Dude. I have been contemplating the same thing. For me, I think I will go with the BM5A's and then later if I get a bigger mixing room I will invest in some larger mid-field type speakers. Or maybe I'll splurge a little on some Bm6A's . I'm still not totally decided, but I definitely have the gear bug at the moment.
I don't know where the nearest place is to me that would carry either one of these. Prolly 3 hours away.

Hi there guys.
I know I'm a little late but I've tried these speakers also and ended up purchasing the mackie hr824
and I'm totally wrapped with them!
for roughly the same price as the events they have a much tighter bottom end and are much clearer.
yes I know everyone has them but I think there's a reason why!

anyway, just thought I'd tell you that I love the mackie's

cheers

glyn

they have a much tighter bottom end and are much clearer

Hmmm... interesting that you say that about the Mackies, most of the reviews I have seen so far imply the exact opposite. I'm glad they are working out well for you though.

Thanks for your thoughts guys!

Mackie HR626:

I'm very happy with mine :)

bugger that you can't audition both in direct A/B

i say it depends a little on your room size, if it is not a very big room or if you are happy with "pure nearfields", i would go for the dynos, very, very excellent set of speakers.

i am not the biggest fan of events, but that doesn't mean that they are not good at all...

if you want something big with plenty of oomph, genies, PCM, adam or klein & hummel (unfortunately super duper expensive) are well worth a look at...

just my 2cents

a.

I directly compared the BM15s and the Event ASP 8s and it was a tough call. They were both fantastic monitors. Ultimately, I went with the dynaudios due mainly to their spooky cleanliness. Of course, the price difference there was significant.

Comparing the BM5s is different.

The bass response on the Events was excellent.

Mackies? You've got to be kidding. The bass response is floppy and undefined.

Either would be good, but in comparison - I would probably have to lean towards the Events. Don't get me wrong - the Dyn's are awesome, but the low frequency extension is better on the events.

Both would be great choices!

J.

I own the BM5a's and I'll second what Cucco said. There's more low end in the Events, but I felt the Dyn's were cleaner overall, and it wasn't hard for me to learn the low end of them.

i have to jump in about mackie monitors, yes it's shurely the first time that i hear that mackies are good monitors.

apart from that i don't like em' either, they sound floppy allover and they are shockingly made cheap for carrying the mackie name...

mackies comparing to dynos????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Hi Tommy. I have just bought a pair of event 8 actives and i love them to death. They are absolutely brilliant.

Yeah, I did this shootout, side by side, and went with the Events. The clincher was, listen to the reverb tails on the Events, much more distinct than the Dynaudios. Also, there was more frequency spectrum coming out of the Events. I also checked the Mackies 824s in the same shootout, and found everything below 150Hz a wall of mud.

That's interesting MistaG, I did the same shootout and felt it was the other way around, the Dyno's were more articulate to me. Crazy how we all hear differently.

The Event's definitely have more low end though.

I did a pre-purchase shootout of the Event ASP8, Mackie 824 and the Tannoy system 800. I ended up choosing the Event's for the natural sounding midrange. I found the other two sounded boxy in the mids compared to the Events.
The Events sound great down low but only to a certain volume. I find you can't play a low organ or synth note to loud or you hear an overwhelming amount of air noise from the ports.

Would the other owners agree with me on the port noise, or is it just mine?
I also worry that the amps run a little hot and that 90 day warranty did not give me a whole lot of comfort.
All that said I still chose the Events for overall sound.

Stephen

Port noise. Hmm.

I'm not sure I would use that term but you have to watch your volume in a small room. There is tremendous bass build up from these in too small a space. I spent a good $500 in traps and auralex and probably should have spent more to get a good sphere of listening zone.

Port noise from ASP8's? I've only heard it when I've done something stupid, other than that their dead quiet. Man how loud was that bass note???????

Had mine for a year and a half, I think I know them pretty well now and am quite happy with them. The only problem has been the input trim pot went south one day.

Heat has never seemed to be an issue.

At the right frequuency the sound of air coming out of the ports starts to take over the fundamental tone. I noticed it the first time holding a single bass note on an organ patch. Yes I was running loud but not loud enough to start the green overload light flashing?

MistaG wrote: I also checked the Mackies 824s in the same shootout, and found everything below 150Hz a wall of mud.

Yeah. It's strange that so many people go and buy the HR824's. I had HR626's and IMO they sound much more precise, don't lack the mid range and the bass is much more accurate and still goes very low. I loved those monitors. I guess most people think it's just a center speaker and don't try it in stereo applications. However I currently have BM5A's and I love them too. I guess I'm gonna add a sub but you can do without too. These can produce bass sometimes surprisingly well. And the sound doesn't have the "spike" which mackies have. However I have found that I cannot sometimes tell if something is well mixed or not. The mackies told it immediately. With BM5A's about everything sound nice so you must be careful and learn the monitors well.

Hi guys,
I just wanted to say thanks for all of your thoughts and inputs on this subject. I ended up going with the Events, (actually ended up paying only $1000 for the pair, so it was a pretty good deal). I'm still learning them and tweaking their postion in the room and all that, but I am quite happy with them so far.
Thanks again,
Tom

Nice! Those SP8s are *seriously* sweet. I'm momentarily jealous of you. 8-)

Even if the Dynes are a bit shyer on the bass, they are still more accurate down there. Just like the Events, they will take a little getting used to. There is no way you can bget the holy grail of monitors at this price point (holy grail equals: incredibly forgiving of poor room anomolies, highly accurate and NO second guessing :) so there will inevitably be some learning.

Ulntimately the low frewquency problem is solved with learning, or a well treated room and a pair of BM15a's, or a well tuned sub from the same make as the monitor company you are using.

Congrats TommyJ. I've been using them about a year and they still amaze me. I had been messing around with a mix and totally messed it up using headphones (quiet nights at home). The next day I pulled it up on the Events and had it dialed in within ten minutes. Burned it, took it to the home stereo and then to the car; 90% translation. There were a couple of small midrange adjustments but it was almost ready for mastering.

EQing just goes faster on decent monitors. Makes the effort much more pleasurable.

Heck yeah! Right on man. It's also MUCH better for your ears in the long run. WELL worth paying TOP dollar for good monitors BEFORE anything else.

What's the first thing a teacher teaches a student about audio engineering? Apart from "you will never listen to a song the same" ?

it's this: Your ears are you number one assets. There's blind, stupid engineers, even engineers without a left leg, but there' aint no DEAF (WORKING) engineers. Plenty of deaf people who once were engineers though :)