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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
Post removed 
habaneromonk
9 posts
 

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. 

westcoastaudiophile
819 posts
 

“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. 

audiorusty
355 posts
 

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.

bartsw's avatar
bartsw
244 posts
 

All these conditions would have to be met for me to consider it:

1. electronic components are replaceable with any replacement
2. supports multi-channel
3. each speaker has an amp and does not require a cable between them
4. each speaker is dsp capable
5. support for the software or app does not expire, rendering it a brick like B&W subs
6. separate enclosure for the electronic components

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