Coming from high-end headphones, I’ve always held back on getting desktop speakers. Most consumer 2.0 or 2.1 set-ups are either not powerful enough or their sounds are simply not what an audiophile is looking for. In recent years, with the spur in amateur, home-based studios, audio manufacturers have been racing to come up with affordable studio monitor speakers in compact sizes. The major difference between studio monitors and consumer speakers is that the former seeks to reproduce the cleanest and the most accurate sound as originally intended by a track’s sound engineer. Companies like KRK Sys, Polk, and Dynaudio all have produced compact studio monitors that can effectively compete with speakers many times their sizes. M-Audio, one of the most favourite brands among amateur musicians and recording artists, has revamped a very successful model of their mid-line compact studio monitor series – the BX5a. Its successor, the BX5a Deluxe, is what I have been auditioning in my system for more than 3 weeks. It’s time for a verdict.




Specifications
requency response: 56Hz-22kHz
crossover frequency: 3kHz
low-frequency amplifier power: 40 watts
high-frequency amplifier power: 30 watts
signal-to-noise: >100dB
input impedance: 20k ohms balanced,10k ohms unbalanced
input sensitivity: 85 mV pink noise input produces 90dBA output SPL
protection: RF interference, output current limiting, over temperature, turn-on/off transient, subsonic filter, external mains fuse
cabinet: vinyl laminated MDF
size: 250 mm(H) x 176 mm(W) x 200 mm(D)
weight: 5.0 kg/unit


Build and Design (8/10)

The BX5a Deluxe is housed in black vinyl coated medium-density fibreboards. For its size, the speaker is pretty heavy. All the controls and ports are located in the back while the front sports a very clean design, with only the speaker drivers and a dimmed blue LED light. A tip of the hat to M-Audio for sparing us from those eye-straining ultra bright LEDs found on so many electronic devices. If only M-Audio could have included a speaker grille to block out the dust and prevent physical contact with the drivers, it would have been perfect. As a result, cleaning them requires extra attention as to not damaging the driver cones.

I’m not going to list all of the features of the monitor here, you can check them out on the manufacturer’s website. The only thing I want to mention is that the BX5a Deluxe supports both unbalanced and balanced connection through TS and TRS adapter, respectively. Unfortunately, the monitor does not house RCA jacks. The only way to connect it to a RCA-output device is through a TS-to-RCA cable/adapter.



The BX5a (each monitor) is powered by a 70 watt solid-state internal bi-amp. At idle, like most powered monitors out there, the BX5a produces a slight hiss that can be heard if the listener is sitting within 2 feet of the speakers in a very quiet room. The hiss is inaudible at longer distance or when music is playing.

Sound (8/10)

The sound of the BX5a is exceptionally clean with incredibly silky highs and good tight bass. Vocals are well portrayed with loads of details. Despite its neutral quality, vocals appear slightly warmer. Although most of the emotions are able to come through, the sound felt a tad flat. Do not expect the same emotional sincerity you would get from a high-fidelity tube-amplified headphone setup. After all, the BX5a is designed to reference sound rather than to overwhelm the listener with musical sensation. With that said, however, the monitor still portrays vocals very well.

The monitor is equipped with 1” silk tweeter. Perhaps it is no coincidence then that the treble resembles the smooth quality of silk. Whether it’s the strings of violins or the tings of triangles, the highs are always presented in a crystal-like and non-fatiguing manner. Maria Callas’ vocals in Carmen sound powerful and enveloping, yet they are never harsh on the ears. Moreover, high notes from saxophones sound oh so smooth.

The accurate portrayal of treble also contributes significantly to the speaker’s presentation of details. Cueing Eric Clapton’s Old Love, details in the sounds of his guitar really shine through. Although not as detailed as some high-end headphones, the BX5a Deluxe presents piano, plucked, and string-based instruments to a very delicate and revealing fashion. Together with excellent imaging, the sound provides listener a very accurate and three dimensional experience.

One of the major disadvantages of small size studio monitors is their inability to produce low notes. BX5a’s 5” Kevlar driver handles low-frequencies pretty well. Drums have good impact while attack is slightly above average. Bass notes are neither the quickest I’ve heard nor the slowest. Decay, however, is very good. On a fast song packed with percussions like Billy Idol’s You Spin Me Right Round, clean decays allow each hit of the drums to be clearly identified. Now, despite its strong performance, the 5” driver does have its downfall. Frequencies below 50Hz seem to be lacking, making them lack life during the explosive scenes of a movie. In spite of M-Audio’s tweaking, the 5” driver is physically impossible to achieve what an 8” or 10” subwoofer can do. If you are seeking that pleasant tremor of your walls during the explosion of a grenade in your favourite video game, then consider getting a subwoofer to pair with the BX5a Deluxe. With an 8” – 10” subwoofer completing the lowest of its bottom end, you will have a fuller and more magical all-rounder setup that will bring you onto cloud nine. Nonetheless, for pure music listening and casual movie watching, the bass of the BX5a Deluxe is more than sufficient.





Score Breakdown:

Treble - 8.5
Mids - 7
Bass - 8
Imaging - 7.5
Details - 8


Conclusion ( 7.5 /10)


As with good audio equipment, be prepared to re-rip or re-download all your music files. The BX5a Deluxe is an extremely revealing monitor speaker, exposing all the flaws of a poorly encoded 128kbps MP3 file. Treble, mid-range, and bass are all very good for the size of the speaker. Treble, especially, presents an extremely smooth and sibilance-free high range. Although they can seem slightly dull in certain recordings, vocals in general are portrayed with both emotions and depth. Furthermore, the low notes are definitely there. Even though slightly lacking when it comes to pumping out that lowest note during our extreme subwoofer test, the 5” Kevlar handles most bass notes wonderfully while being able to easily dip below the 100Hz professional subwoofer standard.

Doing some research online on customer feedback, one possible concern appears to be the quality control of the BX5a. Some users seem to have complained about busted internal amp after only a few months of usage. The consensus seems to be that one of the capacitors on the amp circuit board is faulty and the problem can be fixed by re-soldering a replacement onto it. Admittedly, with thousands being sold, a few bad apples may not be cause for concern. Nonetheless, with quite a few users experiencing the same problem, perhaps the noble thing for M-Audio to do is to acknowledge the problem and improve customer loyalty by prolonging the warranty and offering free replacements to disgruntled end-users. The concern for component quality leaves us no choice but to lower the speaker's overall score.

The MSRP for a pair of the BX5a Deluxe is set at $399.95. At that price level, we can’t really recommend them as there are other speakers on the market that can excel the M-Audio. However, with a street price at around $250 a pair, we can’t recommend them enough. Overall, the BX5a Deluxe is a very competent pair of speakers. The sound is clean with great imaging. Most importantly, it does what it was set out to do – to monitor and reveal imperfections of a recording.

What's Hot
● Extremely revealing sound
● Clean, reference-style sound reproduction
● Good tight bass
● Superbly smooth highs

What's Not
● No grille
● No RCA connections
● Sound a tad dull/flat for hi-fi purposes
● A subwoofer may be needed to achieve maximal experience