Dynaudio BM5 MKIII

Full disclosure, this was my first experience with a decent pair of speakers I have ever had. Previously I was using aux input of a cheap 13-year old LG DVD player with 2 tiny speakers and a 'subwoofer' that wouldn't go below 65Hz. I do own HD598, which I don't like, but I could wear them forever and M50X, which I adore. Also, SE215 SPE for on the go, so It's not like I jumped at BM5's straight out of the cave, but when it comes to speakers, you may say so.

I was looking for a pair of speakers for listening (I'd rather avoid Hi-Fi wording and on top of that, I'm not being sold on audiophool stuff thankfully), so the natural choice for me was a decent pair of active ones. I chose Thomann for its huge reputation and their added value services. In fact, I didn't even consider these for a long time, thinking their naming came from 5" woofer size, and I was sold on A7X until recently when I figured out that these have a bigger woofer than A7X, and extend lower (unfortunately, ADAM specifies lower limit at -15db!!!).

Sound: Natural, full sounding and non-fatiguing throughout the audible spectrum (with ISO-155). You might need a sub for hedonistic intents only.
I listen to Hardstyle & Hardcore and there's a lot of fundamentals between 30-60Hz, so I do get the impulse sometimes for that extra sub-bass grind that subwoofer provides. Otherwise, you should be fine, just find a decent position in the room. I'm still getting amazed every time I use them. So much clarity. Imaging together with depth is still surprising me. Like the sound is reaching towards me and shifting all around. Then again, I have no point of reference.

Quality: Dynaudio!

Features: Sufficient, just added 2db at the low end for the current positioning (suboptimal in every way). Mids, highs flat. In love with the auto-standby feature.

I mostly work in orchestral music, and having seen that these monitors have been used by the likes of BBC and spitfire studios, I decided to go with them. I am very satisfied by the quality of these monitors.

Pros:
Good neutral sound. I had to place them close to the back wall so the low end is a bit accentuated on their default setting. However I managed to to get them close to perfectly neutral just using their inbuilt analog room filters. Did the last fine tuning of around +/- 2 db by using sonarworks.

Cons:
The auto standby feature does not work very well if you use the monitors at very low levels for everyday use. Sometimes the monitors will automatically go in standby if you are using them at low volume. However this doesn't bother me much, as I just turned off the auto standby and all is good.

Would definitely recommend!

I compared JBL and HS7s with these in my control room.

JBL nice for HiFi type listening I suppose

HS7 Very good however the BM5's showed up the Yamahas flaws

The BM5s have a lovely even frequency response with plenty of depth and clarity. They sound good at very low levels, medium level listening and very loud listening. So you can monitor with these at quite low levels, meaning your ears don't get fatigued too quickly.

If you can afford the extra $$$ get these, your monitors and room acoustics are the most important piece of the Jigsaw..

Highly recommended.

Good review here:

I write electronic music and before I stumbled upon these monitors I thought of buying Adams AX or maybe Yamaha HS (as I wanted to save some money).

I want to say that these monitors are incredible for this price. The bass is tight and doesn't rumble too much even in my not so well acoustic treated room. The whole mix translates really well, mids and highs are clear enough, even though the last one seemed to be a little bit dull, so I boosted hi freq on the rare panel. Also, need to notice that monitors are compact and don't take too much place.

Please be aware that these monitors are no longer shipped with ISO acoustics stands, unfortunately.

I use the Dynaudio BM5 mkIII as a budding composer with virtual instruments. They help me tremendously reduce ear fatigue and let me get an accurate view of my music. They are very versatile with built-in eq options and instructions to get a flat response even in an imperfect room. I find the sound to be very clear, even in the low frequencies. The price is very low for how good the product is, I don't think it's possible to get better value than this. There may be better studio monitors than these, but not at this quality/price ratio. They are also universal power so they can be used in North America and Europe equally (though you may need a different power cord than the one provided). The only thing I would do to improve them is include a North American power cord with the GB and European ones provided.

Overall GREAT product with tremendous value !