Active Speaker Opinions Please

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Aug 10, 2019
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Seriously considering the purchase of a pair of active speakers. AVI's have hit the note with their ADM 9.1 setup. Has anyone heard these? Any other brand that will fit the bill around the 1000 - 1200 price range.

I know AVI have a good reputation for speakers and component quality and the all in cost (Speakers, Amp and from what I have read a very good DAC) these are my starting point.

Any significant disavantages with using actives over passives (excluding the obvious upgrade options) .

Could I expect a significant improvement in sound compared to my current gear if I was to move over to a PC based system

EDIT....lets ignore the controversy over CD vs PC/Mac as I am already using my PC to stream. More interested in the improvements to Amp and Speaker.
 
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Anonymous

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I've been looking in this area too.

Dynaudio Air feature digital inputs, and there are some JBL ranges too with digital inputs and room correction. Unfortunately there are no pro audio store to listen to these in, and the finishes are not "domestically acceptable".
 
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Anonymous

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The technical advantages of Active Speakers are considerable, so considerable, one has to ask why no one has done it cost effectively before.

Speaking in general terms and not specifically, active crossovers have one hundredth of the distortion of the passive equivalent. You are effectively, if you do it right, getting rid of a harsh nasal coloration in the upper middle treble region of passive speakers. The sound becomes smoother.

An amplifier's ability to control the cones is defined by its Damping factor and all the best modern ones have very high levels of control, which means a damping factor if thousands. However a passive crossover is resistive and reduces the damping effect of the amplifier making the bass on all passive speakers more soft and boomy and less well controlled than is possible with Active speakers. In numerical terms an Active speaker will have perhaps one hundred times the damping factor of a passive speaker, so it should be much clearer with tighter punchier bass

However there are loads of different Active speakers to choose from, of varying quality, so it's not clear cut, but if you get the right ones, you'll never go back.

Ash

PS. Ours a re unique and have a remote controlled multi input preamp and DAC built in as well.

PPS. I'm biased!!!!
 

chebby

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Gosh. Didn't see that one coming!
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Anonymous

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TANNOY, Audioengine, Roland, KRK, Meridian, Quad, Adam, Genelec, Dynaudio, Mackie, ATC, M-Audio, Logitec and even Linn and Naim make active speakers. There are so many I can't remember them all, in fact they've been pretty standard on the Pro Audio side for twenty years or more.
 

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