Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused
17 of 23 speakers in my studio and home theater systems are internally powered. My studio system is all Genelec and sounds very accurate. I know the best new concert and studio speakers are internally powered there are great technical reasons to design a speaker and an amp synergistically, this concept is much more important to sound quality than the vibration systems we often buy. How can an audiophile justify a vibration system of any sort with this in mind.
Confused, nope. Just recall all the junk powered speakers sold, Peavy, Sharper Image crap. I am sure there is some real nice stuff out now. But I will stick with what I have now. Tubes, Class A and Class A-B with well matched passive speakers by Sonner and QLN. Not slamming the door on powered speakers but I am not making any changes. |
@mijostyn the specs for my active speakers are all linked in my profile (no class D amps). Remember, this is about confusion about actives, not a contest. The OP owns both passive and active systems as do I. |
The benefits of the active Magnepan system were snappier transients, increased dynamics, the ability to tame the ribbon tweeter’s aggressiveness, and the ability to do phase/time corrections, especially with regards to integrating the subwoofer. But my effort had much more to do with bypassing the arguably weak Magnepan crossover than finding optimum amplifiers for each of the Maggie’s drivers. I have since gone back to a single amplifier setup with the speakers’ original crossovers. They don’t present as snappy, dynamic or as “live” as they did with the active crossover configuration. Excuse this clumsy attempt to describe what I’m hearing now, but it’s like the edgy corners have been rounded off slightly and the overall presentation is a bit more well-mannered albeit without the sharper imaging within the soundstage. The "rounded corners" may very well have more to do with the potentially weak ADAC in the speaker management unit adding a harsh digital signature than the choice of amplification or any other variable. Which is better? The answer to that question changes frequently. But in both configurations, it’s very, very good. |
@sixfour3 that is a great post, my hat off is to you, obviously hot rodding the Maggies is a great idea trying active. |
Thank you for the reference, but those are not for me. I already use Neumann KH-310 for similar duties. I consider this Neumann an example of a properly designed and well-made mid-level studio monitor of low-distorting variety. As to the PW600s, I couldn't find their measurements. Yet I'm not excited about a speaker with 5" woofer, in such a small box. My guess would be that PW600 natural roll-off starts somewhere between 100Hz and 120Hz. Yet this is compensated for by its internal DSP, so the bass seemingly extends down to ~40 Hz instead. I wouldn't expect PW600 to be low-distorting. There is a price to pay for a small transducer being driven hard by a powerful D-class amplifier. Intermodulation distortions ought to be significant. Contrast this with the KH-310, which meaningfully extends down to 34Hz, even without DSP. Also, its manufacturer publishes detailed measurements, which are confirmed by independent reviewers. Distortions-wise, the KH-310 measures and sounds similarly to good professional headphones. This studio monitor is quite popular for professional studio mixing, including multi-channel, especially in Europe. As to my aspirations, one day I'd like to own a pair of Neumann KH-420 or For kitchen duty, I used to use all-white Yamaha HS8. Then they migrated to my daughter's electronic piano installation. I'm not aware of a better sound-quality bang for a street price buck in active speakers. Interestingly enough, I keep encountering the HS8s in professional studios, owners of which could easily afford much more expensive monitors. HS8s are just uncannily accurate, in an easy to live with format, and virtually never fail. |
