Any thoughts on passive v. active speakers?

Some people find the smorgasbord method to be a fun activity. Invite friends over, spend a few hours swapping cables in and out the system, do some critical listening and share some alcoholic beverages. You could get into an engaging argument about midrange liquidity or holographic cohesion. Does that sound like fun to you?

Alternatively, you could get a system like the Linkwitz Orion where the loudspeaker designer actually specifies what amplifier and cables the loudspeaker should be used with. The designer makes the argument that his loudspeaker do not require exotic cables or amplifiers. If you are more knowledgeable about amplifier/loudspeaker interaction than Siegried Linkwitz you'll be able to achieve superior results by carefully mixing and matching random components in an open ended system.

You could even go further along the line of system integration with the Grimm LS or the Steinway Lyngdorf S series products. Both integrate digital converters, source selection, power amplifiers, loudspeakers and cables into easily setup sound systems. I am told that both of these are top of the food chain type products. Both Grimm and SL started out as digital processor makers and then hired top designers to assists in other areas of design and manufacture.

The primary advantages of active loudspeakers is that they move the crossover from amplifier output level to line level and the load the amplifier will drive is a known factor. Basically less of your amplifier's power is not thrown away and the amplifier works into an optimal load. The execution of these concepts can be cheaply done with many corners cut or they can be done in a state of the art fashion.

Active is a safer bet if like what you hear and you don't know what to do to do better otherwise.

You are starting with some good building blocks for sure, but there is more to getting good results than the parts that go into it. I'd consult with some vendors/experts on teh products you already own and see what might happen.

Rogerstillman, FWIW the MA-1s are perfectly comfortable driving 8 ohms and even 4 ohms in some cases- which is why they work nicely on Sound Labs and Quads.

You've got a really nice amp you seem to like, and although going active has some practical and potentially sonic benefits you'd really be limiting your choices. Lots of great speakers you could pair your amp with, and I'll throw Joseph Audio, Reference 3A, and Vandersteen on the pile. I wouldn't sweat cables too much. With your amp and good speakers you'd have to try hard to make it sound bad. If you dread going to dealers for that stuff, places like Triode Wire Labs, Morrow, and Grover Huffman among others make good cables and offer generous trial periods where your arse would never need to leave the house. Anyway, best of luck.

"Next I'm going to throw my Braun L200s onto of my ADS810s and run them in parallel to get to 16 Ohms."

As Almarg pointed out, series rather than parallel connection will give you a nominal 16-ohm load (assuming the Braun and ADS are both 8-ohm loads).

One thing you need to be aware of: Unless the impedance curves of two speakers connected in series are very similar if not identical, their impedance curves will modulate one another's frequency response. I have designed speakers with series connection in mind, and the specifics of both speakers' impedance curves matter, FAR moreso than when paralleling speakers.

You don't have to go with expensive speakers to get really excellent sound from a system with MA-1s. Toss out a ballpark price range and see what bounces back. Or maybe run the question past the OTL forum over on Audio Asylum.

Duke