NAMM06: M-Audio Blow Us Away with New Speakers

US The EX66 bi-amped active monitor sounds amazing 24/01/06

These sound great

Lets be honest, with all the will in the World, M-Audio are not renowned for their high end speakers, so all the more of a surprise when we were ushered into a small soundproof booth to listen to their latest and very much greatest speakers. The active EX66 is described as a â€œProfessional High-Resolution Active MTM Reference Monitorâ€� - yeah right, everybody says that. But wait â€“ these actually sound amazing. All the more so as we werenâ€™t listening in an ideal environment, but as soon as they were making noise, we all looked at each other and said â€œwowâ€�. The bottom end and mid range were very impressive and accurate from initial listening â€“ they sound much bigger than they look. The EX66 is an active speaker with analog and digital inputs, so you can hook this right up to your DAW or soundcard for a really direct monitoring path â€“ Iâ€™d recommend a volume control though â€“ Iâ€™d hate to think what would happen to your ears (or crockery) if you inadvertently sent full volume to these â€“ they are LOUD. On to the facts and figures:

MTM configuration yields wide sweet spot with reduced room reflections
two 6â€� custom linear-piston woofers deliver high durability with exceptional definition and precision
1â€� titanium dome tweeter produces smooth transparency without high-frequency smearing
bi-amplified with 200 watts PWM power per channel
DSP-tuned cabinets and crossovers for extremely accurate frequency response with no resonant peaks
high-impedance analog inputs (XLR and Â¼â€� TRS balanced)
S/PDIF and AES/EBU digital input up to 24-bit/192kHz for total digital studio connectivity
32-bit digital processing
OptImage II high-frequency wave guide minimizes diffraction
Acoustic Space control optimizes low-frequency response based on room placement
soft limiter circuit to prevent clipping
calibrated volume control/input sensitivity control
high-frequency roll-off/boost switch
mid-range â€œpresenceâ€� switch (low-Q dip or peak)
low-cutoff switch (37Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz)
custom-designed MDF cabinet
internal adiabatic foam absorbs standing waves and enhances low-frequency response and efficiency
dual flange rear-port design to minimize air turbulence and associated friction noise

Weâ€™ll be getting some in for review as soon as we can so expect more objective listening tests shortly. Available soon, UK pricing is expected to be in the region of 1,000 UKP