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

@whitefishpoint1175 

Neither of you have listened to what all is out there nor have I. So his opinions are based on his 50 years of limited experiences. Your opinion is based on his opinion and total lack of experience. You often agree because of fact or that you are easily swayed?

I prefer to find out for myself.

That’s fine, Go away and find out for yourself and leave us grownups here to discuss grown up things which you are not yet aware of. You have nothing to add. You have been here 4 days and now you think you know more than you do. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Man I had Yamaha hs-8's and a marantz 8801 pre and they were great for HT. I was even gonna buy a single for a center  and two more for surrounds. All those power cords are harder to manage than speaker cables though so  I sold them.   I could absolutely see where they have there place in two channel and if not satisfied there easy enough to sell to guys starting out with an in home studio. Sold mine locally in one day. 

@preston8452 --

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

To begin with above formulated question doesn’t really make sense, that is; an active speaker is defined by an electronic cross-over/DSP functioning prior to amplification on signal level, and not passively between the output side of the amp(s) and the drivers. That’s is to say: an active speaker can be a floor standing or stand-mounted ditto or whatever you can imagine, so long the filtering is done prior to amplification. This also entails that the components used with an active speaker doesn’t have to be placed internally to it to qualify as being an active design; they can be situated separately and externally to the speaker as well.

That said I believe I get what you’re saying: most active speakers aren’t floor standing but rather of the more compact variety as bundled, pre-configured and -assembled packages where both the amps, electronic cross-over and sometimes DAC’s are placed within the speaker itself. Most refer to active speakers as such, but to reiterate, this is not what defines an active speaker.

My own fully active speaker setup (view my profile) is a solution of external components (amps, DSP and DAC) with floor standing main speakers and subs. It’s also a fully DIY-approach, so everything concerning the filter settings has been done by myself and with the initial help of a friend to get me started, both with the aid of measurements and listening. It’s a long process and not for the faint of heart, but very rewarding once you get the hang of it.

As to what’s better, passive vs. active? The actual range of active speakers sold is still relatively limited, but some of the very best I’ve heard count ATC and Grimm Audio. The vast majority of speakers sold are passive, but on principle and in practice an active design - be that DIY, as separates or bundled - can be the easy equivalent to a passive ditto. As I'm sure you know it's all about the implementation, be that with active and passive designs, and both can house great results. Myself though I’m not going back to passive designs.

I will formulate my finding based on experiences not on what someone says on BB 

So, why are you even here if you have no desire to listen to others opinions, TV 4 especially from those who probably have a much bigger knowledge base.?

Wow! How is such a simple concept of sharing information on a bulletin board so obtuse to you? Your logic leads me to believe that you have no concept of why you are even here unless you believe that you have all knowledge. I’d ask you to rethink your position.

yet many of these powered monitors are the choice of audio engineers for studio use over passive, wonder why?

Because it cuts down the clutter in the studio without the need for more electronic gear. 

@artemus_5 and that is good for you.

I will formulate my finding based on experiences not on what someone says on these pages.

Neither of you have listened to what all is out there nor have I. So his opinions are based on his 50 years of limited experiences. Your opinion is based on his opinion and total lack of experience. You often agree because of fact or that you are easily swayed?

I prefer to find out for myself.

Yet many reviewers ask this question.

So have you listened to the ATC SCM40A or the 19A, How about the offerings from Goldenear, Grimm, Kii, Avantagarde Acoustics, PMC, Focal, and on and on.

Bet not. I know I have not yet many of these powered monitors are the choice of audio engineers for studio use over passive, wonder why?

Just thoughts no opinions.

You can lead a horse to water…….

If I did not already have an amp(s) etc. I would be considering the active speakers.

The Genelecs and Kef are pretty good and it gets better if one can run balanced lines to them. There is a review on the new small Genelecs (8331A) and they are $2500/each.

One also saves some coin on fuses and speaker cables.

On the other hand… there is an avoidance of them in audiophile groups.
usually with the associated talk about synergy, etc.

If one was starting from scratch, it seems like an easy choice to mix the amp, speaker, and cables into one engineered solution.

Now if the budget is 40k for speakers, it might be different story. However there is not a lot of objective measured data on many of those speakers… so it becomes more of a listen and decide endeavour.

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

Sota TT —> Nagra Phono stage —> Audible Illusions preamp —> PrimaLuna Dialogue HP —> Vandy 2C and sub

Octo DAC8 and digital side are a work in progress, as well as trying some new speakers which are smaller and score better on WAF.

@whitefishpoint1175 

Oh @ghdprentice That is only your opinion. 

Actually its probably NOT only his opinion. But why even point it out at all, as if his opinion has little or no veracity? The OP asked for "opinions"

FWIW I have found that I agree with @ghdprentice more often than not and his experience is what I too have experienced, though my system is more modest. And I suspect there are plenty of others here who would agree with his opinion here also.

So what is it about his experience which bothered you enough to share your opinion of his?

My current setup is a Silent Angel Rhein Z1 which runs a Roon Core, then Munich M1T as a Roon Ready streamer, then to PS Audio DAC, then KEF active speaker, which the streaming is all based on Roon I'd say, the SQ ain't bad at all, I'm quite content.

But just not sure if applying passive speakers with separated Amps would be so much better, cuz I know for sure that'd cost my wallet so much more hahaha...

I wouldn't say passive are always better than active. Price wise you could get a better setup going passive up to a point. If your price range starts around $10K that's where active becomes  more attractive.  

Oh @ghdprentice That is only your opinion. 

I try not to make general statements. Some towers have active subwoofers...so you need to know what speaker you are talking about to make informed assessments.

Technology continues to evolve. That said high quality floor standing speakers out perform active ones at this time. Choosing high quality speakers that fit your room (what ever the size) plus careful placement, room treatments, and carefully chosen components can result in great sound. Over the last 50 years of pursuing great sound I went incrementally from a $500 system in a small room to a $150K system in a large and acoustically fantastic room…

‘’Whatch you got? Including room size… what do you want?

😲 what are those hahaha, never heard of them! 

are floor-stand speakers always better than active speakers?

What about active floor standing speakers?