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Intriguing inquiry, are floor-stand speakers always better than active speakers?

Hi guys,

Just a general wondering though, nowadays I've seen a lot of new active speakers, and truth to be told, I find them quite professional indeed, when I go into an audio shop and ask some advice, some might even encourage to purchase the bookshelf speakers, as they're more cost-effective and space-saving hahah.

All that asides, regarding the sound quality matter, it ain't bad at all, but I'm not sure if it's my living room just not that big or some technical matters, the sound experience is actually vivid, but yeah I also think when you put the extra circuit inside the speaker for amplifying use, it'd certainly affect the original performance more or less. Especially under this digital streaming era, every part seems to be specifically separated, so it can perform to its fullest, and lessen the interference between each device.

Anyways, let me know what you think, I'd be grateful, or maybe share you existing setup with us!

Best,

preston8452

Showing 1 response by clearthinker

clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

The only difference is where you put the amp.  For active the signal from source to speaker is line level all the way (except for vinyl).  For passive you take the amp out of the speaker and put it somewhere else, running an output level cable between.

Oh, and the amp of course.  Generally there isn't a whole lot of space inside a speaker and the amp needs to be cooled.  So you can't put a big valve amp in a speaker.  You also can't have Class A or probably Class AB as there would be too much heat.  So you are left with Class D - small size and little heat.

If you like Class D, that's fine.   If not.....

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