Behringer Speaker MS40 Digital 40-Watt Stereo Near Field Monitors

by Behringer

Product Features

• 2-way active studio monitors ideally suited for computer studios, audio and multimedia workstations and keyboard monitoring
• Built-in powerful 2 x 20-Watt amplifiers with immense headroom
• Powerful woofers and high-resolution tweeters provide an ultra-linear frequency response
• Ultra-high resolution 24-bit/192 kHz D/A converters for an incredible dynamic range
• Optical and coaxial inputs to directly connect digital audio sources by S/PDIF interface

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 25.6 x 9.1 x 13 inches ; 21.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 25 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000IKSIOM
• Item model number: MS40
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,960 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #2 in Musical Instruments > Live Sound & Stage > Monitors, Speakers & Subwoofers > Speakers & Accessories > Speakers > Unpowered Cabinets

Product Description

Behringer ms40 studio monitors are 24-bit/192 khz digital 40-watt stereo near field speakers. 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. two stereo analog inputs featuring 1/8- inch trs and stereo rca connectors can be used simultaneously or mixed with a digital stereo source. the speakers also feature individual volume controls for both line inputs plus bass and treble eq controls, and there is a 1/4- inch trs headphone connector with a front-panel auto-mute loudspeaker function.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very good for HTPC but not recommended for home studios, July 3, 2010

By 

Ricardo Takao Oikawa "Sashimi-SJC" (SPO, BRA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Behringer Speaker MS40 Digital 40-Watt Stereo Near Field Monitors (Electronics)

If you need a inexpensive home theater PC speakers MS40 are fun. Their mids and highs are sweet e the mid-bass line is satisfatory. Those ones who intend to listen to MP3 and watch movies on PCs will enjoy MS40.

On other hand, if you need a reference monitor for recordings, forget it! No way! MS40 is quite uneven, lacks resolution and clarity on mid band and its treble has absolutely no resolution. Bass lines isn't good enough also, because of its lack of control and velocity (they are boomy speakers). Their quite apparent boxiness also let MS40 down.

Looking for a entry level reference monitor? I would recommend to spend a bit more and get KRK Rockit RP5G2 or a M-Audio BX5A. They cost twice as much, but sound 4 times better. You can't afford any of them as your budget is short, so go with M-Audio AV30 or AV40. In my opinion, even the chep M-Audio AV20 offers better mid and treble resolution than behringer MS40.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Sound Little Speaker, February 27, 2009

By 

Jess Schulte "Sound Fan" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Behringer Speaker MS40 Digital 40-Watt Stereo Near Field Monitors (Electronics)

These Behringer MS40's are rockin' my apartment big time. I have had plenty of speakers in my day, but these are the best combination of size and sound. I still find myself thinking "where's the sub at" on occasion when enjoying these speakers, because the low end sounds beautiful. I remember when you would have had to of placed tower speakers sporting 10" cones or had a sub cabinet to get this sound. Best part is that the mid range and highs sound GREAT too!! With about 8-10 feet of seperation between the speakers the imaging is right on. When I watch movies with them you get what they intended to mix. Dialogue is centered, cars sweep across the room, and explosions rock the walls. I listen to quite a bit of music and enjoy various styles. It really doesn't matter what the genre because the end result is always excellent. My only advice would be to make sure that you are not to close to the speaker when listening. I originally place them about 3' from each end of my couch and realized that the "sweet spot" was my kitchen...I switched their placement to the opposite end of the room and have sounded great ever since. Seriously well balanced speakers...not like they are the best, but I have not found any better for the price. Something else that makes them awesome is the input section. I have my computer running through one input, my tv/dvd through another and sometimes friends will drop by and we plug their ipod straight into another input...two volume controls allow me to adjust the computer and tv/dvd seperatly. These speakers are SWEET for the Price!!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Behringer is great stuff, but you need to know what you are buying, February 25, 2011

By 

Tim "timra" (Richmond, VT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behringer Speaker MS40 Digital 40-Watt Stereo Near Field Monitors (Electronics)

I purchased a set of these new, and actually have a fair amount of Behringer equipment. I like it because there are some subtle misunderstandings with the equipment they sell, and that means you can usually get it very cheaply.

I am very happy with these, and actually suspect that much of the whining about midrange is from people who previously had multi-media speakers, and miss the exaggerated midrange. I have faith in Behringer, and these speakers are probably quite flat in their dynamic response. On the other hand, I have considerable flexibility in driving them through a good mixer, and can get what ever I want out of them. My only criticism is that these speakers are very directional as a result of their design, and it can be difficult to find the listening "sweet spot".

A clue about Behringer stuff:

A design technique they use is electronic power cutoffs to eliminate noise from low amplitude signals. This means if you don't have enough input amplitude to drive them, you may get faint or no sound out of them. My guess is that this is the case with the sets that can be had for 70 bucks because one or more speakers is faint, or not producing sound at all. See what I mean about getting Behringer stuff cheap? <g>.

PS - There is no hum out of them, they are absolutely silent when not being driven

DO buy these if you have a moderate (No more is required) understanding of sound system architecture, and can set them up properly!

DON'T buy these if you want something to plug in to your ipod or TV set, and are going to give up because 5 seconds after you do you are unhappy with what is coming out of the speakers. What you want are multimedia speakers.

Finally, if you want to chance a "Damaged" pair that isn't producing good sound out of one or more speakers, go right ahead, but do so at your own risk. I bought them new, but as soon as I plugged them in got faint sound out of one speaker until I went through and made certain they were being driven with a strong signal, and all the interconnects were solid - Then Presto! (As I say to myself - Oh yeah - Behringer stuff)