Has anyone heard the Dynaudio BM5A?

I just bought some, waiting for them to show up. I'm on an island in SE Alaska, so I wasn't able to hear them, but I talked to some friends in studios down in the lower 48 who have very similar tastes in monitors, and who's rooms I had done some work in, and they all said I would like them a lot. I know this seems silly to most of you, but I'm not shelling out 600 bucks for a plane ticket just to buy a $1000 set of monitors. Besides, I can always return them (snicker)

I'll listen to them for a few weeks and post my thoughts here. My plan is to use them and in a couple of years get something bigger, and add on to these for a surround setup (or just put them on an edit station).

I have them. Excellent monitors for the money. Actually they have great bass response that translates well to the outside world. Before, with my 20/20s, I could never get the mixes to translate outside the studio, even after a few years of working with them. I'd have to go back and forth several times, but with the DAs, I can get it real close. The first time I took a mix to my car stereo that was done on them, I was afraid, but they translated better AFTER THE FIRST SESSION than my 20/20s did after years of getting to know them. They don't cause ear fatigue very quickly either. Overall, I think you should be pretty happy with them.

Thanks! Well, looks like i'm gonna have a go with these. I'll let you know about it later.

MikeT99 wrote: Thanks! Well, looks like i'm gonna have a go with these. I'll let you know about it later.

A decent alternative is a pair of Dynaudio BM6 passives with a (slightly used) Hafler P3000 power amp. Perhaps $1,100. With a new amp, maybe $1,200 or so.

uh.... it's not easy to find good second-hand gear here (gear here?!) .... I'll try and have a look, ask around. More difficult is to try to hear the combo. So I'm more inclined to one-box setup - no amp/speaker mismatch probs. But I'm keeping my eye opened.

I heard the BM5A's a couple weeks ago and was very surprised how much (or, should I say little) they cost. I'm planning on selling my HR624's to buy them. I like them more than most of the speakers I've heard that are even close to that price range, including the Mackie, Event, and even smaller Genelc monitors.

-Duardo

Man, I'm feeling good there's so much people liking them! And, although I'll obviously listen to them prior to buying, it's reassuring knowing that I'm searching amongst quality stuff. Thanks TheBlueRoom for your input regarding the 2020's! Any thoughts on how the BM5a's would compare to the ASP6? I'm insisting on the events as those are the hardest to listen to here in Portugal - it's far easier to listen to the adams - as I've done myself.

Duardo wrote: I heard the BM5A's a couple weeks ago and was very surprised how much (or, should I say little) they cost. I'm planning on selling my HR624's to buy them. I like them more than most of the speakers I've heard that are even close to that price range, including the Mackie, Event, and even smaller Genelc monitors.

-Duardo

There would be no mismatch problems whatsoever between the Dynaudio BM6s and a Halfer P3000 - it's a real popular combination. I haven't heard the Bm5 actives, but the BM6 passives are quite a bit nicer than the BM5 passives.

check genelecs new 8000 series, just give it a try & listen.

Problem is, actually getting to listen to any of these things before purchase, especially to a/b them(DA's to MK's to YA's to GE's for instance) in the same - decent - room.

For instance: Duardo, I do wonder(And hope you'll tell us) how you figure the Dyn's are better enough to buy them and dump your Mackies? Are the Yamaha's that good?(They really shouldn't be - though they may be? I don't know!) Did you get to a/b them both, at the same time, in your, or some other, room?

Seriously, some of the "differences" in these things HAVE to be t-i-n-y, yet still important... How can we make a real judgement? Certainly not by specs and mail-order... All I have to go on is reviews - which are great, but are often 180 degrees different, depending on who did the review and testimonials which are generally unusable without complete background of the testifier's experience.

I'd like to know about places you've run accross that have at least several of these competing speakers(And other gear) set-up to listen to in a reasonable studio situation? Some Guitar Centers have "studios"(Sort've). At least a semi-treated room by itself, away from the main store area. The old Mars Music had a studio area, as well as a mic display that at least allowed you to put on headphones and listen to them to some degree. Who else does this? Name names and places! Please! Would be well worth even a long trip to really see/hear some of this stuff...

Places I know - firsthand - that are at least semi-good:

Guitar Center - Towson(Baltimore), MD.
Medley Music - Ardmore(Philadelphia), PA.

Nice to get a "sticky" started on this. ANYONE(Moderator?), please feel free to move this to or start a new thread if you think it might be helpful. NOT a thread that promotes or blasts, perse, one store over another, just some plain reference about where to go to actually get some ears-on... And NO, price is NOT an issue here. I'd pay much more to know I was getting the right thing the first time.

Teddy G.

In fact, this is a major issue. Sometimes we have to rely on waht other people have chosen for their setup, and, if you get to know those people, you get a chance to listen to their gear on location. I mean, here in Portugal, most stores won't have listening areas (perhaps those in the hi-fi bizz). Most of them are just wharehouses stocking gear people are supposed to already know. So you go in and buy it - no fuss nor investment for the dealer, just fillin' their pockets.
Of course internet is one of the major retailer areas nowadays. And, obviously, you're not supposed to do anything else than pull out your credit card. Less staff involved, no need for anything more than... another wharehouse! That reflects (or should reflect) on pricing plicies. How is a local store going to justify expensive pricing, if they offer no more no less than online retailers? I'm willing to spend more if, and only if, these stores start to treat customers (intended as the proaudio comunity) as their major source of revenue, providing adequate facilities and services, leading to customer fidelization. Only then it will be a all-win situation. Untill that, I'm sticking to online purchases.

Anyone here from Portugal? Maybe I'm not aware of stores offering better customer treatment....
Sorry for bad english

Duardo, I do wonder(And hope you'll tell us) how you figure the Dyn's are better enough to buy them and dump your Mackies? Did you get to a/b them both, at the same time, in your, or some other, room?

It was a pretty clear improvement to me, just hearing them that one time. The difference was not subtle...at least I didn't perceive it to be. I should say that I will buy them, but before I sell my Mackie speakers I will bring the Dynaudio speakers home and listen to them side by side to make sure I really was hearing what I thought I was. But I'm fairly certain I was.

I'd like to know about places you've run accross that have at least several of these competing speakers(And other gear) set-up to listen to in a reasonable studio situation?

Yeah, I've seen some stores (mainly the larger chain-type stores) who have had them set up for comparison, but I don't think that's much good for anything other than a general idea of how the speakers sound. The main issue is they're usually set up totally symetrically...in other words, one pair of speakers will be three feet apart, the next four, the next five, and so on...it's prettier that way, but really for a fair comparison each pair should be as far from each other as the next.

In any case, you won't really know how they'll sound until you take them home and try them out in your space.

-Duardo