Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

@kota1 That was an interesting video about the cheep Sonus Faber crossover. Some of the people at the SF forum were agreeing that SF was not what they used to be. Like you say I just have to listen, hope that didn't apply to the Aida. 

I like this guy on the video. This guy recognized that powered speakers with good parts were much better but the ultimate point is that speakers that are designed with an amp/driver in mind are much much better. people who want to mix and match components have more variability with an active speaker design. A powered design will last you several years, great. Some of the early Steinway speakers (Model D) are already getting old as far as tech. the speaker is fine but the components that feed it are getting obsolete and at $220k that's a little tough, but since they are passive and not powered that is at least some advantage. From what you have posted it seems that Bryston is doing things correctly. Do you remember when this conversation started immediately people mentioned cheep speakers, but that is not really what this forum is about I don't think it should be understood that this isn't the forum that is interested in cheep speakers. I've always appreciated PS Audio because they used to have a company philosophy that priced the components according to the cost of the parts, that makes a lot of sense.

It's the beginning of the month and so I get a few new videos of a renowned pianists playing their Steinway pianos for the Spirio piano that I own. I played a new song on it and felt all the vibrations all over the piano, it was vibrating everywhere. The piano is a Steinway and Sons Spirio/R Model B 7 foot Grand, it is beautiful and flawless the craftsmanship is amazing the piano is sitting in its own round room with 24 ft inverted arch ceiling. I bought this piano new and it's been tuned by a professional several times. The sound is nothing like I've ever heard on any speaker the entire piano is radiating sound not just a driver divided up into frequencies. Speakers can be works of art but this piano is a real work of art made of wood not resin polymers and it is the only HiFi playback I've ever heard in my life.

@donavabdear

Danny Richie from GR Research has a channel worth checking out. Part fact, part tongue in cheek humor. If you liked that video he gas some where he breaks down $$$ speakers and you see the beautiful cabinets with $20 crossovers and you know where your money went, ouch. You should also check out his take on cables.

I think every digital component is subject to Moores law. That hammered home the brilliance of a $4000 SOA outboard crossover. Those speakers will sound the same in 20 years covered by their warranty. That digital crossover gets software updates as long as they keep dropping. Every time you change rooms, change amps, or change dacs you can realign the individual drivers perfectly. You can’t do that with a traditional crossover of any kind that is internal.

Danny's channel is part fact, part tongue in cheek, with more than a small helping of BS. The crossover he made for the SF is different not necessarily better. Some aspects of the response were smoothed but the off axis is worse. You will see it repeated from Toole, ASR, etc about the importance of a flat on axis response. In practice that axis is not the centerline of the speaker it is the line from the speaker towards the listener which may be off axis from the centerline.  Some speakers are a bit smoother off centerline and are designed for less toe in, not pointed directly at the listener.  Going from 11 parts to 6 suggests lower order crossover or removed notch filters. I would like to see the before and after distortion plots. There could have been a reason for the higher order.

Like most things in audio, crossovers are another area that audiophiles have some extreme and poorly justified phobias. That's makes marks for overly expensive parts of suspect (read as no) value. 

@donavabdear 

Power genelecs in atmos action, what are you waiting for? Watch this: