There are several brands of active speakers I really like. I've never bought any of them because I want the freedom to choose the amp I want and not the hassle of taking the speaker apart and shipping it back for repair when one of the amps fail. Also many now come with their own DSP and you are forced to use it. I recognize many have amps that are very well matched to the speakers and sound very good. These combinations can sound very good especially in the case of ATC. I think its really personal preference and you can't go wrong either way. The first active speaker I heard was back in the late 70's and was the Active Large Advents. I thought they sounded excellent.
Are active speakers worth it now?
I've been paying attention to recent reviews and product announcements for active speakers. Mind you, I'm a convert, I think active speakers are the right answer for many, but I'm a conditional fanboy. For me it's conditional on the overall value.
In the residential high-end ATC has long been a darling of audiophiles, and of course many studio monitors are active. Recent reviews for the Grimm, Focal and Dynaudio active in Stereophile make me hopeful this trend will continue, but at what cost?
That question is literal. Admittedly these speakers have amps built in so that is one less component and cables to buy, but ahem, those prices leave me unimpressed. I'm just one minor voice though, so I ask you, A'goners, if you've been thinking of going fully active like me and what do you think of the price/performance of the marketplace, both in the pro arena and residential high-end? Do these prices say "bargain" to you or "simplicity for a price?"
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ATC has many models, Active and Passive, some designed for Pro Audio and some for residential use. The cabinets and finishes are different. The Pro line has black paint and completely different driver layout until you get to the 50s. The sound quality is pretty consistent across the line. It just gets bigger and better as you go up. I have ATC SCM50 Passives and like it that way. But I have options. I can swap out the back panel and install an amplifier pack, converting them into active. I believe that currently costs about $8k. You could certainly spend a lot more on an amplifier but would it be superior to ATCs matched, hand built amps designed specifically for that speaker? So for me, if I wanted to upgrade my amp, I would probably opt to just go active. In that sense, it’s a bargain. But my longer term plan is to biamp them with a tube amp covering the mids and tweets. |
I've enjoyed active speakers as my exclusive choice to live with for 23 years now. For the first 11 years I did the diy conversion of passive speakers. Using my own choice of amplification and active crossover. So my choice of amp. I tried lots of different amps because different amps made a difference. I tried a few different active crossovers because active crossovers make a difference. It was a good sounding system that impressed everyone who heard it. Then 13 years ago I had a mishap with my active crossover. In a pinch with no music I resigned to buying a cheap pair of KRK Rockits to tide me over while i got my Accuphase active crossover repaired. I managed to find a used pair of KRK Expose E8B for a couple of hundred more than the Rockits i was looking at buying. For sale 20 miles from where I live. For sale at 20% of the retail price for the pair. I bought 'em. Not knowing whether I'd be convinced by a 8 inch woofer after living with a 15 incher for 11 years. Got the Exposes home. Positioned them just to the outside of my diy activated Altecs. Never played the Altecs again. Not one song. Not one second of music. I've used the Exposes for the last 13 years and I have never experienced a speaker which mirrors(or Exposes wink) the components which precede them in the chain so faithfully. After living with them for 13 years I still couldn't tell you what they sound like because they sound like everything you put in front of them. The same way that the image in a mirror faithfully reflects what is put in front of it. I'd love to have better speakers than the Exposes, but I think that any complaints I'd have about the Exposes reflect more on the rest of the system. By the way, I'm completely won over by my system. No complaints. My last upgrade was a new cartridge(Audio Technica ART20) and that launched my system into another circle of satisfaction. The KRKs are far from the limiting factor. They blossomed with the introduction of the ART20. Just grew wings and took off. So to go active you can diy. Choose the amps. Select amps which suit the drivers. Choose the active crossover. Experiment. The results can be excellent. Or you can find a well thought out pair of off the rack highly accomplished studio monitors which redefine your understanding of high fidelity. Or have none of that and hope that your amp plays well with your passive speakers. I was on the passive speaker and amp merry go round for 30 years. I'll never go back to passive. If I ever wanted to upgrade from the Exposes I would diy active (no DSP) using the Accuphase active crossover and some of the great amps I have lying around. There are some incredible drivers around now and I would start from scratch. Choose all the drivers myself and diy activate. |
@erik_squires Kali Audio Independence and Low Pine Series. KEF LS50 Wireless, KEF LSX II LT and CODA Wireless, Palmer Orbit, Klipsch 5/ 7/9,
All the above can be gotten for $1500 and below and sound fantastic |
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