M-Audio monitors... Am I cursed??

[WholeLottaGlove]

About two years ago I bought a pair of M-Audio BX8A monitors from Zzounds. They worked great for the 3 months or so, then one of them went out. No sound whatsoever. I would say that I put a maximum of 8 hours on the monitor and never kept it on while they weren't in use. I called M-Audio and they were super easy to deal with. I had to eat about $38 to ship the monitor to them, but I was happy they were fixing it.

I later sold the monitors but came back into the market for a smaller pair around last Christmas. I really wanted to stay away from M-Audio monitors in general, but then I saw a pair of BX5 D2's for under $200. I talked myself into getting them, convinced that the same couldn't happen again.... wrong!!

I brought the pair home and and immediately noticed one was making a loud popping sound as soon as I turned it on. Worried that it would soon stop working, I returned it for a replacement. I even went so far as to buy the 2 year insurance (something I never do) just in case I had any other future issues.

Well, yesterday, I turned on my monitors to find the other one was not producing sound. I adjusted the volume back and forth and the monitor produced volume, but created a static type sound like a scratchy pot. At that time, I packed up both monitors and took them back. I exchanged them for a pair of KRK Rokit 5's.

I'm not sure what to think. I have friends who've had these monitors with no problem at all, yet 3 of the 4 monitors that I've purchased were defective and had t obe repaired/replaced. These are not cases of customer misuse; I never leave them on and followed all the guidelines on powering them up. I hardly even use them for over 2-3 hours at a time, maybe once a week tops. Whatever the case, I'm going to stay away from them in the future. I'm not bashing M-Audio; I'm just stating my experiences. Hopefully the KRK's work out better for me.

 

[loudboy]

We had some and they crapped out after about 2 years. They didn't sound all that good to begin with, imho.

 

[marshall2288]

I've been running the BX5a's for about 2 years. No problems at all. Hope it's just your bad luck.

 

[WholeLottaGlove]

We had some and they crapped out after about 2 years. They didn't sound all that good to begin with, imho.

Ironically enough, I've had a pair of M-Audio Studiophile monitors that I bought for $100 7 years ago that have never let me down. I have kept them on all the time and played them with the volume maxed with never one hiccup.

 

[dporto]

Cursed? Maybe... I just got a pair of Rokit 5's for Christmas (Gold one's...they look awesome!!!). They're not my main monitors but a secondary "small set" to check mixes. From what I can tell so far, they have a very strong midrangey sound. Not really what I'm used to, but I think it'll be useful in the long run.

 

[Monotremata]

Ouch Ive been mixing with my SP-5Bs (and the SP-8S sub) for over 10 years now and they havent given me any trouble other then one of the XLR inputs on one of the monitors is kinda flaky and every once in awhile I would have to smack the monitor or jiggle the cable in the back. And that only started a few years ago.
For the price I paid for the set theyre awesome, but nowadays I dont even have the sub hooked up anymore (too much trouble to get balanced) and after all these years I finally realized just how jacked up the mids (and the super hyped 1khz I used to always cut out of mixes and wonder where the top of my guitars went) are and how to finally fix my mixes haha.

I thought about upgrading to their 8" speakers but I think Im done with 'colored' monitors and am dropping $400 on a pair of Equator D5s finally the day my tax return gets deposited in my bank account..

 

[whackystrings]

I have a pair of BX5s that I bought used about 6 years ago. No hint of problems thus far. Sorry to read about the OP's bad luck. Good buy for the price point, especially used.

 

[WholeLottaGlove]

Apparently, I'm not the only unlucky one. There seems to be a lot of people who have had problems from what I've read. Luck of the draw, I guess.

 

[GibEpi89]

used?

ive had bx5's for almost a year with no problems.. (knock on wood)

 

[LarryOM]

Apparently, I'm not the only unlucky one. There seems to be a lot of people who have had problems from what I've read. Luck of the draw, I guess.

You'll always find a lot of people who have problems with any mass-produced item because you hear mostly from those who have complaints. Having said that, I've had a pair of BX5a for a few years without a problem.

 

[hubberjub]

I've had my BX5s since 2006 without any issues. Maybe I'm the only one.

 

[WholeLottaGlove]

You'll always find a lot of people who have problems with any mass-produced item because you hear mostly from those who have complaints.

That's a great point.

 

[Billion81]

I hAve a pair of BX5s.. Only one worked. Bummed.

 

[dunara]

I've had BX8a's for about a year. No problems. Like 'em.

 

[Lotis]

6+ years here. No problem.

 

[Plasmatic]

Surprised not to hear of more problems with these. I have some BX8a's and one quit. I opened it up and found leaky capacitors. I found I could get a replacement board for about $60. The new board arrived and was DOA. I got a second replacement - again DOA. But the third board worked, lol.

On the BX8a that had no issues I replaced all the electrolytic caps with good quality ones. If I owned any M-Audio monitors (I never will again, believe me) I would not use them for another minute without at least checking the state of the electrolytic caps to make sure they are not leaking...and I'd probably replace them all just as a way of protecting my investment.

Anyway, after all that I somehow blew a tweeter in one of them (I never crank them all the way up).

I decided to just buy some KRKs which (to my ears) sound much better.

 

[Teal_66]

I've had my BX8s for about 2.5 years, and never a problem. I bought them new. I have always been careful when powering them on and off. For example, I make sure that the Interface and ProTools are totally fired up before turning on the monitors. That "fump" sound is definitely not good for any monitor. When I am done, I turn the monitors off first - and only then power down the software and Interface. ANYTHING to avoid pops and fumps.

 

[Plasmatic]

For the first couple years I had mine I was pretty happy with them. I do think M-Audio used cheap components in them though.

 

[WholeLottaGlove]

I decided to just buy some KRKs which (to my ears) sound much better.

This is the route I took and am much happier.

 

[trower]

You'll always find a lot of people who have problems with any mass-produced item because you hear mostly from those who have complaints. Having said that, I've had a pair of BX5a for a few years without a problem.

Same here, and I bough my BX5's used from a EBay pawn shop! Hope you get it all workrd out. They do sound great when they're working.