Hey F5D!!!

Just one quick note before I get into it -

My review of the BM15s will be sent up to the boards by the end of the night tonight, so look for it soon. (It needs to go to the editor first, then get published.)

F5D wrote:

1. Can the BM15 passive sound as good as the BM15 active? Do they sound the same or are they still different speakers? I don't need to play very loud. 85-95dB at max. I want to know if the passive version could bring me the same detailed and accurate sound as the active? I haven't heard the actives either but read much of them from here and there.

Yes and no. They sound a little different. The passives are excellent speakers by any rights.

2. Does the BM15 passive sound better than the new BM5A? What might the differences be in addition to the BM15's better bass response? So which do you think is better? How much lower/better does BM15 play the bass than BM5A?

Heck yes. Don't get me wrong, the BM5As are VERY nice. The BM15s play more effortlessly and quite a bit more dynamically. (They don't tend to compress as much at higher levels.)

3. The BM15 has a very big bass driver. Does it still play transients well? I need a good bass frequency and transient response that I can mix my kicks and basslines well. I have no plans to add a sub later so that's the reason why I am leaning towards the BM15 passive.

Detailed, clean, excellent transient response. No sub needed. However, adequate space is needed. Be prepared to give up an entire room for your system, not just one corner.

4. Can you suggest a cheap and still good power amplifier to use with the BM15 passives? I don't need huge powers but at least 50W per channel. It can be a hifi- or studio model.

Hafler or Bryston. Both can be picked up pretty cheap, especially used.

5. Has somebody listened to both BM15 and HR626 and what were the differences?

Yep. Better dynamics, smoother (less scooped) mids, rich, buttery treble, massive depth on the lower frequencies all in favor of the Dynaudios. It's no comparison.

J... 8-)

Hey J...

Speaking of speakers, in general, like the Dynaudios and more other makers than I realized, which come as either passive or active in at least several of their models. What are the benefits/detractions of either? For instance does the active's bi-amping make alot of difference? Are the passives "setup" for bi-amping, if desired(Or again, does it not matter enough to worry about.)? Price of actives or passives with a good seperate amp seem to be pretty even, so.. which ? Why?

Thankx,

Teddy G.

Hey Teddy -

I'm not going to spoil much of what I wrote in the review, but I didn't go too much into depth about the inherit advantages and disadvantages.

In general, it's mostly left up to preference and that's it. Personally, I prefer to choose my own amp from a company that designs amps.

There's a good reason why my best power amps weigh over 100 pounds - good power supplies, good cooling, power in reserves, etc.

J.

when you say hafler - would a P3000 do it?

When you say bryston, which model? just so I can make sure I'm looking for the right things (I'm considering the BM15P too!)

3000s good.

2B 3B 4B (Non ST models are cheaper.)

I think Cucco has answered all the questions here :D
I can only say that I agree with what he says here. I haven´t read the review yet.

Those speakers will definitively own the room.

yea this is great info!

when did the non-ST models go out of production? I wonder if the age of these models is going to mean that they will have problems very soon...

It's not likely that their age is indicative of problems. The st line is relatively new and many of the ''older" models are still covered under their amazing 10 year warranty . Besides, they may be ugly as hell, but they're built like a brick sh!t house!

8-)
J

any ideas where i can look for a used one? I can't seem to find one (non ST model) but I dont know too many places to search.

Also, i did find a hafler p3000 for $375 - but would I be underpowering the BM15Ps with this? would be it still yield very good results?

another thing i'm curious about, is how different would the hafler p3000 + dynaudio bm15P be from the bM15A - am I going to be missing out a LOT here? (its a difference of $1600CAD!!)

Thanks for your replies guys!

It was a very hard decision but I just ordered a pair of BM5A's with monitor stands because the BM15P's with a good amp were slightly out of my budget anyway. If the 5A's cannot produce enough bass, I have an active DIY sub from my earlier hifi system so I can use it too. I cannot monitor very loud so the 5A's may still give me a dynamic sound. I haven't heard a bad word about these monitors so I can hardly wait till I get them. :)

Let us know what you think! I ended up buying the bM15P with a bryston 4B amp - absolutely lovin' it so far.

The Dynaudios arrived today but guess what... the cables and stands won't arrive until tomorrow! :mrgreen:

But I am already in love with these. They look beautiful and fit to the rest of my gear very nicely. The build quality seems to be high too. I will report the experiences here, of course. :)

I can see you are happy F5D.

Can anyone still tell why the price difference between BM15A and BM15P are so huge?

And say hey to everybody, this is my first post!

I think it has something to do with the BM15A having amplifiers built-in.

Ok, I finally got the cables and stands too. :)

These BM5A's are very good monitors. Very neutral and accurate sound as I was expecting. They also play the bass better than I was expecting. I produce electronic dance music and these definitely have enough bass for mixing it. Altough the -3dB point is at 50Hz, these play lower than that. The mackie HR626's which I had before played the bass a little deeper (of course with those bass drivers) but the BM5A's also have a good bass response. I had to set the bass to -2dB because these little monsters played the bass so loud. Also my room creates a resonance at about 130Hz (typical I guess) so I had to compensate that with a software eq in iTunes and in Logic Pro 7.

Maybe the highs play better with these BM5A's but the mackies were not bad either. The 626's treble was sometimes a little spiky but these dynaudios are very smooth and still very accurate. I also have to add that the stereo sound field is very deep and wide. Both are great speakers but sound a little different. I like the sound of the BM5A's very much. Suits my needs perfectly and the sound is already now non fatiguing. I have played these for 2.5 hours now and maybe the sound has become a little better already (breaking in the drivers).

I guess nothing beats these at this price. These are good for just music listening too.

Want to upgrade your BM5A's bass response to the one of BM6A's? I guess I just did. :D

If the differences between BM5A and BM6A were only the amp powers and cabinet design and the drivers were the same so what prevents you from tuning the BM5A cabinet down to 49Hz which is the tuning frequency of the BM6A? Also the internal volumes differ only by 0.5 litres, so it shouldn't be a problem. The tuning doesn't affect the phases at the crossover point either. So I tried...

I extended the reflex tubes by adding 4.5cm long extra tubes and calculated that the tuning frequency should be near 49 or 50 Hz instead of the original 55Hz. And the bass seems to play lower now. I haven't heard the BM6A but I guess this is what their bass sounds like. Nothing bad happened to the sound of my BM5A's but the bass response is better now. 8)

This is just a temporary solution because the "tubes" I used were paper roll cores and I guess they start resonating at higher sound pressure levels so I will go and buy better ones another day but the results were already quite promising. :lol: