I've never been thrilled with the sound of the Axe going straight to near field monitors. For me, high-gain patches have just not been great. I've been using first generation M-Audio BX5a speakers. I just ordered a pair of KRK Rokit 5 G2s. I'm not expecting miracles but I already upgraded my interface from the M-Audio 2496 (also an early one) to the Focusrite Saffire PRO 24. And while I do think that helped, my Grado SR-60 headphones still sound better than the M-Audio monitors. We'll see when they get here.