[mamba315]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nonchalance /img/forum/go_quote.gif On a related note you can get 10% off of your Audioengines with coupon PBC10 if you order from the site.

You can get 25% off with mw09. Just verified that its still active. My A5's cost me $261 brand new.

Quote:

Originally Posted by j3ff86 Slightly off topic but I have a question for A5 owners as I see there are a lot in this thread, how do you switch between them and headphones? I will have mine hooked up to a sound card (asus xonar) in my computer.

I have the Asus Xonar STX and A5's... I use the RCA outs for the A5's (you'll need an RCA--->1/8" adapter cable) and the headphone jack for headphones. I use the Asus software to choose where I want my sound outputted.

 

[mamba315]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich /img/forum/go_quote.gif That should be plenty of space behind the speakers. I ended up putting 4" thick ATS Acoustics panels behind my BX8a monitors to tame a slight bass bloom because of the rear wall.

Did it eliminate the bass bloom? I am considering something similar. My A5's are about 6" from the wall.

 

[richpjr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamba315 /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can get 25% off with mw09. Just verified that its still active. My A5's cost me $261 brand new.

I noticed that the other day - nice discount. The BX5a's mentioned here are now going for $269 at Guitar Center.

 

[jinp6301]

I owned both and the A5s are MUCH better then the Bx5a except for the highs. The tweeter that the BX5A uses is fantastic

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamba315 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did it eliminate the bass bloom? I am considering something similar. My A5's are about 6" from the wall.

They don't completely eliminate the extra bloom, but does make it much more tolerable.

One problem with acoustic panels is that they are 4" thick. If you only have 6" behind the speakers now, after the panels are added you'll only have about 2" of breathing room behind the port. Will having only 2" of breathing room have more of a detrimental effect on the sound than the improvement you get from adding the panels? It will be a balance and a tradeoff.

 

[koven]

a5 is in another league... a2 are more comparable to the bx5a

from my experience buying active speakers, the bx5a has great highs, the mackie mr5 has great bass, but the krk rp5g2 sounded the smoothest/most neutral to me and that's what i ended up getting

haven't heard the a2 but i hear you cant go wrong w/ them

 

[j3ff86]

I've got another A5 question, when I put my ear close up to either of the speakers, there is a lot of white noise/static, is this normal? It does this if I'm plugged into a source or not.

 

[Mr. B]

I noticed the same thing shortly after I received mine. I don't know if I would call it "a lot" though. The noise level does not change with volume adjustments and I cannot hear it without having my ear right up to the speaker so I assumed it was an acceptable level of noise.

 

[ljhodad]

Here was my solution that reclaimed some desktop real estate:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/pi...9/index29.html

The A5s are 6" from the wall...and yes louder is better with these.

 

[j3ff86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamba315 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the Asus Xonar STX and A5's... I use the RCA outs for the A5's (you'll need an RCA--->1/8" adapter cable) and the headphone jack for headphones. I use the Asus software to choose where I want my sound outputted.

Do you mean the built headphone jack on the front of your computer (or internal i/o drive)? Mine has one too but I get electrical interference noise.

 

[j2kei]

i got to try the BX8 which is 8" version of BX5. i feel that these have bloated muddy bass, which is definitely a big no no for me

 

[rjoseph]

On a sidebar, I would recommend the Mackie MR5. They are great and i compared them to the BX5, JBLs and Rokit RP5. I found the Mackies to be the best and love every detail they produce. The JBLs were slightly better at detail but sounded very flat. The MR5s do not need a subwoofer, they have great bass. Also the Mackies have balanced XLR connects which adds a great amount of SQ to the output.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by j2kei /img/forum/go_quote.gif i got to try the BX8 which is 8" version of BX5. i feel that these have bloated muddy bass, which is definitely a big no no for me

I would agree there. But the amount of bloat does depend on placement. Properly placed with enough room behind the port and far enough from a wall the bloat is less. I also run my BX8a through an EQ that has an adjustable hi pass (low cut) filter. If I want to reduce the bloat I adjust the hi pass filter till it goes away. Sometimes I engage the EQ and the hi pass filter and sometimes I don't. Depends on how I'm feeling about the bass. I do think that M-Audio tried to make the speakers go just a little bit too low just to get better spec numbers (at this price point you're selling a lot of speakers just based on specs on paper as shoppers go spec comparison shopping). Using a hi pass filter fixes that to an extent. So would using a good sub and adjusting the crossover point so that the BX8a is not trying to go so low.

I still consider them $300 speakers (for a pair). So I'm not expecting too much from them.

 

[j2kei]

oh i thought i add on that i was able to listen to the bx8 at guitar center, however sadly they were placed at the lowest row of the studio monitor displays. nonetheless, when compared to a KRK VXT7 or 8 (i dont really remember the model name), the bass is most definitely bloated. i even crouched so i could get my ears as close to same level as the monitors.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

The KRK VXT8 jumps you up to the $1200+ price point per pair. That's quite a jump up from the BX8a. $1200+ can get you a very nice pair of monitors that outdo the BX8a in every way. The sound of the BX8a is fair for its price point. They certainly don't compete with higher priced monitors.