors ideally suited for computer studios, audio and multimedia workstations and keyboard monitoring

I wouldn’t use them as monitors. Although these speaker do not sound bad. They are most certainly not neutral. If you want monitor speakers you should look somewhere else.


Conclusion
I think these speakers are well worth it if you use them the way I do. I use them when I’ve got people visiting me and I want to play something nice on the background. I also use them when I just don’t feel like wearing headphones.

These speakers are not high-end as I mentioned before. They are way better than Logitech speakers though. These speakers are way more detailed than anything Logitech has to offer in this price range. I liked them better than the Gigaworks S750 myself as well – which is a 7.1 set – but I can understand some people will not agree with me on that.

Since I am not a bass-head I have no problems with the lack of bass. For low volume music listening I think these speakers are among the best that can be had for this price.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review as much as I did writing it.

Cheers.

 

[musicmind]

Groeten Enoyin

Thanks very much for taking the time to write the review.
It was useful for me to note your comparisons against the Creative/Logitech speakers in the same price range and also that they perform essentially as "multimedia" speakers and not pure monitors, which is how I would intend to use them.

My source is mostly mp3/flac format jazz, I think that the good mid and treble performance may suit this music quite nicely.
The Swans 200A speakers are highly recommended by many, perhaps because they have a little more lower bass freq range, but I think they are almost twice the price of the MS-40, and also dont have a headphone output.

I'll research a bit more yet, but these are definitely on my short list.

Dank u wel

 

[EnOYiN]

I think that there are quite a lot of speaker twice the price are better than the MS-40s. They should be. It's the price that makes these interesting in my opinion.

Alstublieft.

 

[musicmind]

Hi again Enoyin

I was wondering how useful you find the headphone out of the MS-40 for driving your DT 880's?

Still researching for my purchase...so many alternatives..lol
Ah well, the search is half the fun

Thanks, keep well

 

[clc220]

great review, nice read.

 

[coolpurplefan]

Can anyone comment on the Behringer MS20? Is the sound quality as good?
I have a pair of Altec Lansing 120i and was frustrated with the 3 watt total output. So, I bought a pair of Logitech X-140. Anyway, I nearly went into a depression when I heard the sound.

I've never heard pro speakers in my life but I want to know if the Behringer MS20 will be good not only for playing music but I'd like a great pair of speakers for people's voices when watching a movie. Would the Behringer MS20 do that? I mean, they're only 20 watts so they wouldn't bother my neighbor. Either that, or I could go for a pair of JBL Duet which are 12 watts.

Can I use a piece of fabric attached with thumbnails to protect the speakers?

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolpurplefan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've never heard pro speakers in my life but I want to know if the Behringer MS20 will be good not only for playing music but I'd like a great pair of speakers for people's voices when watching a movie. Would the Behringer MS20 do that? I mean, they're only 20 watts so they wouldn't bother my neighbor. Either that, or I could go for a pair of JBL Duet which are 12 watts.

I haven't got the Behringer MS20s myself, but from what I've heard from them it's not the best option. I think if you want to get something slightly cheaper than the MS20s you should think about Edifier S2.1 D. They are better for what you want I think. They can be had for about $75. It's either that or try getting MS40s for a good price. ( I don't think you should pay more than $120 for them)

The main advantage of the Edifiers is that they've got a sub woofer which (in my opinion) is more fun.

I haven't heard the JBLs ever so I can't comment on those. Someone else maybe?

Edit:
Quote:

Originally Posted by coolpurplefan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can I use a piece of fabric attached with thumbnails to protect the speakers?

You can, but if you are not planning on throwing basketballs at your speakers I wouldn't do so. They don't need that much protection. ( the MS20s and MS40 don't anyway)

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicmind /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi again Enoyin I was wondering how useful you find the headphone out of the MS-40 for driving your DT 880's? Still researching for my purchase...so many alternatives..lol Ah well, the search is half the fun Thanks, keep well

It's God awful. Don't Don't Don't DON'T EVER use it. It's warbling and god knows what else. I doubt if they even thought about a resistor between the speaker amp and the headphone out. It's too loud for pretty much everything. (aside from K1000s maybe)

 

[coolpurplefan]

Thanks for the ideas but I don't want a subwoofer because I know my neighbor would go nuts. And I want a headphone jack and volume button on the front.

 

[musicmind]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnOYiN /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's God awful. Don't Don't Don't DON'T EVER use it. It's warbling and god knows what else. I doubt if they even thought about a resistor between the speaker amp and the headphone out. It's too loud for pretty much everything. (aside from K1000s maybe)

Groeten

Hmmm...well that is a little depressing to hear for me. I was hoping I could use that output as a better alternative to my onboard Soundmax headphone output and get rid of the little bit background "mouse accompaniment" sounds.

I'm investigating the "T-amp" with bookshelf speakers route at the moment.

Still, the MS40s look tempting for their price and convenient layout.

Thanks for answering all our questions

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicmind /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmmm...well that is a little depressing to hear for me. I was hoping I could use that output as a better alternative to my onboard Soundmax headphone output and get rid of the little bit background "mouse accompaniment" sounds.

It will get rid of the background noise when using a optical to connect it to your computer. It will sound awful though and hence I can't recommend it.

 

[coolpurplefan]

I got a question. What if I buy a pair of Polk Audio R150 bookshelf speakers and plug them into an amp. I see most active speakers have 10% THD. That's Total Harmonic Distortion right? Would that reduce the THD to under 2%?

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolpurplefan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I got a question. What if I buy a pair of Polk Audio R150 bookshelf speakers and plug them into an amp. I see most active speakers have 10% THD. That's Total Harmonic Distortion right? Would that reduce the THD to under 2%?

THD is total harmonic distortion indeed. AFAIK total harmonic distortion is mainly caused by the mechanical parts. So, I doubt it would change at all if you would use a amplifier which has <2% THD. I think it would still be 10%. ( if that is what the R150s have)

If you want to be sure you should ask in the Cable & Speaker Forum. The people there are way more knowledgeable about these kind of things than I am.

 

[Paul_in_Maryland]

I looked closely at the Behringer MS40, the Samson Resolv R40A, and the m-Audio AV40 before settling on the m-Audio. The Behringer is the only speaker I've seen above $100 whose specs don't say what the woofer and tweeter are made of. I've downloaded the spec sheet and the manual--nada. Google, too, is mute. That leads me to conclude that the MS40s use a paper woofer and Mylar tweeter.

 

[noseallinit]

a couple of years ago I was looking to downsize me footprint in this world and base me music around me iMac. I started off looking at the Roland DM-20 which looks almost identical to the Behringer MS-40. each of the DM-20 monitors had it's on power supply and 20w amp built inside it. a single RCA interconnect passed the signal. one thing that was drawing me to it was it's built in DAC.

so I decided to take me iMac down to me local muscians store to give it a test run for a couple of hours. the DM-20's blew away any PC speaker setup I had heard but they did not compare to me NAD 710 and Polk RT-5 setup. I could not see getting rid of me NAD and Polk setup for the DM-20 just to save a little on space. I also took me Grado SR-80's with me and the headphone output was okay.

at the time Roland also made the DM-10 and a 2.1 setup the DM2100. Edirol also had versions of these. newer versions are also made but I think the DM-20 was the better model of old and new. Roland made the DM-20 for many years so I am sure they can be found.

I would take the DM-20's over any other PC speaker I have heard but I think there are better alternatives to be had. I personally would look at other active studio monitors or a amp/ receiver and speaker setup.