i'm cc-ing this back to luv-talk (mostly because i hope someone knows of a decent - i.e. low tosser ratio - audio web site / forum). hopefully anyone replying will remember to cc their response to you. On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 11:04:43AM +1000, Lindsay Sprinter wrote:

The BX5a's are deffiniely better than the AV30's although they (the AV30's) are no slouch (Note 1) MAudio also have a CX something. I have not done a direct comparison with the Magnaplanars, this would unlikely be a profitable exersize as experience has showed the they will show up anything.

I can't really justify spending over $400 on speakers. $150 is OK. maybe even $229 for the AV-40 if they were significantly better. but i doubt if i'd even notice or care about the difference betweeb $150 speakers and $400 speakers. given the bass requirements below, though, i'd even consider paying more for a separate subwoofer to place on the floor, especially if it was something i could add later if needed - but i haven't seen any for less than about $400. and if i bought one of those, how do i find out what's involved in setting it up - do i need some sort of splitter/filter to route the low freqs to the subwoofer and everything else to the monitors? am i better off with a separate amp and unpowered speakers? what i'd like to find is a web site for practical audio information without raving reviews by wanky audiophiles of $1000 gold-plated cable and similar ignorant-of-physics nonsense.

Note 1: Listening to music is one of the most subjective things on this planet. The only real way is to listen to something to see if some audio item suits you and what you listen to.

yep, i know. i've got two main uses for speakers - listening to music, and playing games. for playing games, good bass is important for the explosions. for music, i've got eclectic but very selective tastes. Sturgeon's Law applies to music too. i mostly like ambient, trance, chill, various other forms of doof (so, again, bass is good), some classical and earlier music (have developed a liking for some medieval music and baroque guitar), some "world" music, also Dead Can Dance / Lisa Gerrard, and other stuff that provides complex entertainment/work for my brain's audio pattern recognition hardware. i like some rock and pop type music but despise most of it (even the best of it tends to be boringly simplistic), and i like individual pieces in all sorts of musical genres....pretty much anything except for C&W and the various metal sub-genres. i prefer instrumental music or music with lyrics in languages i don't understand so i don't have to know how banal the words are and can hear the voice as just another instrument.

If you search for subjective reports on the MAudio's you will find plenty of support for how good they are. StoreDJ also had a large stack of them in the shop both times I was there (around 1.25 metre cube) so one would assume I am not the only one that thinks them OK.

BTW, i noticed that storedj also has a BEHRINGER MS40 with optical spdif input for $209 - any idea if they're any good? https://www.storedj.com.au/products/BEH-MS40 craig -- craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au> BOFH excuse #205: Quantum dynamics are affecting the transistors