Review Of Lexicon's MX200

Every recording engineer will give a a different list of criteria for what makes the perfect studio reference speakers. What's the perfect speaker for one will be something different for another. Should you spend money on a great sounding pair of speakers that have their own unique sound? Just because they're expensive and can make a mix sound good doesn't mean it will sound good on other speakers.

The fact is any decent studio, large or small will not ever just rely on one pair of speakers, that's just too risky. You need a crappy pair because most people listen to music on this kind of system, whether in a car, portable player, headphones etc. Maybe not really bad system but we're not talking about audiophiles here.

You need another pair that are pretty good with no coloration in the tone, but a nice natural response. The good news is we can get this type of clean sounding speaker at a very affordible price. I can tell you that the BX5a model made by M-Audio are this type of speaker.

M-Audio has found their place in the market, delivering good equipment at a very good price. They're not competing with the high-end market where components are in the $1000's range but rather manufacturing products for the professional musician and home recording project studio.

If every piece of gear we needed was to cost a grand or 2 we'd never get a homestudio built.

The Bi-Amps Are The Key

Speakers selling in a lower price range just don't have the Bi-Amps. This means that both the high end and the low end speakers have their own dedicated power which makes for a much better efficiency in frequency response. That's how you get a good sounding speaker right there. The lower-end speakers have a single amp driving power to both the high and low speakers making them sound not as clean.

Considering that the M-Audio Studiophile 70 watt BX5a's cost about $100 more than the AV40's it's well worth the difference when you hear these two studio reference monitors side by side.

Depending on budget and room size M-Audio also makes the Studiophile BX5a Deluxe which means that they've added even more power making this deluxe model 130 watts power rating.
Regardless of which studio monitor you'll be using on your upcoming mixes, wattage rating aside, don't by-pass the bi-amp!

Click for more information on the M-Audio BX5a Monitors to read the full review of this and other recording equipment.