Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

Ray Kurzweil was right…

If someone makes a statement about massive distortion of DA and DSP while they are using tube amplifiers I don't put much faith in their opinion (or knowledge) of this topic.

If someone also uses said tube amplifiers, talks about massive distortion of DA and DSP and then talks at length about the virtues of Trinnov, which fortunately fixes a lot of the flaws of their amp and speakers, then again I don't place much faith in their ability to talk with expertise on this topic. I may get them to master a record because they have a good ear for what people like but that's not the same thing as what we are talking about.

I will also note they talked about the superiority of digital capture but disregard the DAC and DSP in those powered speakers which could very well be at an equal or superior level. 

Sorry to pick on one person but it's the clearest case of expertise in one closely related area clearly not being portable. My doctor probably doesn't know the first thing about making an MRI machine either.

What are speakers? Frequency response, distortion of various types and dispersion and the interaction of those 3 over volume. Even cabinet resonances and waterfall ultimately can map onto those simple things. No audiophile buzzwords changes that.

So the question is, can making an active speaker give control over system variables such that you can improve one of those 3 things in ways no separates ever could?

The answer is yes. A rather resounding yes.  If your opinion is that the answer is no then I suggest learning more about how speakers works till you understand the answer must be yes.

We will now return the thread to the pointless arguing.

And no @kota1 those Paradigm are not mid-fi, though some would consider that vaunted tube amp mentioned in the article very much mid-fi. 

Oddioboy
You seem very interesting, that was a more insightful post than you may realize.

LA is about keeping your job and making your clients happy, eclectic mastering labs are great if you can hold up your end and put out great work. But mastering labs are not where you make the sound of the record, that’s done in recording and mixing mastering needs to be done so the original vision of the musician, producer, and the record company are all happy while not forgetting to be very exact on all the specs you have to keep up with. I had a nice career and got a great rate for my equipment because I did a good job and stood behind the people who hired me, but it always brought a smile to the producers face when my equipment did things others couldn’t, that is key in LA. I have worked for people who were very successful and couldn’t mix there way out of a paper bag but had a good personality. Being successful doesn’t alway mean you really know what your doing in LA.

Well, if you like tube amps, active speakers will not work. Some are already saying active speakers will outperform anything and if you do not agree you are 10 years behind the times..