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

ATC actives are a class of its own. My passive ATC are powered by X150.5 and it's an eye opener for me, as the previous amp that drove those ATC of mine where AHB2 in a Mono configure setup. The Pass has proven that it has control of my ATC and it rewarded me with sound that is a level up from the Benchmarks, which are not a slouch by itself. 

The Powered ATC delivered a sound that is on par with my current setup. will powered version best out my current setup? can't tell as the room i heard the actives were in a demo room. BUT the actives definitely will come close to the one I have, Is it worth it, IMHO, yes. if I was starting up all over again. But what I will lose is the ability to tweak things around, say a different amp in the future.

ATC are born for Studio, that is what they do best, people hearing will be the ultimate choice, I for one have both a "studio" centric monitor speaker and a English sounding audiophile grade speaker (LS3/5A). This dual setup of mine gives me a perspective of how music can be presented to me, when I feel like doing a critical listen, so again, it depends on one's perspective.

so, i can say, yes ATC actives are worth its coin, but only if you Like the ATC sound.

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My Genelec's with the GLM module have been worth it. Love that every aspect of the three ranges can be tweeked and I can still do sub integration if I wish. 

“good” active speakers are good, even pro-grade, for hifi system, but the problem is a absence of freedom to swap components to check for opportunity in subjective improvements in swapping speaker-drivers, cabinets, x-over, cables, pre/end-amp, etc.. perfectly integrated active speaker system is good as long as it fits into audio system, and there are no issues, LOL!. 

..even for 80KW pro sound systems I’ve used separate speakers and amps, with active x-overs, mainly due to better serviceability, maintenance, easier debug etc. 

Is an active system worth the price of admission? In my opinion it is, but, just like with subwoofers, an active system is only as good as the integrating abilities of the person whom is implementing it. Going active makes the system more complex, not as complex as most people seem to think, but it is no longer plug and play. With an active system you are now the speaker designer, but instead of designing a speaker you are designing a merger between your speakers and your room, and you are already doing this if you are still using subs along with the miniDSP.

My recommendation, not that you asked for it, and assuming you only use your center speaker for movies and television viewing, would be to leave the passive crossover between your mids and tweeters in place for the time being and add a mid-bass cabinet to the left and right channels. I believe you will get more bang for your buck running active in the sub-bass to midrange region than you will running active from midrange to highs.

Having an active system is just another tool in the tool box in the never ending journey/battle of integrating your system and room into a single entity, and in my case enabled me to bring more life out of my system than I ever thought was possible.