The very first time I heard active speakers were the John Bowers Active 1's waayyy back in 1986. They were shockingly dynamic! There really is something special about getting all those Inductors & Capacitors out from between the amps & drivers. Audiophiles think that "control" is being taken away from them because they cannot choose their own flavor of amplification... but that control is being transferred to the speaker designer... It took me a LONG time to finally buy a pair of actives...... and am now a very happy owner of ADAM S3H's. Yes they are digital, and they are very revealing, dynamic, and fun to listen to. Yes they are a pro monitor, and I have a studio and do mixing.... But these are truly amazing speakers and worthy of any audiophile to consider. Focal also makes really good powered monitors (and not digital). They are prettier than the ADAMs, but in a a side by side comparison, I chose the ADAM.
