Do Make Room on Your Desk for M-Audio’s Rock-Solid Boxes

Product: Studiophile AV 40

Manufacturer: M-Audio

Wired Rating: 9

You’re doing all of that music on your PC a disservice by attempting
to filter sound through those coin-sized built-in fakers. A proper set
of speakers won’t set you back a month’s rent and will have you rocking
until the cops show up. If desktop real estate is no object, you can’t
do better than M-Audio’s Studiophile AV 40s.

Think monster floor speakers trapped inside tabletop bodies. These
units aren’t as compact as standard desk audio counterparts, but what
they take up in size, they make up for with sound. Highs are crisp, and
distortion-free bass notes rattle your bones. Watching movies and
television from your PC suddenly becomes more enticing and worthwhile.

Fancy yourself a recording artist? A pair of quarter-inch inputs
lets you connect the AV 40s to a mixing board and use them as studio
monitors. Try blasting some Journey “Faithfully” on these. You won’t
regret it.

WIRED Peerless audio quality. Great value.
Wake-the-neighbors loud. Magnetically shielded, so you won’t catch a
buzz off your cell phone or mess with your laptop’s screen. Handy
headphone jack lets you work musicians’ hours while housemates snooze.

TIRED With 6 x 7.25-inch footprints, they do take
up room (and at 14 pounds a pair, you won’t be moving them around much).
Backside power switch means you’re constantly doing a reach-around at
bedtime.