Having various passive speakers for around 30 yrs I always remember being impressed by a casual listening experience with ATC 100s active. I was not getting the imaging and three dimensional projection, I had heard from the ATCs, with my own Isobariks and TDL speakers.
I now use ATC 100s with the anniversary amp pack (Ben Lilly from ATC told me these amp packs are as good as their P6 amp). I have a dedicated listening room with an ATC C6 sub and a 18in IB manifold built into the ceiling. This produces the best imaging, lowest, cleanest bass I have heard via hifi, the music sounds real. A saxophonist friend played my alto along with an Art Pepper track - the tonal quality was indistinguishable, only the dynamic quality on loud passages was less.
Over the last few years I went out of my way to listen to some high end speakers at dealers and shows. The pinnacle being Magico M6 driven by constellation monos, tech das TT, ARC phono etc. I felt I was missing little or nothing in terms of detail or dynamics and I had better bass and imaging at home.
Obviously we all have bias and preferences, an audiophile friend does not like the sound of my system. He has travelled far and wide listening to exotic and incredibly expensive systems so has a much wider listening experience. There again, I have listened to a system he does like and heard nothing that made me want to change my own.
Actives are definitely a more cost effective route - it was a way for me to spend more on the front end. I guess if you have unlimited funds you could experiment with endless amp and speaker combinations to obtain the ultimate result.
Like all things in hifi you have to hear it with your own ears to decide.
I now use ATC 100s with the anniversary amp pack (Ben Lilly from ATC told me these amp packs are as good as their P6 amp). I have a dedicated listening room with an ATC C6 sub and a 18in IB manifold built into the ceiling. This produces the best imaging, lowest, cleanest bass I have heard via hifi, the music sounds real. A saxophonist friend played my alto along with an Art Pepper track - the tonal quality was indistinguishable, only the dynamic quality on loud passages was less.
Over the last few years I went out of my way to listen to some high end speakers at dealers and shows. The pinnacle being Magico M6 driven by constellation monos, tech das TT, ARC phono etc. I felt I was missing little or nothing in terms of detail or dynamics and I had better bass and imaging at home.
Obviously we all have bias and preferences, an audiophile friend does not like the sound of my system. He has travelled far and wide listening to exotic and incredibly expensive systems so has a much wider listening experience. There again, I have listened to a system he does like and heard nothing that made me want to change my own.
Actives are definitely a more cost effective route - it was a way for me to spend more on the front end. I guess if you have unlimited funds you could experiment with endless amp and speaker combinations to obtain the ultimate result.
Like all things in hifi you have to hear it with your own ears to decide.