M-Audio Studiophile AV30 Professional Reference Speakers

I bought these speakers to listen to music and news at my desk in my apartment, and BOY do they fit the bill.I've put them through the ringer--rock, folk, house, drum & bass, hip hop, samba, All Things Considered--and they sound remarkably good in all applications. Everything but D&B and hip hop sounds almost as good as on my other monitors (KRK 5's) that cost twice as much. The fidelity is impressive, and the response is remarkably flat. If you're used to or prefer the more U-shaped sound of non-monitors, be sure to turn on the appropriate EQ in iTunes; they'll sound tinny otherwise, but that's what a flat-response monitor will sound like compared to regular 2- or 3-way stereo speakers. It's all those mid-range sounds you're used to covering up.They also handle a good deal of volume. With the volume knob at 50% and my MacBook volume at 75%, it's "Turn that noise down!" loud and still as clear as at lower volumes for most types of music.The bass lines in the D&B have some drop-off on the bottom end, but that's a LOT to ask of a value-priced monitor with a 3" woofer. I listen to really nasty stuff with super-low bass--Technical Itch, Dieselboy, Bad Company, and the like--so I expected that this would be the one area with less than amazing reproduction. I was right. (Roni Size's "Brown Paper Bag" is much more within their range.) Hip hop beats can lose a some punch, too, and this is the one area where you'll notice a little distortion at higher volumes. (The kick drums in D&B are usually a little more like real kicks than in much hip hop, and these sound great even at higher volumes.)Again, for the size (don't have a ruler--each speaker is maybe 5" wide and 6" deep) and price, they do surprisingly well. Other challenging types of music with lots of bass that just isn't as low, e.g. House, come through remarkably well.The 4" version was very well reviewed, so I thought I'd give these a shot because they cost less and take up less room. Also, the primary difference would be in the bass response, and I live in an apartment building, so for me, having less bass was actually a good thing. They still get too loud for me to play them anything close to maxed out, and they sound great.One more thing: I like the design. M-Audio knew this would be more for desktop listening than studio applications such as mixing (for which I got the KRK 5's). Thus, they put all the inputs and controls on one speaker, which is nice because it only requires one power cable and you don't have to split an RCA cable to run one line to each speaker. It comes with a 1/8" to RCA cable (connects your computer's audio out port to the RCA jacks in the back) AND a 1/8" to 1/8" cable (connects your iPod to the Aux In port on the front). The volume knob in front is also nice.If you want reasonably high fidelity for a low price at your desk, and you don't need subwoofer-type bass response, I'd recommend these speakers. Highly.

I can only give one star to an item that cost $100 and lasts only a couple of years. I still have the cheap plastic computer speakers that these replaced and they're 20 years old and still working. These worked great when I first got them -- they seem well made -- and they sounded great. Then, like some others, I'd hear buzzing noises from the left speaker, then the speakers started cutting out. I thought it was my cord from the speakers to the computer (because this was a problem on the AV40 speakers I bought for my classroom), but it was not that. Even with the new cord, the speakers just cut out, then cut back in, then cut out. So they're now useless because who can listen to that? I thought that M-Audio was a good company because I have another product of theirs that has worked fine for several years. But these speakers definitely have some kind of design flaw. They're out of warranty, and from what I've read the company isn't going to do anything about the problem. You know it would cost more to get somebody to fix than it would cost to get a brand new set of speakers -- So I cannot recommend them at all.

I've been downgrading my computer speakers over the years. First I had a 4.1 THX system. That dropped to 2.1 after switching to the Mac which didn't support them. After blowing out my 2.1 system in just 2 years, I went with these speakers aka 2.0 because, after all, I'm just using them as computer speakers. I've owned other "bookshelf" style speakers and expected these to exceed the quality of others which I've had in the past.Well... I used to be a big fan of tuned port speakers. The first thing I've noticed was a hollow box sound. The bass sounded like someone was beating on a drum. There was an annoying echo at the low end. I plugged up the rear ports with foam and that made it sound less annoying, but I didn't like the sound. From within iTunes I used the equalizer to get a good sound by ear, but other applications and games did not use the iTunes equalizer. I did not like the way they sounded.I purchased an inexpensive external equalizer, Behringer Ultra-Compact 9-Band Graphic Equalizer FBQ800, which did the trick. It's a wonderful equalizer, but now I needed to calibrate my sound system. An SPL meter was the same price as the equalizer; but, fortunately I found an SPL meter app for my iPhone for less than the price of a cup of coffee. I had to hunt around for a tone generator for Mac which produced the 9 frequencies found on the equalizer. With the speakers at 75% volume and protective headphones I calibrated my system. I was somewhat surprised at what I found.A tone generated on OS X 10.4 on a Mac Mini through these speakers produces a flat-line response ranging from +12db at 125hz to -12db at 8khz. The equalizer was perfect for getting the kinks out. Below 100hz, there was a rapid fall-off from +12db to below -12db at 63hz - not surprising.What this all means - the speakers have no bass response below 125hz and the high end frequencies are all in the mud e.g. I think those tweeters are just painted on. After you iron it all out, you are left with a set of mid-range speakers. meh. I had really expected to get more for the price.The best sound I get is when I turn the computer volume to full then turn up the gain on the equalizer until the meter reads 0db. The handy placement of the volume control makes it a cinch to quickly adjust for various applications.Onto the design features - very well designed. All the controls are on the left side, perfect for this right-handed person who can operate the mouse while adjusting the volume (and equalizer). There's an aux input and headphone jack on the front of the left speaker. On a switched outlet, the speakers come up quietly and turn off quietly.