Active Speakers Better? No, per Michael Borresen

I can't comment on active vs passive speakers, except to say I would hope that the speaker designer would test many amp configurations to find the best "bar none".

It has always seemed sort of self defeating to have the output signal from an amp to have to power a crossover network.  I have always thought (forty years or more) that the way to go is electronically separate the frequencies PRIOR to them being amplified and then feed them to the appropriate driver.  Yes the amps should have the same power factors and damping factors. Staying in the same family of amps can mostly negate this problem.  And hopefully phase shift is not an issue.  I say this without the aid of measurement on my part, just listening.

My system uses four amps and a Marchand 3 way electronic XO. Two mono blocks to drive the woofers, a stereo amp to drive the midrange and a stereo amp to drive the tweeters.

In this configuration when the bass is really heavy none of the other amps have a clue what the two bass amps are doing and they just keep playing sweetly.

Just my take on the myriad possibilities to set up a satisfactory system.  I love the way my system sounds...it is somewhat complicated in the wiring aspect but that is just one and done if you get it right.

YMMV.

Regards,

barts

Invalid

Most recording engineers don't listen to music "at home" period- not when they are listening for work 15 hours a day.  Plus during the pandemic many built studios in their houses so they could keep working despite commercial rooms being shuttered.

Brad   

Erik

I agree with you I wish more people understood what they were buying.  

At ATC, we build both active and passive of nearly every model from 2 way to big high power three ways.  Understanding the advantages of an active system is not well understood out there in the market but should be. Reasons to NOT like it are usually baseless, such as "you can't service the amps if they are installed inside a speaker" (silly as ATC amp packs bolt on and off and are can be sent to us for service without the entire speaker coming along- its usually easier to send us a amp pack then a standard 3-5Ru rack mount amp).  Or other reasons like "plate amps don't last that long" which is also completely untrue, I have so many active ATC speakers on for 15- 20 years for 18 hours a day its crazy.  If they all broke I would be buried in service.  Reliability doesn't really enter into it as I think most well built gear lasts a lifetime now.  Unless you are talking about cheap active, thrown together low cost contract speakers with amps inside that are built for price.  That's a different story but it has nothing to do with being active.  

Again, being in the studio business as well as home audio in active and passive I see both.  Studios have issues with passives and outboard amps more often than issues with actives because of the constant connections and unconnecting and the additional part and pieces that need adjusting.  Connectors are a huge issue in reliability.  Users at home have issues with outboard amps ( of various brands) than active set ups (of various brands) from my direct experience 

I think its marketing that has convinced everyone they need to buy amplifiers and if they don't all hell will break loose.   Somehow something is being taken away or somehow something is lost when its really the reverse. Wire and caps and inductors are added between amp and speakers that doesn't need to be there.  I think what's taken away with passives is imaging and a significant amount of your money.   

When I see someone saying they like the ability to change the sound of their system, that's totally fair and okay.   That IS the single best reason to stay passive, not performance or reliability.

Some people want it to sound like it's supposed to, the way Fleetwood Mac decided or Tom Petty or Lenny Kravitz.   ATC enables you to get that, and you cannot get that with passives.  You can get close, but not "there".  Realism is what drives Billy Woodman- or should I say "low distortion", the doorway to realism. 

Brad   

Phusis is right, you can build your own active.  This would make sense if you want to DIY.   If you have the ability to adjust crossover point, slope, output level and driver phase, you have it all.  JBLs M2 was an attempt to build a system that could be "tuned" on site for best performance.  Its a good idea, except fiddling by different users renders many of these expensive systems far from target without some regular checking.  There are many examples of good M2 demos and spectacular M2 "that's awful" misses.   Its also a very difficult system to calibrate and set up, and is beyond the ability of many dealers to put together on site.  When Peter (from JBL) sets it up or someone like Nate Kunkel, and the system is left alone, it can be spectacular.

Brad   

Bryston uses the same type of approach, active speakers with the crossover and amps external giving you some flexibility: