Do active speakers interest you? Also, let's talk directivity


Hey all. Don't think I've ever made a thread here. This is a super interesting community for me. I'm an audio professional, a mastering engineer and music educator. I'm someone who differs from much of the pro community, in that I don't see a difference between "pro" systems and "high-end" systems. 

There is one way they often differ, and that is in terms of directivity. Home systems are more frequently omni, while and studio or live sound requires directivity.

This was definitely the case in the 70s, back when audiophiles still had parties :D 

It's very hard to set up a directional system to fill a large room evenly unless you use a line array.

But let's be honest. Aren't we mostly sitting and listening, and hoping for a good image? We aren't expecting every spot in a big room to sound exactly the same for every guest. Personally, my social life is 95% virtual now and I am generally listening in my mastering room. I have a high end system in every room in my house, but my wife uses the living room system more than me (and she has better taste in music, so it's nice to learn about some new artists when she decides to put something on from he collection).

Anyway, I'm designing an active system. Though the cabinet is not large, with a combination of Hoge's principles and active electronics, we will achieve accurate response through to 20hz.

The reason to choose an active crossover is very obvious. Sending power directly to each driver allows us to use a very low sensitivity woofer, which thus plays much deeper than expected. We are using a ported woofer and a sealed midrange/hi cabinet, which are not sold separately. An interesting feature is the the very low-crossed ribbon tweeter carrying all of the high midrange and treble

It's an 1800w system, aimed at both the professional and home market. I'm curious, does this sound interesting to anyone? We are intending to have a prototype ready by 2022, so it is a ways off.

Part of the directivity concept is also dealing with room issues. Cancelling the rear energy of the woofers can help. I am inspired by Bruno and Merjin (whatever  his name :P). a big part of our concept has to do with advanced acoustic materials, which I don't want to discuss too much, as I don't think anyone else has thought of it or connected with that maker, yet

Curious to hear people's thoughts!
mehtayoungs

Showing 9 responses by djones51

Active generally means amp in the speaker if the speaker employs DSP there will also be AD/DA conversion. There are some that have the amps and active crossovers in a seperate box. This is why I don't think these types of speakers will appeal to very many old guys like me but I see them as the future as living spaces get smaller and people look for simplicity. This is one old guy who went active and will never look back.
Keep at it the future is active less intrusive speakers that offer great sound. There are companies, mostly in Europe, doing this now. Some of the best sounding speakers anywhere are active. I would suggest DSP or the ability to load filters should be included. Good luck.
you stay digital up to the amps you can do all the processing including crossovers in a digital preamp and do one DA conversion just before the amps.


I stay digital all the way to the speakers. 
Dutch & Dutch, Kii,  GGNTKT, Grimm,  Nubert  and others. The are gaining in popularity especially in Europe. 
gosta  there are a  few streamers that are roon ready and have AES3 out which is what I use. The Lumin U1 mini,  Bel Canto eStream,  Simaudio mind all of which I tried. Of those I liked the Lumin the best but I still miss old school remote at least for volume control so my next streamer I'm auditioning is the Auralic Aries G1 which has the ability to pair with any remote using the RC 5 standard. 
I'm not as knowledgeable as most here and I know active doesn't mean all in the box but that's the way most are configured. There is a new company in Germany GGNTKT who uses an external box with the amps, crossovers and I believe DSP but not sure on that. I know the room is very important as well but I've found in my situation where I use my living room with the usual furniture, rugs, curtains , etc.. has worked very well. The D&D measured really nice from 200hz - 20klz from my listening position and I only needed to employ 3 filters below 200hz. I have 1 mode at 50hz I'm still working to get out but it's not a big deal just something to play with.  Other than that the D&D are the speakers that got me more into active as the sound is stunning. I wish you luck, you're approach is interesting and I look forward to seeing your products. 
I ditched my system after hearing active speakers and I tap my feet more now than before. The biggest hurdle will be getting audiophiles over their OCD and to listen with their ears instead of their eyes. 
The amps, dac, DSP is all in the speakers and at some point they will be roon endpoints. Dutch and Dutch 8c.