I've owned these monitors for a while now and they've been nothing short of excellent as far as I'm concerned. I'm hearing more throughout my mixes than I ever did before, and everything stands out and is very crisp. Listening to my favorite music now is more of a treat since everything is so well defined. The one minor gripe I have is that the hi-end can be a little harsh now and then, but this doesn't ever detract from the overall great sound.

The acoustic space switches are a nice touch, although I haven't had to bother adjusting anything on my monitors. They give a clear, flat response as is, and that's what I'm looking for.

These are made very well. I really like the weight of the monitors, they seem very durable.

Definetely worth it at 399.00.

M-Audio was great the one time I had to use them. I had lost a power cord when I moved and needed another, so I contacted them and they sent me a new one for free in a couple days.

The blue light on the front is aesthetically pleasing, and the overall look of them is nice with the black and silver color scheme.

Producer/Beatmaker, Emcee, Composer

Hip-Hop

Sky Blue 2.1 setup sounds a little better but at $500 more. The idiot that gave the M-Audio BX8 a bad review obviously is clueless (probably works for Mackie) and wasn't capable of making the appropriate adjust to crossover settings on the back of the monitors. There is NO other speaker that can compare in the $1000 or less price range. The Mackie H8's and H6' are aweful compared to these -- what happened to Mackie speakers, they used to sound good?

Good set of rear options including balanced XLR inputs.

Pretty good, no real issues with anything -- a little cheesy looking but I care about audio quality not looks.

double the price and I would still buy them.

No repairs, no worries.

Not a looker, but who cares about looks.

Active Musician & Producer.

Alternative, Techno, Jazz, New Age, Experimental

They have a great open quality and are very bright...a little too bright, and a lot of bass, very deep and not too boomy. For the price, they are awesome. The field is excellent, but they do produce ear fatigue quicker than my KRK's.

All of the adjustments on the back are useful, and they come with everything you need. Also, I was able to cut back on the high end without negatively effecting the rest of the sound, or my mixes.

Feels very good, although I wouldn't want to bang them around too much. They don't have the kind of finish that hides blemishes.

These sound as good as any monitor for less than $1,000.

I have always had excellent experiences with M-Audio's Technical Support. They are some of the best in the business, friendly, knowledgable, and free.

The blue lights look damn cool in a dark studio.

Techno

These speakers rock, except the high are a tad harsh and mids a little compressed. Other than that, these are perfect for nasty Drum and Bass producing. Considering the price, they are also a decent pair of 'throw around' speakers. These CRANK!!!! watchout for neighbours!!! I havn't been able to turn them up over 50% yet due to the SPL !!!!

The Acoustic space settings are useful. They provide the flexibility needed to (almost) properly set them up and receive accurate sound. least useful would be the 'mid presence' acoustic space switch, which adds about 2-3 dbs to the mid range. I feel that there is no need for this in any acoustic situation as the mids are already slightly over emphasised as it stands with out the 'presence'.

Made in China.... hmm... to save costs... other than the origin (and reputation of origin in manufacturing), these speakers seem quite solid, and after 2 months of use.. they are still working:) that says something.

10 / 10 for value... cheap and effective!!!!

yet to deal with their support infrastructure...

the blue lights seduced me :) the slightly angled front also has appeal. Also the black encasing and blue LEDs suits my 'studio', so i am bias with my sex rating :)

DRUM and BASS

The instruments recorded sound like what was played. No color added or removed to speak of.

The filters are useful for adjusting the speakers to the work space.

Seem to be made sturdy enough. Look great.

Paid a nice price for them. So far I am Pleased with them. The recording projects I am working on are in Contemp Gosple, and Jazz so my demands are always different.

Haven't had to use them.

Active Musician, Recording Engineer, Band Director, Producer

Jazz, Gosple R&B

Nice and FLAT. I own a mastering suite, so I'm normally NOT looking for flat - However, I occasionally come across a situation where flat reference monitors come in handy. The BX8's do a fine job. I have to say, I originally had them mounted in my "B" mid-field postion and I was not happy. After moving them to the "B" near-field position (I removed my old "B" set that I never used anyway), I was very happy with the sound. Highs are just a whisker harsh, but I've definitely heard worse at several times the price point. SMOOTH lows WAY DOWN (however, see "Quality" remarks below). ALSO, the clarity improves greatly once they're properly warmed up. Not a big problem for me, as I never power them down anymore anyway. Top volume is just plain dangerous, and everything stays pretty clear at ridiculous levels.

WIth the controls on the panel (Low cutoff, High cut, mid/presence boost, Acoustic Space control) you'd have a hard time finding a room that you couldn't tune these to fairly accurately. The "Acoustic Space" adjustment can be deceiving - READ THE MANUAL CAREFULLY as that switch SHELVES frequencies ABOVE the lower mids (500-900Hz). Once read and understood, the adjustments are simple and effective. The high cut helps a bit with the "harshness" in the highs, but that seems to be subsiding over time as the units are breaking in. On a more mundane note, the power cables supplied could be longer...

I did have a minor problem with my #2 monitor - After listening to them for the first time, I noticed something "crooked" in the low end. I ran a sweep from 40-120Hz and found that the #2 woofer was a bit... "flabby" sounding at around 65Hz. A quick check of the woofer found no flaws, but a replacement is on the way. Other than that, the fit & finish are pretty flawless. I suppose they're "attractive" (which doesn't really concern me) and clients always "ooh" and "ahh" the pretty blue power lights, which now act as my "night light" in the suite (I never power them down except for rare occasions). For the bucks, they're not too shabby at all.

As mentioned, these are "afterthought" monitors for me - I was looking for some inexpensive, powered reference monitors that were pretty flat just for A/B purposes. That being said, these are some pretty decent sounding squares. For the money, I haven't heard much of anything that can approach the cost vs. sound quality of these monitors. I didn't pay "retail" for them, but I certainly wouldn't feel cheated if I did.

On the woofer issue, I informed them of it and it's being handled to my satisfaction. Without getting into details, they seemed prety easy to deal with. I'm looking forward to my "R" sounding as good as my "L" ASAFP.

Sounds pretty good actually.

Average I think.

I have to rate this POOR as one speaker's amp quit before it was used 10 hours and cost me about 35$ to UPS BOTH back to repair. Then after it was fixed (took a few weeks) the same speaker developed a nasty glitch and became intermittent with noise. Oh, this happened right after the small warranty expired. Suck, I will NOT be buying ANY M audio products EVER.

I say never mind, the quality control is somewhat slack apparently and yes, I was warned to not buy them. Doh for me.

Well they tried but took several attempts to get a person to respond. I did NOT recive a notice they recieved the units for repair and the spokesman told me to expect a new set which didnt happen. Oh well.

I would rather use head phones, wait I have to anyway because the crapped out. Ihad a pair of smaller advents I used for 8 years these are bargain basement cheese, the silly plastic sticker stuck on the front was a hint perhaps. Hey they Look Great!

sound designer and musician

electronic dance and space music

They sound acceptable, when working.

Basic features you would expect in any standard studio monitor.

I've had a set for a couple years now and each monitor has died. The first time under warranty. The second time not. These monitors are unreliable. I've taken extraordinary care of them and have never pushed them. For a professional product to repeatedly stop working within a couple years speaks to the poor quality of product. Watch out: these speakers break easily: They will die on you.

Everyone knows that M-audio's support is lacking all around.

They sound bad, flat out. IThe 4" ones sound better than these. Don't be fooled by hype, they sound bad. Floppy muddy crap.

Lots of customizable filters on the back, but regardless they all still sound bad.

They look cheap and poorly built, cheesier in person than in pictures. Seem like they'd break if you looked at them wrong.

Get something else, anything else. KRK's in this range sound better.

