M-Audio BX8 D3 Monitor Review

[okok]

as bad as it could be, D1, 2, 3 are all that bad, some measured the previous gens

 

[Jeromeof]

my "speaker killer" tracks with sub-bass response down to 20 Hz

I am curious as to which sub-bass heavy tracks you use in your tests?

 

[MZKM]

Reserved.

 

[voodooless]

That's a lot of bass distortion for an 8" woofer!

 

[JktHifi]

According to the spec related to the bass.
Driver: 8 inch (203 mm) Kevlar curved cone with high temperature voice coil and damped rubber surround, magnetically shielded
Freq resp: 37Hz – 22kHz

How much is the asking price?

 

[amirm]

Other speakers I considered are Adam T7v and Kali LP6v2 but I can’t tell if they’re worth the 80€ premium over these M-Audio speakers

I like this better than any monitor I have tested with smaller woofers. It just has more power, dynamics, and bass extension. The frequency response error is easily fixable in M-Audio whereas I can't add power to the smaller monitors. At the prices that are around, it is an incredibly bargain.

 

[3125b]

That's a lot of bass distortion for an 8" woofer!

Well, the distortion profile looks less critical than on most cheap competitors. It never exceeds the main tone which is probably why it doesn't sound too distorted in the sub-bass. And in the most cirtical area from 2-5kHz THD is about -45dB (at 96dB) which is pretty decent for any (active) speaker.
One thing I would be somewhat worried about is noise - it's an older design with a very high input sensitivity, that's not usually a good sign.

 

[amirm]

One thing I would be somewhat worried about is noise - it's an older design with a very high input sensitivity, that's not usually a good sign.

As I reported, it is essentially silent. With my ear right next to the tweeter, I could barely make out some high frequency hiss. Much lower than many other monitors I have testewd.

 

[juliangst]

Do they work with TS to RCA cables?

 

[Ajax]

I like this better than any monitor I have tested with smaller woofers. It just has more power, dynamics, and bass extension. The frequency response error is easily fixable in M-Audio whereas I can't add power to the smaller monitors. At the prices that are around, it is an incredibly bargain.

Hi Amir,

Thanks for the review, always appreciate your work.

In Australia you can get a pair for A$429 = US$300 .... including shipping costs from the US to AUS, which would be at least $US30 a pair.

Add some internal acoustic blankets to dampen the 590hz cabinet resonance, a Topping E50 balanced DAC with a bit perfect Chromecast Audio (or WIIm mini) streamer and you have a seriously good budget system for around $US500, suitable for a small to medium size room.

I therefore rated it "4. Great" as this is an inexpensive active speaker, with good measurements and plenty of power, with no need for a sub.

 

[Talisman]

In Europe they can be found for only 278 euros PER PAIR

 

[nick-v]

I thoroughly enjoyed my previous generation BX8-D2 monitors in a desktop setup. Great bass, they played plenty loud without any perceived distortion and their presentation offered a nice perception of "high fidelity". I never felt the need to add a subwoofer, but I added a 12" Paradigm PW-2200 anyways (which was overkill).

I sold them years ago, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to a friend or family member.

 

[Jochen]

As was remarked before, in Europe the speaker seems to be available and about 100-150€, so with a little bit of EQ a really cheap and nice setup for a desktop environment, or even a listening room. Amazing value for cost, it appears that above diminishing returns kick in badly (Neumann, Genelec, Adam etc.).

 

[dorirod]

Raspberry Pi with DAC board running moode and Camilla DSP.

This allows for some speaker corrections and also mixing to mono because I only need one speaker

I actually use the Kali LP6 with rpi and Camilla DSP. Fairly happy except that the DSP introduced delay that's been driving me nuts. Only use it for music now, not for any video.

 

[pavuol]

As was remarked before, in Europe the speaker seems to be available and about 100-150€, so with a little bit of EQ a really cheap and nice setup for a desktop environment, or even a listening room. Amazing value for cost, it appears that above diminishing returns kick in badly (Neumann, Genelec, Adam etc.).

Probably, another question is quality of components and overall life expectancy.

Overall it has good Amazon customer reviews, this "lower grade" caught my attention:

Freakin' budget party people (also raises question about idle power consumtion..)

 

[3125b]

Regular price has been 129€ for years, that isn't any sort of sale:

I wonder how much profit M-Audio can actually make with that - similar for many other cheaper, well performaing speakers. Does anybody know how much of that goes to the retailer, how much would be for marketing and warranty, R&D, certifications etc. and how much is actually manufacturing cost?

Do they work with TS to RCA cables?

Yes but you might create a ground loop, a DI box or similar might be necessary (Behringer HD400 for example).

 

[juliangst]

Yes but you might create a ground loop, a DI box or similar might be necessary (Behringer HD400 for example).

Just read the manual and they say you can use XLR, TRS or TS.
Already ordered them for 130€ with a TS to RCA cable

 

[juliangst]

I actually use the Kali LP6 with rpi and Camilla DSP. Fairly happy except that the DSP introduced delay that's been driving me nuts. Only use it for music now, not for any video.

I used a Raspberry Pi with CamillaDSP connected via USB to my PC for a while and didn't have any latency issues

 

[amirm]

I am still amazed and upset that I got charged $500 for this single speaker! I should have looked more carefully....

I am tempted now to buy another one so I have a complete set before they are gone forever.

 

[pavuol]

I don't see it's discontiued actually, not on the M-Audio site, and not in stores in europe. And here it's very cheap: https://www.thomann.de/be/m_audio_b...LCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6MiwibGFuZ3VhZ2UiOjJ9&reload=1

That was yesterday, sold out @ thomann already.. I could swear ASR pulled the trigger ..these mass dealers should send regular fees to ASR damn it!