Active Speakers

[admin_exported]

I currently have all my music ripped as flac and play through audinst dac/linn classik/kef q35.2 which I am very happy with. I have been thinking of getting some audioengine a5 (possibly A2) as I want something dual voltage (USA) and they seem the best option. I listen to all types of music but don't care about lots of bass so A2's maybe OK. Also in the process of decluttering to live in a smaller space so really like the idea of laptop/active speakers which are dual voltage and I live in the USA at times also.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Derick

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

Hi

I don't know if it matters for you or not but in reality Audioengine speakers are not active. yes, they do have power cord socket but that doesn't make them active at all. if you're really interested in desktop active speakers (not mere quasi-active) look for Dynaudio MC 15 or ADAM Audio ARTist series. these are definitely active and are the best of the desktop breed but I don't know if they would fit the bill... just letting you know.

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

P.S. just found out that those ADAM speakers have volatage switch.

 

[bigboss]

Hi

I don't know if it matters for you or not but in reality Audioengine speakers are not active. yes, they do have power cord socket but that doesn't make them active at all. if you're really interested in desktop active speakers (not mere quasi-active) look for Dynaudio MC 15 or ADAM Audio ARTist series. these are definitely active and are the best of the desktop breed but I don't know if they would fit the bill... just letting you know.

What are you on about? What do you mean by Audioengines not being active speakers? They're powered & have a built-amplifier. What else do you want? If they can work nicely with my Sonos ZP90 (which doesn't have an amplifier built-in), they're definitely active. Audioengines work beautifully as computer speakers. I'll look at my speaker's specs regarding your issue & get back to you.

 

[bigboss]

Ok, just checked the specs. Audioengine 5 has a manual switch for USA/UK voltage, & Audioengine 2 has an auto switch. Both will work in UK & USA. Check "tech stuff" on individual product pages on www.audioengineusa.com

Audioengine 2 is quite small but surprisingly powerful & may perfectly suit your needs. It's certainly much better than my previous Bose computer speakers.

 

[The_Lhc]

Hi

I don't know if it matters for you or not but in reality Audioengine speakers are not active. yes, they do have power cord socket but that doesn't make them active at all. if you're really interested in desktop active speakers (not mere quasi-active) look for Dynaudio MC 15 or ADAM Audio ARTist series. these are definitely active and are the best of the desktop breed but I don't know if they would fit the bill... just letting you know.

What are you on about? What do you mean by Audioengines not being active speakers? They're powered & have a built-amplifier. What else do you want? If they can work nicely with my Sonos ZP90 (which doesn't have an amplifier built-in), they're definitely active. Audioengines work beautifully as computer speakers. I'll look at my speaker's specs regarding your issue & get back to you.

He probably means they're powered speakers, rather than active, that is the crossover still comes after the amplifier stage. To be strictly active the crossover needs to be before the amp stage. I don't know if the Audioengines are active or not mind, just explaining the difference.

 

[professorhat]

Indeed, the Audioengines are, strictly speaking, powered speakers not active speakers.

Whether or not the OP was aware of this or was actually just looking for speakers with a built in amp is another matter.

EDIT - oh, and I'd agree with bigboss on the A2s - I've been very happy with mine for a number of years now. I did upgrade the office speakers to the Epoz Aktimate Minis (though don't be fooled, they're not that small!) and this was a decent upgrade in sound quality, but then you'd expect that at more than twice the price. The A2s now live in the kitchen with an Airport Express hooked up to them.

 

[bigboss]

Hmmm...interesting. Didn't know that before. So what's the practical difference between powered & active speakers?

 

[domenn]

Maybe Epoz Aktimate mini ? I am running them with uDAC-2 on my pc setup they sound very good indeed . But they are quite big .

 

[The_Lhc]

Err, depends what you mean by practical really. The reason for going for active speakers is that it's supposed to bring a distinct improvement in sound quality, due to the amps being perfectly matched to the drivers and only having to deal with limited frequency ranges (because the crossover has already split the signal before it reaches the amps). That's the main difference, in practical terms you're still plugging your source into the speakers (individual model specifications dependant of course) and the speakers still need power, so there's no difference there really.

