Passive vs Active...Again!


My wife and I have made the rounds and have listened to numerous speakers now, not as many as we'd like, but as many as we could within a 3-hour drive. We liked some both active and passive, but it seems most of the active speakers we saw are not that pleasing to the eye (eg: Genelecs).

Not having a dedicated listening room, our room itself is a big problem. We have lots of hard surfaces to deal with.

If we go with passive speakers and the associated gear to go with it, we will need to spend a whole bunch of money on acoustic treatments.

We have a ton of artwork as well and with already limited wall space, we would rather look at the art than a bunch of sound-absorbing panels.

So here's my question: Will active speakers, that may come in cheaper, with room correction software (DSP) be able to tame the sound to a pleasing level in my lively room, or do I go with passives and break out the Rockwool!

Just a side note, I had some Martin Logan Spires in a very similar style room, that was much larger with little acoustic treatments and they sounded pretty good. But in this house I don't have the room to pull the speakers 3 feet of the back wall.

I know there is no perfect answer here, but appreciate any feedback, thanks.

 

high-amp
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If the room is small, I'll vote for active speakers.  And I can also recommend active ATC, but they are not aesthetically pleasing though.  Price around USD8000.

 

My experience in choosing a pair of speakers was really quite interesting.  I found that in order to have sound quality that of active speakers from USD2000 - USD8000, passive system need to be 2.5x or more the price, that includes pre and power amps.

 

Shortlisted the Elac FS408 with ribbon tweeter, made in Germany.  But the total price with pre and power (2 mono blocs) comes to about USD18000.

 

After much homework and leg work, I settled for active speakers, Neumann KH310A.  8" woofer, 3" mid and 1" high.  I have a small room and such speakers fit really well and need not be away from wall.  The placement is only about 4" away from wall.  Plug them into a power regen and the sound quality is that coming out from class A amps.  Really nice!  Using a DAC pre-amp to drive the XLR connections, trying to keep min components as space is very limited.

 

I wouldn't worry about lifespan of 15 years as someone stated due to repair.  My previous speakers were passive Focal and the rim had disintegrated, and dust cap fell off.  I called Focal and other repair shops, none carry the drivers anymore.  So after 12 years, I have to throw them away, no choice.  If the active speakers can last 15 years and no longer repairable, IMO it is time to replace with new speakers.

 

Have fun searching and good luck!