Customer Reviews

M-Audio LX4 2.1 Monitoring Sound System

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I use my LX4 2.1 system as my desktop PC speakers. I got this recommendation from Maximum PC, since the LX4 5.1 system was 2005's best speaker system. You can view their gear of the year review here: http://www.maximumpc.com/2005/12/m-audio_studiop_1.html. Being skeptical of a $550 5.1 system with only 27 watts to each satellite, I wanted to start slow and only ordered the 2.1 system. As soon as I purchased cables (FYI: no 1/8" stereo to two 1/4" mono cables seem to exists -as far as I've seen--, so you have to use adaptors) I was blown away by the crisp flowing sounds of the speakers. I wasn't used to speakers with crossovers, where only the each type of speaker (tweeter, woofer, and sub) gets the right frequencies, so no overlapping exists. All the sounds are crystal clear and the housings is very dense and resilient, while the speakers themselves are of superb build quality. After only a few hours of listening to many kinds of music and playing sound-intensive games, I immediately hopped back online and ordered myself the 5.1 expander setup.

If you are looking for speakers that play really loud, or can fill a living room with the desired feel for an action movie, these are not for you. But if you want incredibly accurate PC speakers or relatively cheap studio monitors this is definitely the setup for you. You will not be disappointed if you buy the LX4 for your bedroom or for computer use!

At first I was a bit skeptical about a professional studio monitoring system for $300.00. After buying, setting up and listening to this system I am very well pleased. The highs are smooth and natural and the bass is powerful and tight. Tracks sound very accurate. Excellent sound pressure levels without distortion. Build quality very nice.

I have received these speakers recently and they are simply the best I've heard in the computer 2.1 class.
I've probably heard it all and have never enjoyed music the way I enjoy it with these.
My first pair was Altec Lansing ATP3 which wasn't bad at all, but sound became shrill and painful above a certain mid volume level and the base was inaccurate and exaggerated.
I've switched to Logitech Z3i and was terribly disappointed by the terrible tiny, cold sound and the distortion, and it was then that I swore I will never own another Logitech speaker set. The bass was always overwhelming. My girlfriend got Altec Lansing THX certified MX5021 which are definitely excellent in clarity but only after adjusting the sound a little bit. My friend has a Creative speakers that doesn't sound too bad but the mids and highs are painful as well after a certain volume and not too clear. Another one of my friends has the Bose companion for around $300 and they are certainly not in par with these. They had a seriously overwhelming bass and, although spacious as Bose are well known for, the highs were painful and shrill above low-mid volume. That is the illness of all small satellite plus sub speaker combos - the shrill sound on volumes that are louder than mid as well as simple clarity and definition. I considered Klipsch promedia 2.1 but read SO many terrible reviews of bad build quality that I decided to avoid.
Right before buying these I got the DX4 which are the same only without the sub and was so impressed with the beautiful, silky smooth quality especially in the highs, as well as incredible definition. It was like being immersed in sound, but I just lacked the deeper bass that comes from sets with sub. I decided to spend the extra $[...] and get these.
In one word - spectacular! I can't stop listening, and as a professional musician there's nothing I enjoy and appreciate more than great sounding speakers. Never painful, never shrill, always warm and clear and just like studio monitors, never add anything that the recording doesn't have in it, i.e. bass.
There are however some small cons: size - they're not as small as the rest of the satellites out there, but not gigantic either, and the sub is big, but that's a sacrifice I was willing to make.
They also don't come with a cable to connect to the computer and have no RCA input. This is fairly simple to get around: a trip to RadioShack and you get an 1/8" stereo going to two mono 1/4" RCA cable, and a couple of mono TRS adapters (what's commonly known as 1/4" Phono plugs).
Other than that, they are simply top of the scale for 2.1 speaker. A different league.
Another con is that it doesn't have a digital input for those of you planning on using it for Home Theater and expanding it to 5.1 later.
I suggest you go to www.m-audio.com website and check out the manual for these to get a better idea of connectivity options.

Pros - Sound, sound, sound!! the best. Period.
Cons - No cable included and only TRS (phono) input (no RCA), no digital input, and for the size-conscious, not as small as the others.

