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If Thiel, Wilson, Sonus, made active speakers?????

Lately I've seen a few "active speaker" threads on the gon.
So, I'm curious...if some of the more well known high-end speaker manufacturers, like Thiel, Wilson, Sonus, Merlin, Audio Physic, Verity audio,B&W (or whatever) offered "active speakers" in their lines, would you as audio consumers be interested in possibly buying them? That is of course assuming the same great clear, pure, refined sound you've come to love from your favorite line, only the befefits of an active speaker(more power, finess, controld, dynamics, pressence, soundstaging, etc).
Also, knowing you'd have to give up your favorite amp/amps and the flexibility of choice there(again, assuming the manufacture "got things right" in the amp sections, yielding stellar sonic results, bettering the passive designs they already offer), and would likely end up paying more for the speaker (if offered with crossover and amp's, as opposed to "adding those yourself"), do you still think you'd be interested?...or does your passive high end speaker you're likely using now suit you just fine, and you'd likely never consider changing?
I simply see no reason speaker makers can't come up with a speaker with an electronic active crossover, and maybe offer matching amps, or let you chose your own!!! The potential benefits surely have to out-weigh the potential downsides (if any, I don't see them), ya think?
Anyway, curious as to what people think.
Once again, if your fav speaker designer came out with the same superb sounding high end speakers in active configuration, do you think you'd gravitate that direction, even if it ment a cost premium(of course, you'd have to subtract your amp cost you'd otherwise have)?
exertfluffer

Showing 2 responses by rsbeck

rsbeck
887 posts
 
I have a pair of active speakers I just bought for fun. Mackie HR824's. They are bi-amped. They sound great. When the manufactuer knows what speakers the amps will be powering, it gives them a nice advantage. Intsead of having to design the amp for general use, they can design them specifically for the speaker they will be powering. Plus the signal path from amp to speaker is as short as can be -- eliminating speaker cables! I would LOVE to see what Wilson, Thiel, Sonus, and the gang could come up with in an active bi-or-tri amped speaker. I'd be in line to demo them. Having said that, knowing my audiophile buddies, I wonder how many they'd sell. Audiophiles tend to be tweakers, upgraders, mix and matchers -- and I think some would
miss their "magic" speaker cables!
rsbeck
887 posts
 
Some players are already "together." Levinson and Revel are "together" under the Madrigal/Harmon unbrella. Paradigm and Anthem are "together" -- I forget the name of the umbrella company. The problem is -- when someone designs an amplifier, they must design it for general use so it will sound good in lots of different applications. The designer is "shooting in the dark." If the amplifier designer knew exactly which speaker he was designing his amp for and could bi-or-tri-amp the speakers with different spec'd amps for each driver, I think you'd see more synergy -- and the elimination of speaker cables would reduce the signal path considerably ensuring the integrity of the signal. There's no doubt in my mind that this approach would produce incredible results. Imagine your favorite speaker spec'd and tri-amped connected directly to your favorite amplifers! Now, whether the audiophile community would embrace this, making it commercially viable -- that's another question.
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