1. Home
  2. speakers
  3. 197622-20253

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?" 

erik_squires
bassbuyer's avatar
bassbuyer
884 posts
 

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.  

erik_squires OP
17,539 posts
 

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.  

 

This is to me a very powerful argument.  ATC has a relatively stable lineup, which hopefully means you can expect to replace any amplifiers if needed, though I believe they also use linear amps, so they're actually easier to fix. 

preener2
23 posts
 

Hi,

Bryston has speakers that are set up for external crossovers. They have an electronic crossover and amplifiers to match. Best upgrade I ever did!

And for my PCs, I've been using Genelec's for years. Every once in awhile you see someone selling those at fire sale prices on eBay.

Happy Listening!

kennyc
2,864 posts
 

If ATC, maybe contact them to find out effort and cost of internal speaker amp replacement to be informed of the bottom line cost comparisons. 

erik_squires OP
17,539 posts
 

Kind of adjacent to this, I've seen JBL publish the "transfer function" of the crossovers they use in the high end models.  This would allow anyone to recreate the crossovers in an active domain. 

More to discover