They are decent, but for the price you can get better. The biggest problem of the BX5's is that they lack bass definition (they don't get very low, and even if you hear low bass, it's not really accurate). You gotta agree that for making music that is mainly based on bass and kicks that's not ideal.

You're right with taking a listen for yourself. Some monitors are well received by a lot of people (like Mackie's or Genelecs for example) but that doesn't mean they'll suit you. Choosing a monitor is kind of a personal taste. Any serious shop will let you take a listen.

Be sure you get active ones, otherwise you might find the bad surprise you'll need to pay for an extra amp. Actives have their amps integrated.

Similar choices :
- Behringer B2031A (got those, they're not half bad, some port chuff at very low frequencies when played loud though)
- Alesis Monitor One MkII
- M-Audio BX8 : same as BX5, but with bigger woofer, goes lower
- Tapco S5 (by Mackie) : I was amazed how such a little speaker could deliver such a pretty solid sound
- Tannoy Reveal actives : a lot of people like those
- Genelec 1029 : small, but very high quality. If you want it to go really low, you need the extra sub though.
...

There are enough alternatives. First go to the shop and see what they got.

Dj thy, the 2031a's dont come out till the 2nd quarter of 2004. How did you get a pair? you sure u didnt mean the 2030a's?

Thanks for your answers! I have been looking the monitors you told me. I like Mackie Tapco S5 for the price (about 350$ and for what I read. I don't understand so much about monitors especification. Do you recomend me better than Studiophile BX5? And better than Alesis Monitor One MkII?

I know they put the B2031 and the B2031A as different monitors on the Behringer website, but they are the same. Worst thing is, they claim the A's are improved, which I don't believe (heard absolutely no difference between the original and the "improved" on a demo, guess it's another marketing practice of them).

Behringer is going to release passive versions too, so they need a denomination that makes clear that you get active monitors, hence the A.

So basically, I meant the original B2031, but this will apply to the "new" A's also.

Ok thought so, by the way, what do you think of them? I never had a chance to test them out at the audio store. From the stuff I've read, people seem to think they are great. Good stereo imaging, very detailed sound, can really juice out some serious wattage. Ive heard some compare them to mackie 824's but i dont buy it. mackies are the best monitors ive heard and ive heard of few and the price is well justified.

Well, I like them, and like always with monitors, that stays a personal opinion.
Of course, they aren't the best of the best, but they do their job well, and especially for that price, they are a bargain.

Like I said, they tend to have some port chuff (kind of a rattling noise caused by the wind in the port holes), but only with deep bass at very high volumes. And frankly, the level that happens at is way too loud for me anyway. When I mix on the monitors, I'm usually way below that level.
That, and for some people the highs are a little "splashy". That's a common problem with titanium dome tweeters. Those kind of tweeters sound more harsh than softdome tweeters that you find on more expensive models.

Compared to the Mackies. Yeah I've seen those comments also. And frankly, I'm not of the same opinion. But then again, I'm not too much in favor of the Mackies either. Yes, they sound absolutely great, and that's the problem. They sound too beautiful. They have a very large sweet spot, round bass, and pleasant highs. But everytime I have worked with them, it became appearant that they sounded too good to my ears. Whatever you throw at them, it always has a charming sound. And that's not the way that I like it. I want a monitor that reveals the slightest error you make. If you make something that sounds shit, I want it to sound shit on the monitors too. I prefer the Genelecs personally over the Mackies (1030/1031 are in the same range).

But I also see a lot of people still get monitors "because a lot of studio's do". In my opinion there are far better monitors than the Mackies. Some of them costing shitloads more, some in the same price range (just listen to Adam, FAR or Dynaudio monitors). And above that you still got monitors that blow all the competition away, but at a price. The best nearfield monitors I've heard yet are Earthworks Sigma's. But I think they cost 7000 to 10000 euro/dollars a pair.

Yeah Thy, I only heard the mackies, i never heard any other high grade monitors like genelecs or dynaudio, but i can imagine the sound. I agree with you that the mackies maybe sound 2 good, and that can work against you while try to mix. Just look at those old yamaha ns10's, those things sound like crap but a million tunes have been mixed with those.

Yeah, the main reason for that was that they were a good reference for how it would sound on "normal" home speakers (ie the crappy cheap hifi speakers and mini hifi chains etc...). They lacked bass, mids were very present and hi's were tiring (not to speak of the fact the tweeter is one of the weakest parts, burns out easily). A lot of engineers will still tell you that when you can make it sound good on NS-10's, it will sound good everywhere.

Anyone know about the ESI Near 05 active monitors, are they rubbish because they are only like £150? But they are designed as small monitors which gives 75 watts, with 33hz-22khz frequency range.

I have heard that ESI Near 05 are the same that older Studiophile BX5, not the newer, and yes, they cost less than Studiophile but I don't know how they sounds.