Fostex PM05MKII Powered Nearfield Monitor

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3/4" soft dome HF unit and 5" LF woofer.

The ideal choice for smaller studios requiring nearfield monitoring, the perfectly formed PM0.5 offers 70 watts of bi-amped power and produces great full range performance with exceptional neutrality even at high sound pressure levels. The compact dimensions also enable accurate placement in confined or awkward spaces, with the dispersion from the two way ported enclosure design tailored such that it will deliver a superb sound almost regardless of room acoustics. Features a UFLC 20mm soft dome HF unit and 130mm LF woofer and input gain control.

Exceptional audio performance matched to jaw-dropping good looks.
Fostex strive to design and build studio monitoring systems which enable you to experience your unique sound in all its dimensions. And through tireless research and development, endless measurements and real-world listening tests, Fostex's engineers have achieved this in the form of the beautiful second generation PM-Series.

Capitalizing on Fostex's supreme knowledge of acoustics and speaker engineering, and now offering a brighter, tighter sound, these studio monitors are designed inside out to provide the best monitoring experience, with minimal resonance, sparkling highs and rich, deep lows.

And, with new 'high-gloss' front baffles, they look as stunning as they sound.

HF unit: 20mm soft dome

LF unit: 130mm aromatic polyamide

Frequency response: free field +/- 2dB 50Hz - 20kHz

Low frequency cut-off: 40Hz (-10dB)

High Frequency cut-off: 22kHz (-10dB)

Amp power: low frequency: 35 watts, high frequency: 35 watts

Amp distortion: <0.01% T.H.D. @ 25w, 8 Ohm 20Hz - 20kHz

Amp signal to noise: >84dB 20Hz - 30kHz not weighted

Amp slew rate: 15V / µ sec

Physical dimensions: 181w x 280h x 260d (mm)

Weight: 6.5kg

Power requirement / consumption: 230VAC, 50/60Hz - 40 watts

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 800-994-4984

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. (11 ratings)
Submitted December 3, 2009 by a customer from gmail.com

"Compared with m-Audio BX5a"

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Sound
I have both the Fostex PM0.5 MKII and the BX5a Deluxe for a while now. While the BX5a tends to get higher review rating and is more popular, I personally prefer the PM0.5 due to its having more bass & volume. Both models cost about the same, with the PM0.5 roughly $20 cheaper. The PM0.5 is bigger, heavier, has a heat sink in the back, with a combo XLR/TRS jack. While the BX5a has a bigger tweeter, separate XLR & TRS jacks. Construction-wise, both are well-made. If you plan to share the same monitor between 2 difference sources, then the separate input of the BX5a is more convenient (you can always get a Y-adapter to support 2 inputs on the PM0.5). The BX5a has more clarity & boosted details, but is more on a tinny side. The PM0.5 has more boom but less treble. I guess the difference is due to the size of the tweeter and the length of the bass port (the BX5a has larger tweeter & 1 rear bass port, while the PM0.5 has 2 front bass ports). Sounds coming out of the PM0.5 resemble more of the ambience of my car & home stereo than the BX5a. For my home-studio purpose, I like the warmer sound of the PM0.5 more. I do use them to watch movie once in a while, and the PM0.5 is more suitable as the main speakers, while the BX5a is better placed for surround speakers. For further references, I have placed audio samples of a song I wrote & arranged (so there won't be any copyright violation issue), re-recorded with an AKG C414B condenser mic, read more placed at same height as the tweeter, normalized to -15dB. Hope they'll help making your choice easier (instead of having to buy both like I did :) http://music.jeffreydoan.com/mp3/MissYouTonight.mp3 (direct mix) http://music.jeffreydoan.com/mp3/MissYouTonight-bx5a.mp3 (re-recorded with bx5a) http://music.jeffreydoan.com/mp3/MissYouTonight-pm05.mp3 (re-recorded with pm0.5)

Musical Background:
Songwriter

Musical Style:
Vocal
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