If you want full range the JBL M2:
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Frequency Response (±3 dB)
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20 Hz - 40 kH |
Active Speakers Better? No, per Michael Borresen
The best sounding speaker I have had the pleasure to hear is made by Borresen.
I recently spent time with Michael Borresen in Seattle at a show. It was slow so
I was able to speak with him for a time. I asked him if he plans an active speaker.
His answer was a definitive and immediate "No". He said separates sound better.
His statement flies in the face of what passes in most audio corners as commonly recognized facts.
Sadly I am too technically challenged to convey any of his further explanation.
I invite all intelligent commentary on this question. Theoretical or not.
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- 75 posts total
Speakers are a reactive load meaning a combination of resistance, capacitance and inductance. Amplifiers don't like reactance. They want just resistance, alas. The less reactive the load the more the amp acts like its specs. An amplifier only needs to drive the reactance of the voice coil in an active speaker, a much easier load than a passive crossover with capacitors, resistors and inductors. Which load will the amps be happier with. It's obvious. Add in each amp doesn't have to drive the full audio bandwidth and a few other advantages, all things being equal it's no contest. An active speaker properly done is superior. The biggest problem is audiophiles think they can choose a passive speaker and amp combo better than a good designer can do a speaker combo. So active speakers are a hard sell. |
It depends on how much $$ you have and how good or crappy your amp is. For a TV signal cheap actives are an upgrade to the TV speakers. On the other hand if you have a decent receiver and not much $$ passives may work for you. If you have tons of $$; like a lot of those on this site a really good receiver and great passive speakers are hard to beat ( w/ a good powered subwoofer). FYI comments by NOT an AUDIOPHILE!! |
@dynamiclinearity, I agree, active speakers properly done is superior AND less expensive than a speaker/amp/speaker wire traditional route. Did you ever wonder that back in the day dealers found they could make more $$$ selling a sperate amp/speaker package so active speaker weren't given the time of day (except by the pros who used them in the studio)? |
Speaker engineers, unlike audiophiles, are in no position to discount the advantages of active speakers. Andrew Jones tells us that in actives: Each amplifier is matched to the driver, and only has to operate over a limited frequency range. It’s operating into a simpler impedance, so it’s not going to have high-current demands. Also, the temporal characteristics of music change with frequency. High frequencies require very little average power, but have a lot of peaks. Bass requires much higher average power, but has far fewer peaks. You can match the amplifier to those characteristics as well. As a gesture to the audiophile penchant for experimentation, Jones’s ARB-5s forgo digital signal processing (DSP). He nevertheless acknowledges its advantages: Plus DSP can adjust to a room’s particular acoustics; here both Kii and Dutch & Dutch are in the vanguard. And in all active speakers the specific frequencies for each specific driver “crossover” before amplification, yet another enhancement of audio design. Other engineers echo these same points. Listen to Paul McGowan from PS Audio at 03:00, or Dynaudio’s Roland Hoffman at 03:20 and 13:06, or Meridian’s Bob Stuart. They all work for companies that sell passive speakers or equipment for them, but they all clearly favor the design opportunities found in actives. |
- 75 posts total