Overall User Ratings

"For 300 bucks there's nothing better."

Feature:
The big thing M-Audio touts about these monitors is their "tunability" to their surroundings. There are 4 switches - 1) High contour - works great to raise or lower highs and minimize ear fatigue. 2) Mid contour - also great, kind of makes them sound more like Yamaha NS10Ms in the boost position but be careful you don't mix the mids right out of your project because of the boost. 3) LF cutoff - for use when you have a sub woofer, and 4) A switch that controls bass response when placed close to walls or in corners - kinda gimmicky and might not be useful. It really only dips the mids in relation to the bass because when placed near walls, theoretically, monitors become more bassy. Personally, I'd rather have the mids AND the extended bass rather than one or the other. If you understand how the monitors are coloring the sound, you'll be ok in compensating for it.

Quality:
So far, in the few months that I've had them, they're holding together well. No rattles developing or anything.

Value:
If there was an "11" I'd choose that. These monitors absolutely live up to the advertising hype.

Desirability:
Well, they're just monitors, y'know? If you don't have any you'll certainly lust after some but for the most part, they just sit there and work. Although, the little blue LED on the front looks cool.

Sound:
I can't say enough great things about the sound of these monitors. I only rated them "8" on sound though, because when compared with other monitors outside of their price range, there are certainly other makes to consider (The M-Audio BX8 being one...). However, for near-field monitors in the $300 range, these are absolutely the best for my ear and taste. Specifically, the definition and "separate-ness" they give to all of the instruments in the mix is excellent when compared to other monitors in this price range. I eval'd these against a bunch of others in the same price range including several different Events and Fostex PM0.5s. The Events - decent definition, no bass - kind of like loud Auratones. The Fostex - not as much definition, tons of bass. One other thing about the Fostex' though, they're loud as hell - reaching about 105db in the mid spectrum with pink noise as compared to the M-Audio's 90db in the same test. That brings me to the only minor beef I have with the BX5's - for normal mixing volumes, they're great, but for the times when you just want it loud, they might fall a bit short for some tastes.

Support:
Honestly, I only choose "10" on support because of what I've heard from others about M-Audio - supposedly excellent support. I've never had to use it though because I had no problems whatsoever with thses monitors.

Overall:
Overall, I'd say that I'm going to stay with these until they're dead and based on whatever else is out by then, I'll consider my options. If they were stolen tomorrow, I'd buy them again. One thing to consider though, while these monitors don't really lack bass, they still cut off at 56Hz (they DO, after all, only have 5 inch woofers). The bass is "there" but you won't hit "the brown note" if you get my drift... These days, most mixes of modern music go down into the 30s and that might be hard to do with these alone - kinda hit and miss, trial and error - record it here, play it there stuff. The company recommends that you suppliment these with their SB8 sub woofer which I also tried and which was equally as great BUT it costs another $300. For that total outlay (about 6 - 700 with taxes), it might be better to simply buy a bigger set of monitors - there are lots of excellent choices in that price range - Alesis M1's for starters, or even the BX5's big brother the BX8. I can't comment too much on which way I'd go in that situation because I have been there and haven't had to think about it. The BX8's did sound great though - same definition as the BX5's but with way more bass (without the subwoofer).

"fantastic. phenomenal. *stares into the blue light*"

This reviewer purchased this item from Same Day Music.

Feature:
Anyone who says that they can't notice the effects of the acoustical settings on the rear must be insane. Anytime these speakers move I spend 10 - 20 minutes adjusting these settings until the speakers are as pure as possible. Being in a room where the walls are painted cinder block, the acoustic space and high frequency switches come in extremely handy to prevent the build-up of highs.

Quality:
I feel like I could drop one on the floor, put it back on the stand, and continue listening to it with no problems. I *have* cranked them to their max on bass and been slightly worried about the noises that I hear.. but.. that is at maximum volume and at frequences below 60Hz.

Value:
Granted, I'm not a good source for this information, but between the multitude of audiophile friends I have (in the adjective sense, not the noun), I have been told that I could not have found better speakers at the same price.

Desirability:
Well, the blue LED makes me happy. Interpret that however you please. The writing on the rim around the bass driver is kind of annoying.. certainly not pretty, but overall.. they look nice.

Sound:
Taking into account that these are NOT designed to produce a large amount of bass, they sound incredible. The highs are incredibly pure for $300 speakers. I recently purchased (but have not received) the SBX sub that accompanies them. Maxing out the volume from my computer and the amps on the speakers.. I notice some *slight* distortion on songs with lots of highs.. As far as accuracy is concerned, I compare these as 'good enough for me' as compared to my friend's HR824 mackies, but I can tell the difference.. but then again, the mackies are $1600.

Support:
Never used their support, but can't rate them badly considering the wide range of people who say they have great support.

Overall:
mmm.. I am becoming more of an audiophile everyday.. but the first step up I would take from these (in a distant future) are the HR824 Mackies.. so.. these are good enough to last until I can afford a pair of $1600 THX PM3 certified moniters. I don't do mixing, so I won't pretend to have knowledge there.. but for consumer audio, these get an A+.

"Good stuff for the price."

Feature:
The connections and adjustment switches DO work. I wish they were all on the front. Perhaps some sort of mounting bracket would've been helpful to get these babies off my desk. I'm worried that my kitty's going to attack the exposed woofer and tweeter so maybe a detachable front cover would be helpful too.

Quality:
I love their solid construction but I would NOT travel with them. I don't think the exposed woofer and tweeter should be traveled with unless they're in a custom protected case. Otherwise, the connections and seams look solid and symetric and there are no loose parts or paint or adhesive bit rattling around inside the cabinets. The switches and dials are also solid with no loose play.

Value:
$300 for a a pair of pro-quality shielded, powered monitors. I don't think it can be beat.

Desirability:
Cool blue LED. Solid synthetic type cabinet. Perhaps some colors for the woofer and/or tweeter would make them more sexy...

Sound:
For the price the pair delivers the suond that they should. I think the full spectrum is represented well although the highs are definitely bright while the lows aren't as round as some of the more expensive powered monitors on the market. If you want more bass get a subwoofer or a much more expensive set... I set the volume of both to the 10 o'clock position and that's plenty for my desktop set up and gives me the flexibility to control things via my PC.

Support:
Never dealt with yet. Hopefully I won't have to except to replace a fuse.

Overall:
I got these to replace some crappy 2.1 channel speakers for my PC. I do some recording via an external studio unit, lots of music listening and lots of game playing. I wanted a great 2 channel speaker setup that would give me accurate sounds and give me some good volume for my personal entertainment.

"Incredible Value"

Feature:
Configuration of Mackies. Mid freq setting really helps tone down brightness. In listening to CDs, I have found that the monitors are so accurate that I have to adjust them to make up for different productions, i.e. over equalized CDs.

Quality:
Overall quality of construction and components appears to be very good. Although 'Made In China' is labeled on the outside, many of the internal components are American. Switches are positive, and the level knob is smooth.

Value:
After performing the usual test of all the monitors at the music store, these sound considerably better than any others in the price range.

Desirability:
They have a very heavy, solid feel, and all of the controls seem to be positive and sturdy. However, I find the blue power LED distracting. Otherwise, the overall appearance with black and silver is very smart.

Sound:
Mid to upper end of spectrum is a little bright. At moderate listening levels, I experience fatigue after 15 or 20 minutes. However at low listening levels, the sound presence is well defined. Tolerence for low frequency at high power level is remarkable.

Support:
I have experienced no problems, and therefore have no experience with support.

Overall:
Overall, I have been thrilled with the sound, features, and quality of this product. I plan purchasing other M Audio equipment. The performance and price is such that the monitors can be used from everything from casual listening to home audio to serious studio work.

"Good for what they are supposed to do!! Nice design!! Read full review for details about usage though."

Feature:
Though they've added a bunch of modification switches for adjusting and compensating for different room setups, the default setting pretty much does the best it can and there really isn't a need to modify the settings from the default setup.... it is nice to boost and compare some sounds against the modifications, though... so I give them a 10 for including the features.

Quality:
comes with a printout of the frequency response for each individual speaker. handy!

Value:
still seems a bit high priced, but these are about the cheapest you can get...

Desirability:
cool blue power light

Sound:
for as small as they are... they sound pretty good, but remember it is a 5" speaker in a very tight box, so you're not going to get the lows as defined as you want them. If you consider the fact that they have done a pretty good job with the porting to give you a sense of the low end, something this small just can't handle defining low end. Great as a mobile set-up and for comparing to other speakers.

Support:
great support team!

Overall:
for what they are... they're very good. you really need to have some other speakers though if you're going to do some serious mixing, though you really could get quite a bit done with these monitors. consider lower-cost passives in a bigger size speaker with an amp carefully.