The first I heard of these speakers was in a column by the highly-respected Bill Machrone of PC Magazine. He mentioned that they were "amazingly good for the price." I liked the idea of high-quality, reasonably-priced speakers for my computer, since that is where I listen to most music. The ability to easily convert to 5.1 from 2.1 was also a plus. I generally will not buy speakers I haven't listened to, since the experience tends to be very subjective, however, I noticed some other good reviews and decided to take the plunge when I saw they were pretty cheap at Amazon.

After 2 months(!) they finally arrived. The sub had a slight ding, but otherwise apparently OK. Overall, a good-looking set of speakers. The set-up was a bit of a hassle with my iMac. Converting a 1/8" stereo jack to two 1/4" mono plugs is not as easily done as it may seem - required 3 adapters at Radio Shack. (Why didn't M-Audio include a single adapter or change inputs since these were supposedly made for computer use!?) Also, the manual is pretty worthless and it has an incorrect diagram showing all 6 inputs populated for a 2.1 set-up - you actually only need 2, as tech support confirmed.

Once I got it up and running, the first thing I noticed was the bass seemed somewhat weak. Kind of surprising since the sub is pretty large. Actually I was kind of disappointed in the sound overall. It seemed to lack the punch and brightness of other systems. Adding to my concerns was that something in the system seems to pick up interference from my wife's cell phone and there is sometimes a loud "thunk" - apparently from the amp cutting out at low volume. Speaking of volume, there is no easy way to directly control it, since the only knob is on the back of the sub (no "pod"), but I remedied this with a Griffin Powermate USB controller - works pretty well.

However, over time, most of my concerns about the LX4 have gone away. The more I listened, the more I liked it. I noticed some almost-imperceptible nuances in songs I've had for years that I'd never heard before. After listening to the LX4 system for a while, I switched back to my old speakers. It really seemed like the music was coming through a wad of cotton! Evidently what I thought was a problem in the LX4's sound was actually just my ear being used to poorer-quality speakers. In fact, now I really can tell the difference between 128k and higher-bit MP3s. (I've heard others say things like this, but I thought they were just kidding themselves.) The LX4s especially shine on vocals.

I still am keeping the sub turned up to get the bass I crave but, despite the minor hassles and quirks, I'm (now) pretty happy with these speakers. In terms of just the sound, I'm very happy.

I'll note that I've seen these labeled as "discontinued," so you might have to act quick to get them from the manufacturer.

Later Note: I'm still liking these speakers very much. The "HOSA CMP159 Stereo Mini Male to Phone Y-Cable -10 Feet" is a great accessory for this product. HOSA CMP159 Stereo Mini Male to Phone Y-Cable -10 Feet You'll have all the wires you need!

These M-Audio speakers are wonderful. If you've been using any of the common computer speaker manufacturers - ala Best Buy - you have not heard anything like the sound that this set produces. I use them as monitors for audio/video editing and for listening to music. I can't express how much I enjoy listening to pretty much anything on them. For the money, the are unbelievably great. In fact, after using them for over a year, I decided to come back and write this review.

These speakers are absolutely stunning. If you are interested in your music being as "real" and "like being there" as possible, these should be on your auditioning list.

The most outstanding characteristic of the LX4s is that they reproduce all the detail and tonal nuance present in the recording. This includes the "harmonic detail" of instruments and voices, and the "attack" (percussive effect) as hand slaps guitar, finger or pick strikes string, and so on. These details are produced with amazing accuracy. This quality applies equally to simple or busy music.

The effect is striking! It is somewhat like the difference between hearing something faintly in the distance - with much of the information stripped out - and standing right next to the performer(s). One hears not only the voices and instruments themselves, but virtually the "guts" and "body". With instruments for example, one hears the "ring" of the instruments body, and almost senses their size and weight.

As some reviewers have noted, the bass is not overpowering. However, it is completely natural and accurate. Bass level can be adjusted, but only subtly compared to other PC subwoofers I have owned (e.g. Creative Masterworks). The adjustment is almost certainly designed to compensate for different subwoofer placements, rather than to produce a "bass monster".

Indeed, the LX4s bass-mid-treble balance is outstanding. Doubtless this contributes to how natural recordings sound. As such, over-doing bass (or any other part of the range) would be undesirable.

I compared these speakers directly to my previously well-regarded Altec Lansing MX5021s. The 5021s are good speakers, but the LX4s completely showed them up as having a dull midrange that lacked expressiveness compared to the LX4s. The difference was like night and day! Yet, when I first bought the 5021s I was surprised by their realism, especially with respect to the the human voice and instrumental timbres.

I am also surprised by the LX4s accurate imaging. Presumably this is the result of the points noted above, making it possible to hear something of the surrounding space and hence "locate" instruments and performers more precisely.

I have owned good a number of high quality "audiophile" stereo systems (e.g. Van den Hul rewired, heavily modified Rega Planar 3 turntable with SAEC C102 cartridge, HFA valve preamp, Craft power amp, B & W 801 Matrix speakers). The LX4s compare exceptionally well! I find I can now enjoy my music when working at my computer, as much as I do at home.

Frankly, I expected to get more for the price. I wasn't enchanted by them...

First of all I would like to clarify why I bought these speakers. I got them without listening to them since they weren't available near me (a practice you should avoid unless a money back arrangement is available). But after reading lots of great reviews I made the plunge. They are intended mainly for listening to music (pop, ambient, classical, lounge) while working at my pc and every now and then I get to watch a dvd on my pc. So I will be sitting in the same spot and I don't intend to use them to fill a large room with bass. My home office is about 10 square meters. I'm sitting at 1 m from the sattellites and the sub is under my desk. I don't look for head-splitting bass. These speakers are just for ambient music while working. Since I prefer hifi quality music reproduction, I thought this set was a good one for me.

Build quality: at 250 euros for the set you get to expect a bit of craftsmanship. Well to be honest I found the build quality a bit disappointing unpacking the set. The cabinets are quite heavy and so is the bass unit. Even the electronics might be decent (you can have a peek if you shine a light into the bass reflex port). But unpacking the bass unit and turning it over I heard something rattling inside (a loose screw or some solder?) Although they were very well packaged, there were already tiny scratches on the finish and the sattellites and there was a lot of dust in the radiator. There were random specs of paint or oil on the back of the sub unit. Don't know whether that is the intended finish or just sloppy manufacturing.

Sound quality: To me they sound nice but not great. A bit analytical, somewhat lacking in the lower mids. Bit of a gap between the mighty sub and the woofers in the sattellites, despite their decent size? In this price range you expect something good, way above the Logitech and Creative league. They are better, but it's not night and day. When I turned on the sub unit (amplifier) there was a noticable buzz from the amp, no matter what level the volume was set. Ok, all pc speakers tend to do this, but not this loud. When it's under the table with a running pc, it's ok. When it's quiet at night, it can become a nuisance. The bass unit goes quite low and is powerfull enough for rooms up to 15-20 square meters easily when turned up. There is a regulator on the back of the sub unit which allows you to gently regulate the bass, which is a good feature. Placement is crucial to sound quality: careful there! The sattelites are EXTREMELY sensitive to good placement (They need to be placed at ear's height. I just leaned them back a little so they could project straight to my ears.). They have a tiny sweet spot where they sound nice. Move your head outside this spot and they soon start sounding like much smaller speakers, a bit thin sounding. Overall sound is more analytical than warm but not stone cold. They have good detail provided they are pointed straight at your ears. This is very subjective off course. Comparing them to B&W, Kef and Monitor Audio Bronze they lean most towards MA but with a MUCH smaller sweet spot and far less extension in the bass range (smaller woofer). These are studio monitors, so I guess that's what the designers had in mind. With some equalizer tuning you can get a fair sound from them. And if you can turn them up they start to shine. On low level, ambient music, they lose points. That's why I give them 3 stars.

After two weeks I returned them and spent a lot more on some Monitor Audio Bronze B1's, a small hifi amp and a Rel Quake sub. Needless to say this set-up is X times better (not a fair comparison since the price is also X times higher. This setup CAN evoke the emotions in the music, which the LX4's lacked to my ears.)

The lesson to be learned: If you want truly great sounding musical speakers for your pc or home office that play very well even at low levels: get small but decent bookshelf speakers and a small amp. No PC speaker set can beat that.