Dynaudio BM5A MKII

[shellylh]

I have found myself once again looking at studio monitors to use on my desk (to replace the Audioengine A5 which replaced the Quad 12LA when they broke).  I keep going back to Adam, Dynaudio, Focal...  I noticed today that BH Photo has them for $750/pair right now. 

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/696917-REG/Dynaudio_Acoustics_BM_5A_MKII_BM_5A_MKII_7.html

 

That seems like a very good price and I have wanted to try a pair of Dynaudio for a while. I am tempted to get them but I noticed they only have XLR input.  Right now, I use the GS-1 as my volume control.  I assume the sound, balanced, straight from the ECD-1 would be better but I am not so sure if using the computer as volume control is such a great idea.  Would it be better to do this or get a custom made RCA -> XLR cable and run them unbalanced.  Or maybe I shouldn't get them at all because they wouldn't be that much better than the Audioengine A5 in an untreated room.  

 

Or maybe Colin could fix the Quad 12LA's when he is visiting in a couple of weeks.  :evil:

Edited March 28, 2013 by shellylh

[grawk]

emotiva

[Dusty Chalk]

$750 is, indeed, a good price for those, as HelloMusic.com sold them for $800 (I use HelloMusic as sort of a "recent low water mark").

That said, you're looking at the wrong ones. If you want desktop, you should be looking at DBM50's, which are angled appropriately for straight off the table (so when I say desktop, I mean, desktop, unless you accomodate for them somehow) and priced similarly.

Also, Emotiva.

Also, KRK VXT8's. (HelloMusic.com has the 6's on sale right now for $600 and the 4's for 478, but both of those would need a sub. I haven't heard these without a sub, but I have heard them.)

Also, KEF X300A -- I'm all about coaxial drivers, though I haven't heard these. Also, Equator D5's (I own these).

Although Quad 12L's on 3 reams of paper each were still the second best of the bunch (Dynaudio Special Twenty Fives being the beast...er, best). More refined than the Equators, but not as much bass (although still more bass than Ls3/5a's, and with similar refinement, and the missing bass was quite tolerable on most music).

I'm not helping, am I?

[morphsci]

Yep, I love the AirMotiv 5s. Would be a step up from the Audioengine 5s. Can't comment on the Quads.

Edit: I am assuming you are listening in the near field.

Edited March 28, 2013 by morphsci

[shellylh]

What the heck are these?

 

http://www.emotivapro.com/products/stealth-6

[shellylh]

$750 is, indeed, a good price for those, as HelloMusic.com sold them for $800 (I use HelloMusic as sort of a "recent low water mark").

That said, you're looking at the wrong ones. If you want desktop, you should be looking at DBM50's, which are angled appropriately for straight off the table (so when I say desktop, I mean, desktop, unless you accomodate for them somehow) and priced similarly.

 

 

Yeah, I have the Audioengine's angled with the mopads... much better.  Plus the DBM50's could not be made into non-desktop speakers in the future very easily... and they are not $750. 

Edited March 29, 2013 by shellylh

[grawk]

those are speakers

[shellylh]

OK, I figured that.  I was surprised to see another line already from them.  I supposed these are not meant to be used nearfield? 

[grawk]

no, they are

[Dusty Chalk]

They are, but for music engineers, who are deaf listen to everything more loudly.  So they're upgrades, basically -- they'll go louder (theoretically) well, which might be nice if you want to step away from your desk for more than a sec.

And agreed re: DBM50's -- they are designed for exactly that one thing.  And yeah, they're more like US$1K, but HelloMusic.com was selling them for the same as the BM5A's -- US$800.

[swt61]

The Stealths are ramped up. Better enclosures, better amplification, better drivers. 

 

My guess is they're awesome.

[shellylh]

I have to say they sound pretty damn awesome on paper.  

 

For those with the Emotiva (Airmotiv),  how neutral are they?  Say compared to the HD800 or JH13 (used with GS-1 or some other fairly neutral amp).  Also, how quiet are they when you are close (any hum/buzz)?  

Edited March 29, 2013 by shellylh

[morphsci]

Well I'm not sure I even know what neutral is but I can certainly say that on music I know well, I do not notice any huge differences in frequency balance between the airmotivs and the BHSE/007 mkI. Nice quiet background when sitting between 3 - 4 ft from the speakers.

Edit: I'm not the person to compare anything o the HD800. Don't like them, especially for the price. If I was buying a Senn headphone, I would buy the 650s. I guess that's why I did.

Edited March 29, 2013 by morphsci

[dsavitsk]

I'll add my $0.02 which is that when I was looking for small speakers for a small room, I listened to a lot of different ones (not powered, so a little different market) from $300 to $2K, and I bought Dynaudios (for which I paid ~$500 used). Nothing else was even in the same ball park to me.

 

Of course I like HD800's more than I like 007's or 009's, so take my opinion as you will

[shellylh]

I <3 the HD800s.  

 

Could someone mention if using the computer as volume control would be horrid?  I use Amarra.  

 

My preamp is a GS-1 which has only unbalanced outputs.  The Dynaudio MKII (as well as some other active speakers) has only XLR input.  I assume that it would be better to use the balanced output of the my DAC (ECD-1) than to go use some unbalanced to balanced cable (assuming one could/should even do that)... but then I lose volume contol. 

 

[i used to use the RCA input of the QUADs so I could use the GS-1 as a preamp but maybe I should have been using balanced cables and some other sort of volume control now that I think about it. ]

 

I know that I should really just get a GS-X and do things properly.... but maybe I should just buy one expensive toy from Justin at a time.  

Edited March 29, 2013 by shellylh

[grawk]

The dynaudio manual just suggests connecting pin 3 to ground, so I don't think going from an unbalanced output to the balanced input will be a big problem.  Or you could get some Cinemag CMLI 15/15a transformers...

[Dusty Chalk]

I use computer as volume control all the time, and I can't hear a difference.

 

And yeah, a lot of these systems have unbalanced inputs, and others just assume you're going to use an adapter.

[spritzer]

My buddy has the sloped Dynaudio's and they are very nice speakers.  Software volume control will work just fine but I built him a passive volume control just in case. 

[morphsci]

Here's a shitty iPhone picture of the AirMotiv5s. They are sitting on the Headroom speaker stands and the monitors are HP 2509m for scale.

Edited March 30, 2013 by morphsci

[guzziguy]

I <3 the HD800s.  

 

Me too.  They are my favorite headphones.

 

I know that I should really just get a GS-X and do things properly.... but maybe I should just buy one expensive toy from Justin at a time.  

 

If you decide to go this route, I suggest that you also consider and audition  Doug's amps, the DSHA-1 and L-2.  I'm loving how the DSHA-1 drives my HD800s and the L-2 does a nice job too.  I'm sure that the GS-X would be nice too, though I've never listened to one.

 

Edit:  Not sure if any of these amps will effectively drive the Dynaudio's.

Edited March 30, 2013 by guzziguy

[shellylh]

Yeah, I wish I would have picked up Cherrybomb's DSHA-1.  I wasn't really serious about getting the GS-X just to use as a volume control.    Does the DSHA-1 have preamp out by the way? 

[guzziguy]

It does not have a preamp out.  However, who knows what might happen if you sweet talk Doug.    Of course, you'd have to wait for him to complete his move.

[dsavitsk]

It can. Recstar's DSHA-0 (which was an experimental one-off) is the same exact circuit, but has 3x XLR input, 2x RCA inputs, and a switch to change between headphone outputs and preamp outputs. On the standard build you'd have to run a wire from the output jack on the front which may not be ideal.

 

We were putting a new front panel on it the other day, so here's what the inside looks like ...

 

 

[recstar24]

So proud

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I have the Audioengine's angled with the mopads... much better.  Plus the DBM50's could not be made into non-desktop speakers in the future very easily... and they are not $750. 

They were $835 on HelloMusic.com for about 5 minutes yesterday.  Not trying to dissuade you, just giving you a better idea of street for comparison's sake.  I understand the desire not to get such highly specialized speakers, when converting non-desktop speakers to desktop speakers is easier.