Are active speakers worth it now?

@erik_squires said

From the buyer’s perspective, a Dynaudio Confidence 20 is a speaker and amplifier together.  Is that worth $24,000 a pair, which I believe is a $12,000 markup based on the passive model? 

This is a case where being a buyer I might say no, I’d rather spend $4-6k on my stereo amplifier and get the passive version, or would I?

For the record, the Confidence 20A is active, as I own a pair of Confidence 20s, which are passive.  And at this level, I am happy to pick my amplifiers!  So another thought on this topic is that active speakers should be a value...

Worth noting here is that in the Confidence 2A's, Dynaudio places the amplifiers in the STANDS, allowing great heat sinking, easier maintenance, and not messing with the internal volume of the speaker.  hmmm maybe I should hear them!

 I was just trying to see, because you have actually done the work, to what i am guessing is a pretty high level of success, as how much R&D is involved in going from passive to active.

@fastfreight 

Having designed both types of crossovers, and upgraded passives to actives, I can say the following: 

• Time to measure and gather the electro-acoustical parameters of the drivers in the cabinet are about the same
• The active crossover is much easier and faster to implement.  While easier, neither is trivial to do well. 
• The DSP version wins for the built-in digital delay.  It’s a lot easier to pick and choose your filter slopes without regard for phase matching.  For instance, Troels often uses a stepped baffle when he wants to use 4th order filters, the alternative is a lot more parts for an all pass circuit.  

My implementations used off-the-shelf Hypex plate amps, which have too many features for a sellable product.  Where I think active designers need to spend more time is in getting a plate amp/dsp combination with exactly the right form factor, features and connectors they need.  It’s not just the silk screen that needs to be altered, but I’m sure companies like Hypex and Pascal have entire teams to do this for you.  

+10 

Any sonic gains come from a active crossover. Class Diddly amp boards stuck inside the vibro cabinet did no favors.

An additional thought. Good amplifiers put great thought and effort into reducing physical vibration control. Putting the amplifier into a vibrating speaker box is completely antithetical to this.

32k for this plain jane ugly garage diy box is some grand level of weasely pricing, mmhmm.

 can offer my view on the actives made by ATC as I have demo them and considered that path, I truly believe, if the manufacturer did their work right, active speakers are truly the way to go. and what I mean by that is the synergy of their speaker and the amp they put in is perfect match in all terms, sonics, prat, tonality etc. AND that what I heard in ATC active line. 

The ATC dome midrange always intrigued me, but the ones I’m interested in are pricey.

In my experience they are not worth the investment.  The amps eventually need to be replaced or repaired and when they do it’s usually an expensive and unpleasant process.  Most manufacturers offer relatively short term warranties which is an indication of what they expect.  If they lasted longer they would offer longer warranties.  Passive speakers can last forever just like external amps.  Powered subs, yes.  Powered speakers, pass.