Overall the system is EXTREMELY well-balanced and smooth. The highs are nice and pleasant, not too soft or harsh. Mids are great also with flat response. Lows are good but due to my placement near walls, can become slightly muddy. Compared to ANYTHING under $300, these are excellent. They show more mid-range details than my Paradigm 5SEMKIII speakers! Of course low end lacks a bit, i'm not much of a bass guy but i think that takes away from depth just a bit, i still wouldn't buy a sub though since it's a well-balanced sound. These speakers don't show ALL the details, they will open up your music way more than the average to mid-end sound equipment. But, I've been to hi-fi home audio shops... What does that mean? I've heard speakers costing 12 to 80 thousand dollars ALONE coupled with amps and components costing up to 100 thousand... There is no comparison at that point... haha they spoiled me with their great sound but no joke, these still give me chills down my spine sometimes with their excellent close-range imaging. Just make sure to get the position/ear level just right, this is crucial!

My only wish was that they offered digital inputs so i dont have to use the "headphone jack" to the computer. Mine offers an optical out so later i may purchase an optical to RCA and hopefully gain better sound from it. But of course adding such features bumps costs, so really these are good as is.

No EQs or special settings needed! just plug them up and play, granted your source is flat, they play the way music should be heard! dont you dare touch the bass boost either, you'd be messing with a good thing! unless you're a bass hunter...

Besides the slightly thin speaker wire included, everything else appears well-made. Volume control is nice and weighted, adjusts with PRECISION! No complaints otherwise, everything is nicely built!

Perfect compromise of size and sound in an affordable package.

Vocal and Audiophile hobbyist

R&B, Oldies

Just got these from Zzounds and I am very impressed. They are so clear and every instrument, every string, bow, tap and blow is crystal clear. The best thing is, if you set them up as recommended, with the front of the speakers pointed directly at your head, you can monitor at very low volume and hear everything perfectly, even deep bass, and yet a few streps away from your desk, they won't be bothering anyone. They are near field monitors so don't expect to use them for your house party, but if you record music on your computer or just listen to tunes all day while you work, these are accurate, full, superb-sounding speakers with nothing lacking. You will be rediscovering all your music that you were bored with before. And they may be small, but they will monitor your e-drums without any distortion on the kick etc. Forget 2.1 systems with their entirely absent bands of EQ and silly booming sub-bass that's just as loud next door as it is in your own apartment. Hear all of the music properly with good monitors and you will realize what you were missing.

Built in 40 W amp. They do not get very hot. There is a handy aux-in. all cables are included. You will need a 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor if you have pro-headphones. The bass-boost switch is also a nice tough because different genres such as, for example, classical and funk have different criteria for optimum playback.

Very simple and easy for anyone.

Good heavy MDF. The best material for small speakers. Connections and knob seem strong.

The more expensive, more powerful ones may be more value, but then they may overkill also. I think the 40's are in the sweet spot.

Hope I'll never need it, and therefore never know if it's a 10 or a 0.

Looks good. Nice to look at all day, which you do, considering where you are supposed to place them. The blue light around the volume knob is fun also.

Jazz-drummer

jazz, fusion,

great clear sound, nice punchy bass, only down side is that the bass cant hold up to really high volumes, but i have a sub for that anyway so i have the bass boost off

the volume control in front is very useful, although i control the volume from my mixer it is still nice to have.

extremely easy to set up, you have to be a complete electronic rookie to have trouble with these.

heavy for size, fit on small desk, make sure they are ear level to get the best sound out of these little guys

worth every dollar. i would have payed a little more for these, but luckily m-audio and its retailers don't feel the same

looks are nice, sound is outstanding, if they went out and by the sound of these it wont happen anytime soon had them for months and i crank them up for hours daily, i would get some more

Active musician, hobbyist, DJ

Trance, Electro, Progressive House, Rock, Ska, Reggae

Great sound for the price. If you add a sub then it would be a great buy. Good mids, good highs. Again, great for the price.

You have every connection you'd need for your set up. Comes with power cord too, I know some other reviews stated otherwise. The headphone port could be a little louder, but it's workable.

Ease of use matches any other powered monitors - plug them in and listen. It literally took 2 minutes out the box.

Great quality - nice look, nice weight, nice sound. No complaints there.

They are definitely worth the dollar. I'm very happy with my purchase.

I haven't needed support, so that's great in itself.

Very appealing product. Works great with my Mac/Logic setup. They do the job they're intended to.

Songewriter/Producer

R&B/Hip Hop/Pop

Hip-Hop

I purchased these thinking that since M-Audio makes a lot of great gear that these would be top notch. They always say in their ad that the wood cabinet that they use would sound much better than a typical multi-media speaker. Well, they obviously haven't done much listening. I decided to also purchase a pair of the THX certified Logitech Z2300 speakers, which cost about the same. The difference was like night and day. After plugging in the logitechs, I had the the AV-40s packed up before the song was over. I'm not saying that they were somewhat better. I'm saying that the logitech speakers destroyed these. Don't get me wrong. I like M-audio and use their products with my protools setup. But, when you can get the logitech Z2300 speakers for about the same money, you'd be nuts to use these.

Not much control and lacks a subwoofer. You're not going to get much low end punch with these. However, they look great and are very heavy weight.

They will only sound "okay" no matter what you do.

Active Musician

Jazz

For the price you pay and the sub sizes and all it sounds great and gets loud!

The M-Audio AV 40's are the best pc speakers I have in my house. The other systems I own are: Klipsch Pro media 2.1, Logi's Z5500's (hooked up with optical), Logi z2300, Creative T20's, JBL spyro's, and Harmon Kardon sound stix. Again, my favorite are the M-Audio's. Why? The other systems just never quite got it right. Either their bass was too boomy or unbalanced with the satellites or generally they lacked a mid range. The M audio av 40's hit the sweet spot. I really enjoy listening to my music more because the highs mids and lows just flow well with each other. I could go into greater detail of what was wrong with the other systems specifically, but I don't want to leave the impression that you wont enjoy music from them. They all put out a good sound, it's just that the M audio's are better. More clarity and more balanced. You always here people say they can hear things they never heard in the music before, well, with the M audio's you really can. These speakers look nice enough and are a little bigger on the desk (don't put them in a bookshelf / it will muffle the bass a bit), but as other reviewers elsewhere have noted, once you hear them you forget about the awkward footprint.

hobbist

all