Never called

I will never buy another Maudio Speaker. they make great cards, horrid speakers.

Sound Designer

Excellent (I mean truly excellent) sound ... Completely adjustable depending on speaker placement. More than enough power, e.g. they can get loud (without loosing any clarity). Here, let me say it straight out ... I bought these monitors to use with my recording equipment (Yamaha AW16G-CD) and they accurately express the recorded sound. But now (after 8 months) I don't even play through my Marshall Amplifier anymore. I just use these monitor speakers (even for gigs). So even though they were never really intended to be used as a PA system (so-to-say). They offer true sound representation and more than enough power that I'm using them in this dual capacity and they're superior to my amplifier. This is a true statement.

Aaah yes, "features" ... Well, this is something that is often overlooked in monitor speakers. These speakers have an internal power supply and are switchable between (110/220 Volts). This can be extremely useful depending on "where" you travel. Another thing I especially like is the flexibility insofar as connectivity, e.g. you can use either XLR (balanaced) or TRS (balanced/unbalanced) cables. I also like the "Acoustic Space" setting which can shape the sound depending on placement near walls, ambience, etc. There is even a degree of "equalization" capable using the "low cutoff" "mid-range" and "high freq" adjustments. I mean, what more could you want insofar as features ??

I will have to research finding some type of carry case to keep them "safe" while travelling. Nonetheless, I have travelled extensively with them and they're rock solid. In other words, they can take a bang or two without so much as a scratch or problem in functionality. I wouldn't recommend dropping them, but they're not delicate and seem quite "heavy duty". I've had them for almost 9 months now without any problem at all. Here's the ultimate expression of satisfaction ... I would (and probably will once I have the money) buy another pair. That's how much I like these speakers.

They're not the cheapest speakers. But I think they're worth ever penny spent. I would definately buy another pair and plan on doing this in the future to get more of a surround sound speaker setup going on.

I simply have never had to use the support and can not comment on something which I have no experience with. I hope I never have to use "support" since most of the time, the support is often less than expected. But you never know ...

I spent a long time researching the product before making the purchase. I don't purchase on "looks" but rather quality and functionality. I would recommend the Studiophile BX8 speakers to anyone interested in a high-power speaker that accurately expresses sound while allowing adjustment for speaker placement and ambience (important factors to consider when recording).

I don't know what some of you are smoking. These monitors suck! Mixes sound plastic and colored. These are NOT accurate monitors.

They're made out of molded plastic so I guess they won't break when you throw them out your window.

Well... they're inexpensive. Unfortunately they're cheap as well. In this case you get exactly what you pay for - not much.

very crisp and tight sounding with good imaging and bass response..best buy for the money!

Great Sound! For $500 I was impressed! They are a little harsh in the high end of things( but it could just be my overly sensative ears) A Bass Junkie will appreciate the 37hz lowend response which is a lower bass than many subwoofers put out.

Accoustical environments vary, so it is important for speakers to be able to cater to your personl enviornment. The BX8's can do just that- and you can also cutoff its lows and highs to your need.

Well this is where this product has its issues, again it might just be my luck, but I had to exchange individual bx8's because on 2 brand new pairs each pair had a flawed speaker. One, had a hum, the other had a mysterious rattle in the sub port. They could have matched the speakers a little more accurately too. But on the flip side, they look and feel like 10 quality! I just found it extremely inconvenient to have to swap out "a" speaker to get the right pair. I love the sound so much though that I'm willing to be flexible and understanding though!

I've heard tons of speakers, truths, hr824's, 20/20's, V8's and more... None of the above can reproduce the 37hz low end of a sine wave like the bx8's. Now obviously some of the previously mentioned are in another league but the BX8's cant be touched at a street price of 479

Have not dealt with M-Audio, Only one concern is that if for some reason I needed to use the 1 year factory warrenty, I'd have to pay for the to and fro. shipping- Not cool. I really hope they have "authorized dealers where I live"

Drum'n'Bass, Abstract OrganiX