Digital Monitor Speakers

by Behringer

Product Details

• Item Weight: 22 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 22.5 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000PXSBTY
• Item model number: MS40
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

These compact, super-affordable 2 x 20-Watt near field monitors feature ultra-high resolution 24-bit/192 kHz D/A converters, which let you connect digital sources directly in order to eliminate analog line-loss and hum. Connect your computer sound card, keyboard, MP3 & Mini Disc players and enjoy excellent detail and great dynamics, Optical and coaxial inputs to directly connect digital audio sources by S/PDIF interface. The built-in amplifiers offer plenty of headroom, while the powerful woofers and tweeters provide an ultra-linear frequency response.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Note: these are the MS-40s, March 13, 2010

By 

R. Boatman (Wayne, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Digital Monitor Speakers (Personal Computers)

I see that as of this writing, 20% of people who viewed this item decided to instead purchase the Behringer MS-40, a slightly more expensive speaker that does not qualify for free shipping. That's too bad, because as I can personally attest, the speakers on this page *ARE* the MS-40. Again, this is true of the date I write this so YMMV, but right now these same speakers appear twice on Amazon, in one place as the MS-40, and here as an unidentified model.

They are very nearly perfect.

1. (+) No buzz or hiss of any kind, and that includes feeding off of a mini-PC across a 12' mini plug to dual RCAs (this unit can accept either a mini plug or dual RCAs as its auxillary input, by the way). This same mini PC hissed and hummed like crazy when connected directly to the LCD monitor.

2. (-) Slightly lacking in midrange, but only slight. One huge difference was heard when I went into the Blu-Ray's setup and changed from surround sound to stereo - midranges were by default being sent to a center speaker that in this setup does not exist! This would of course be an issue no matter what two-speaker solution I had selected.

3. (+) Separate volume controls for digital input and auxilliary input. You can set both how you want them and leave it. I have the Blu-Ray coming in through optical and the computer through RCA.

4. (-) You can run optical (Toslink aka SPDIF) or coax (single RCA) digital in, but to switch between them you have to flip a slider switch hidden on the back. I want to also connect my DVR, which would mean running a digital coax line, but then to switch between Cable and Blu-Ray will mean hunting for the little switch hidden on the back - not very convenient considering they are sitting on top of a wall unit. One star off for not putting that switch on the front with the others.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BUY THE MS-40 SPEAKERS LISTED ON AMAZON (unless, of course, by the time you read this Amazon has already merged the two item pages or changed the price and shipping on the MS-40 to match this one). Buy this one instead, it's the exact same unit.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice...If You Don't Mind Hum and Hiss, January 28, 2010

By 

Ben Shively (Kansas City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Digital Monitor Speakers (Personal Computers)

I had high hopes for these studio reference monitors, but I was sorely disappointed. Even with no inputs connected, nothing connected but power, if the bass knob was anywhere above zero, there was a constant hum; not loud, but there. I couldn't take it. And if that wasn't enough, the tweeters emitted a constant hiss; again, barely noticeable, but noticeable. And again, this is with no inputs connected, so you can't blame the analog inputs. I thought maybe I got a bad set, so I exchange them for another...Same problems. It is nice that these speakers have the inputs that they do, and the dual volume knobs. They do have a nice sound when there should be sound. Unfortunately, they also have a sound when there should not be any.

I do highly recommend American Musical Supply. They were very helpful and I never paid any shipping even after buying these speakers, exchanging them, and then returning them for a full refund.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MS-40s, June 2, 2010

By 

sfcaptainrob "starfleetcaptainrob" (Plymouth, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Digital Monitor Speakers (Personal Computers)

So I finally talked the wife into letting me get a new plasma TV. I get it home and all set up and find one thing I overlooked, the audio out from the TV is digital only. No analog out, making my analog only receiver obsolete. Considering I had just spent a good chunk of change on the TV I wasn't really looking at spending another good chunk on a new receiver. So I decided to look at a all in one type of solution, which brought me to these studio monitors.

Now, I'm no audiophile and some people have said in other reviews that these speakers admit a hum or a buzz or a rattle but they sound pretty crystal clear to me. Then again they are in my living room and I sit a good 8 feet or so away from my entertainment center. Those that use these for their intended purpose are probably sitting closer and might notice something. To me though, they sound great. Much better than the 20 year old speakers I was using! They get very loud and have some nice base to them for a set of speakers without a dedicated sub woofer. Movies, music, and games all sound excellent on them in my opinion.

They are also a nice size so that they fit on some smaller shelves in my entertainment center. Now my wife is happier because the old speakers I was using used to sit on the floor. Everything is contained within the entertainment center now.

I guess my only gripe is that in order to change the volume on the speakers I have to get up off the couch and walk over to them to do so. Not a huge deal though. I shouldn't be so lazy!

So if you're looking for some decent quality speakers at a good price, you really can't go wrong with these!