M Audio AV 40 speaker question

If you simply want something to listen to, then yes they will work.
However they are neither monitor speakers in the general studio sense, nor are they especially good for enjoying movies.
Bass is always a problem because the speakers are very small.

So to sum it up: You get what you pay for.

I would advise against the bass boost, because it actually does nothing to improve real bass performance. It is a filter for highs and mids, so it feels like there is more bass.
Try this in a one to one comparison with a real studio monitor and you see what I mean.

Imho, they are speakers. They sound like they would for the price. Just remember that their heritage is in multimedia sound for a computer. So gaming, youtube movies and such. Obviously that means you can use them with your TV if you like too, but I am not too sure it’s gonna enhance your TV experience all that much with todays sound quality in the TVs.

Obviously you can use any speaker you like to practice DJ-ing, including the AV-40s. Mixing is about the boom and the clap. To do proper mixing you want both those sounds to “shine”, the rest is pretty much window dressing I think.

And frankly speakers of this variety don’t have the size, build, amp power nor purpose of giving you that nice and tight kick drum and snare/clap sound which helps you mixing.

If you had a pair of these right now and no budget to buy something better, I’d advice you to keep using them while you save up for something else. I would not recommend them as the speakers to buy when you don’t have any speakers yet.

Go for monitors or small PA speakers. The first if you plan on maybe doing more than just mix in the future and you don’t plan on playing out in small settings. The second if you do think you’ll be playing houseparties and such.

Like Terry said, you get what you pay for.

Greetinx.

Imho, they are speakers. They sound like they would for the price. Just remember that their heritage is in multimedia sound for a computer. So gaming, youtube movies and such. Obviously that means you can use them with your TV if you like too, but I am not too sure it’s gonna enhance your TV experience all that much with todays sound quality in the TVs.

Surely you’re joking about that. Even today’s top-of-the-line $4,000 4K TVs have way worse sound than your average $150 consumer shelf stereo. If anything, sound quality in TVs has gotten nothing but worse since the shift to flat HD panels.

LOL … well it’s a bit of a jump from AV40s to Genelecs (or Adams, Focals and all the other ear candy out there). But there is plenty way closer to the AV40s that will give you much more enhancement is the point we are trying to make I guess.

And yeah, technology has come a long way from the cardboard cone mono speaker tucked into the old TV cabinets. Compression drivers, pressure cabinets, ultra lightweight magnets, super coils. And some of the stuff they put into even flat LCD/Plasma numbers is pretty good as Terry said.

I too prefer listening to my Denon/Magnat combo up front with some technics surround speakers obviously.

Again, if it works for you, then that is what you need. That is good thing about this place. Agreeing to disagree is standard operating procedure 😀 .

Greetinx.

OK, for arguments sake, let’s say the TV example was a bad one. Modern day TV speakers are not good.

If you have read of my other posts on the subject of speaker choice, then you might have noticed that it is usually two-pronged, depending on your goal. If you plan on doing any producing and/or make many mixtapes, your best bet would be a set of modestly priced (so no, not genelecs lol) monitors. KRK 5’s and 6’s have been the mainstay here for a long time offering a very good price/quality ratio. And they can be complemented by a sub that will actually “compliment” them, being from the same brand and series. This entire set is UNSUITABLE for live use. Do not use any kind of monitor or home audio speaker at a gig, even a house party. Read the article on the blog.

So, if you are not too much into making mixtapes and producing, but you DO intend to play out (a lot) at smaller venues where it’s helpful to have your own speakers and you like to get as close to the sound playing out as you can, then get a small PA set. The LD Dave series, any decent brand 10″ PA speaker, Mackie has a nice sub/top set as does HK Audio. Plenty to choose from, plenty loud for house parties for 30-50 people, easy to transport.

The AV40 serve neither purpose well. The CAN NOT be used for playing a party (trust us, you’ll trash them) and they can’t be used to produce or make a decent mixtape. The reason is, as I said before, the are made like you said as “just” speakers, great for reproducing sound from your computer (be it listening to spotify, playing a game or watching your home video’s), but not with the thought of producing sound at either a level, quality or frequency curve in mind.

More on the AV40s. Using prices here, a set of AV40 costs 115 euro, a set of KRK RP5 G3s will be 290. The difference however is a mile-and-a-half.

Amplification: 20W RMS AV40) – 50W RMS (RP5)
Type of amp: single A/B class (AV40) – bi-amped 30W/20W A/B class (RP5)
Number of amps: 1 amp for 2 speakers (AV40) – 1 amp PER speaker (RP5)
Controls: none (AV40) – LF, HF and volume (RP5)
Drivers: 4″ woofer & 3/4″ tweeter (AV40) – 5″ woofer & 1″ tweeter (RP5)
Frequency response: 85Hz to 20KHz (AV40) – 40/49Hz – 35/40KHz (RP5)

Even without listening to them, the specs speak for themselves. And while they may about 2 1/2 times as expensive in a relative sense. In an absolute sense the difference isn’t that big. You’d need a sub woofer with the AV40s at all times, since there is quite a bit of audio going on below 85Hz in dance music that the AV40s just won’t produce (properly anyway).

Just to be clear, we don’t get endorsement, no kick-backs or anything. Heck, we can’t even get a press license for Traktor 😀 . We don’t care either way what you get. Get the Pioneer DJ Monitors, get M-Audio BX5s (cheaper than the RP5s and no doubt way closer to them than the AV40s). The only thing we care about is that you get the best gear for the budget you have.

Let me put it like this. If your budget is around the 115 euro mark, I’d rather suggest buying a good set of cans for that money than getting the AV40s. Really good cans will run you the price of a set of KRKs though (Sennheisers HDJ7/8, HD25-IIs, NOCs, etc.). Point being, good gear will cost you more than consumer stuff. It’s that simple.

I don’t want to be “right”, I don’t want to convince anybody and I have said before: “If it works for YOU, it’s probably the right thing”. If you come onto the forum and ask for our honest opinion, that’s what you’ll get. What you do with it and what decision you make is always up to you.

One last anecdote about the AV40s. Years ago a client of mine on the IT-end of my business was complaining that in his home office he was always listening to iTunes and online radio (pre-spotify times) and that the sound from his 10 euro computer speakers sucked (geez, who’d have guessed). I adviced him on a set of … tatata … M-Audio AV40s (mk1). He fell off his chair about the price. That was SOOOO expensive for a set of computer speakers. I told him to look at them as small home stereo speakers and to trust me on the matter. He sprang for the speakers, I ordered and installed them and he has been very happy with them for many years.

Moral of the story: I have nothing against these speakers, I’ll even recommend them to customers, just not for the purpose of DJ-ing.

Greetinx.

LOL the AV40s are rated 85Hz and up, so quite a bit of the heavy low bass won’t be there. Getting a few isolating pads to set them on will help limit low frequency transmitting to desk or such. So you might actually do well with the AV40s.

You can always set your controller eq for low to something like -3dB. I would bother with getting a separate mixer just for some EQ-ing.

Greetinx.