It's a bit of a minefield though, Audioaffair are advertising the A5s as actives, even though the blurb states they're powered, Audioengine's own FAQ answers the question "What's the difference between powered and active speakers" with the reply "They're basically the same thing", which is a bit naughty.

 

[chebby]

It's a bit of a minefield though, Audioaffair are advertising the A5s as actives, even though the blurb states they're powered, Audioengine's own FAQ answers the question "What's the difference between powered and active speakers" with the reply "They're basically the same thing", which is a bit naughty.

Even more tricky when you think of active speaker systems where the amps and electronic crossovers reside outside the speaker cabinets in stand-alone boxes or racks. (Like Naim for instance.)

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

What are you on about? What do you mean by Audioengines not being active speakers?

hi

I see you know the answer already. The_Lhc explained nicely. now, what is practical difference between active and powered speakers? well, if you take into account the amount of religious zealotry surrounding AVI ADMs then you will know why I differentiate between active vs. powered. all those praises about better sound quality don't come from nowhere.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the comments. Has anyone heard the ADAM Audio ARTist 3? They are dual voltage but I think they are fairly new so not much info about on them. Barletts have in stock so may go for a listen even though more than I wanted to spend!

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

Has anyone heard the ADAM Audio ARTist 3? They are dual voltage but I think they are fairly new so not much info about on them.

have a read about ADAM speakers in general. their main activity is supplying studio industry with active monitors. I bet you will not find a bad word about their creations. and it seems desktop range uses the same type of drivers as more expensive models. power amps are weaker though. but for desktop use they'll be more than adequate.

 

[Alec]

Does each driver have its own amp in "true" active speakers or is that bit optional?

 

[The_Lhc]

Does each driver have its own amp in "true" active speakers or is that bit optional?

If the amp stage is between the crossover and the drivers then yes, each driver has to have it's own amp, you couldn't do it otherwise.

 

[Alec]

Ouch. Head hurts. I thought true actives went driver-crossover-amp...?

 

[The_Lhc]

Ouch. Head hurts. I thought true actives went driver-crossover-amp...?

No, that's the standard passive speaker set up, an active setup would be crossover->amp->driver.

 

[Alec]

Ohhh...I need to find some good reading as now I dont know whats being amplified. I thought the driver needed to do something before there's anything to amplify.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Maybe a confusion of terminology here:

Passives go source/preamp -> power amp -> crossover -> speaker drive units

Actives go source/preamp -> crossover -> power amps -> speaker drive units

 

[Alec]

Thanks Andrew I think I get it, though it probably isn't as sophisticated as confusion of terminology with me as I'm a dunce where the "under the hood" stuff is concerned.

Though a mate of mine did once insist my speakers don't have tweeters which I found...interesting.

 

[The_Lhc]

Ohhh...I need to find some good reading as now I dont know whats being amplified. I thought the driver needed to do something before there's anything to amplify.

Oh, I'm with you, "driver" in this case means the speaker unit( s ), ie the cone or the tweeter.

 

[Alec]

Yes thats what I meant, I was just being very dim.

 

[Andrew Everard]

In other words, in a conventional passive speaker, the signal comes in from an amplifier, is split into suitable frequencies for the drive units - at its simplest, high frequencies to the tweeter, mid and low to the woofer - and then passes to the drive units.

In a powered speaker, the same happens, but the amp is inside the speaker, and the signal comes in from a preamp or source component and is passed to the internal amp. It's worth noting that some speakers also have a preamp built-in, so an be connected straight to a source component, offer volume control without an external preamp, etc.

In an active speaker, the signal comes in, is split into suitable frequencies for the drive units, and is then passed to dedicated internal amps for each drive unit. So each amp is only handling the frequencies relevant to the dxrive unit it's powering. It also means that in some active designs, a less powerful amplifier can be used for the treble section, and a heftier one for the mid/bass.

 

[Alec]

Brilliant, thanks Andrew.

Based on little reading, drivers are said to be optimized for particualr frequencies of course. But, whilst a woofer (would it ever be a subwoofer?) can handle bass and midrange, could a tweeter (how often are supertweeters used?) reproduce bass and midrange?