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How to "tweak" the M-Audio AV40 computer speakers?

post #1 of 9
5/22/11 at 7:59am
Thread Starter 
I am thinking of buying a pair of M-Audio AV40 speakers ($123.00 @ Amazon) with a built in DAC for my i-Mac 24" computer. I have read that if I put in an audio card (suggestions appreciated), that will greatly improve the sound of the speakers. Is this true? I have some high end Audioquest interconnects and speaker wires. Will these be compatible with the simple and inexpensive pair of speakers? Any other INEXPENSIVE "tweaks" that you might suggest would be appreciated. I just want to improve the quality of the music coming out of my i-Tunes music library while I am at my computer. I understand that the M-Audio AV40's are a good "bang for your buck" pair of DAC speakes as compared to the very expensive B&W's for $500 a pair.
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post #2 of 9
5/22/11 at 1:13pm
The av-40 are good, for the money.

"Good" audio cards cost $200+, i.e not the garbage from creative labs. Spending a lot on that to feed $120 monitors is not a good allocation of money. Better to just use the onboard audio you have and spend $300 on monitors. The av-40 will not match $500 B+W speakers no matter what you do.

You might want to move up a bit in the monitors to something like the KRK rokits rp-5, or perhaps some used Mackie hr-624's. Behringer Truths are decent around $200-300 depending on the model. It's good that you are avoiding all the plastic'y "PC" speakers from logitech and klipsch.
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post #3 of 9
5/22/11 at 2:23pm
4" drivers aren't going to provide much bass.

their website claims, "If you crave bass, the AV 40s have you covered. With wooden cabinets, bass reflex design, and an integrated bass boost switch, the AV 40s kick out serious low frequencies—perfect for producing hip-hop and electronic music, or enjoying your favorite CDs, MP3s, DVDs, and games"

that's marketing department gone wild.
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post #4 of 9
5/22/11 at 5:02pm
You spend all that money on a mac why not spend a some money on some decent speakers.

I own a pair of Behringer TRUTH B2031A's and are worth twice what they are going for.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Behringer-TRUTH-...item35b19993c9
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post #5 of 9
5/22/11 at 6:30pm
"Behringer TRUTH B2031A"

has anyone taken a frequency sweep of these? is that the one that folks were modding, or was that a passive version? some of the behringers are real sleepers...that is for sure. that is definitely getting into the region where the op will be hands down happy. i just don't think that 4" drivers are good for much below midrange.
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post #6 of 9
5/22/11 at 9:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LTD02 View Post

"Behringer TRUTH B2031A"

has anyone taken a frequency sweep of these? is that the one that folks were modding, or was that a passive version? some of the behringers are real sleepers...that is for sure. that is definitely getting into the region where the op will be hands down happy. i just don't think that 4" drivers are good for much below midrange.

Someone near a guitar center needs to try these out. You can try them out for 30 days and then return them.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringe...08-i1529408.gc
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post #7 of 9
5/23/11 at 11:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LTD02 View Post

4" drivers aren't going to provide much bass.

their website claims, "If you crave bass, the AV 40s have you covered. With wooden cabinets, bass reflex design, and an integrated bass boost switch, the AV 40s kick out serious low frequencies—perfect for producing hip-hop and electronic music, or enjoying your favorite CDs, MP3s, DVDs, and games"

that's marketing department gone wild.

*laughs* Yeah, that is pretty out there. Though, to be fair, for a smallish computer speaker system, I bet they do all that better than what most people have for computer speakers. These are actually made out of MDF and not some chinsy plastic crap with a 2" fullrange driver.

I've been thinking of getting these for my office. Should be a hole in one cuz I would be replacing these with the Av40's.

http://www.amazon.com/Tweakers-SPKR-.../dp/B001QJGYZO

I hate them with a passion.
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post #8 of 9
5/23/11 at 1:33pm
HSU has their HB-1 horn based speakers (with 6.5" woofer) on sale for $99 in walnut right now.

Add a $50 to $100 2 channel amp like ..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

or

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

and that seems like a good deal for computer speakers. But the amp is external vs embedded into each speaker.

Note that Pyle amp's rating of 120Wx2 is at 10% THD, but even with 20 or 30 watts for computer speakers and the efficiency of the HSU's you should be fine.
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post #9 of 9
5/25/11 at 4:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LTD02 View Post

"Behringer TRUTH B2031A"

has anyone taken a frequency sweep of these?

Yes, check dantheman on diyaudio as he's done quite a few measurements on them.
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