Active VS passive – specific questions

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relocated

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Back to the original question about AVI speakers and how they sound.

They are very accurate. They control bass well and do NOT boom. They are finished beautifully and have 2 year warranty.

You [or rather I] can literally listen to them all day, not as background but 100% listening without any other distraction.

They are incredible value for money; £1100 gets you speakers, amp, dac, remote and all cabling - just add digital or analogue source.

They are THE best thing I have spent money on in hifi and owners are very passionate about them.

A contributor on here had your speakers and didn't really want to find out that there was something better than them. He did and has AVI ADM 9Ts now.
 

moon

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John Duncan said:
relocated said:
They are very accurate. They control bass well and do NOT boom. They are finished beautifully and have 2 year warranty.

Ooo, like my passives then?

Actually, no, I'm wrong; my warranty's 20 years. Soz.

20 years... :O. ..... ye gods thats a long time!
 
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Anonymous

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relocated said:
Back to the original question about AVI speakers and how they sound.

They are very accurate. They control bass well and do NOT boom. They are finished beautifully and have 2 year warranty.

You [or rather I] can literally listen to them all day, not as background but 100% listening without any other distraction.

They are incredible value for money; £1100 gets you speakers, amp, dac, remote and all cabling - just add digital or analogue source.

They are THE best thing I have spent money on in hifi and owners are very passionate about them.

A contributor on here had your speakers and didn't really want to find out that there was something better than them. He did and has AVI ADM 9Ts now.
I'm so looking forward to getting mine, they're the AVI Headquarters demonstrators, so steeped in history :)

They're cheap too :grin:
 

hoopsontoast

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I would not go for some that are active just because they are active. In theory, active should be better.

But as with all things, there are both lots of good and bad versions of both types.

I have heard actives that I really liked (ATC SCM50) and some that sounded ordinary (AVI 9.1) as well as lots of passives that sounded great and lots that sounded poor (these lists are far too long).

Is it bass control or depth you are wanting? The SA1's had pretty tight bass when I heard them, what stands do you use?
 

hoopsontoast

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Yep, dont see what the fuss was about. But thats my opinion, a well designed passive speaker with suitable amplifier is likely to be better than an overhyped active speaker. But then I am comparing apples to oranges, with 80's/90's second hand Speaker and Amp to a brand new active speaker.
 

relocated

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John Duncan said:
relocated said:
They are very accurate. They control bass well and do NOT boom. They are finished beautifully and have 2 year warranty.

Ooo, like my passives then?

Actually, no, I'm wrong; my warranty's 20 years. Soz.

That is VERY nice for you John. I didn't realise I was entering into a 'mine's bigger than yours' competition or other more robust language alternatives.

:O
 

John Duncan

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relocated said:
That is VERY nice for you John. I didn't realise I was entering into a 'mine's bigger than yours' competition or other more robust language alternatives.

No, you were hinting that passives are inaccurate, do not control bass and DO boom, which is incorrect and unhelpful to the OP. I was just adding some balance so that he might make an informed decision.
 

idc

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FWIW, my experience of actives is that they sound as different as passives and so always need auditioning. I would love to hear active and passive side by side to really see how much, if any difference there is at the same price point.

I confess to not having even picked up a copy of WHF in a year or so, has there been an active vs passive shoot off?
 

John Duncan

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There was an 'active speaker' shootout just over a year ago (OTTOMH), though only the ADMs were an active crossover design if I recall. Also OTTOMH, the PMCs and ADMs were the ones to get five stars, there may have been more; I heard those two and preferred the PMCs, though at twice the price obv.
 

Native_bon

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I Wirte & produce music at my studio at home. Got active speakers also got, floor standing Sonus faber speakers. I use rokit 6 to monitor music. very accurate & easy going as well, With nice bottom end.. Unbeliebale value 4 the money. But when am not moniting music like to listen to my music a bit more coloured & much more relaxed hence the Sonus faber speakers.

But generally speaking pound for pound active speakers will out perform passives any day. That is a fact the recording industry will tell you.
 

Frank Harvey

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What's needed is a shoot out between an active and passive version of the same loudspeaker, then people can make their own minds up about the real differences between the two types, based on a real, meaningful comparison. Unfortunately, trying to find suitable test subjects proves nigh on impossible.
 

idc

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Native_bon said:
I Wirte & produce music at my studio at home. Got active speakers also got, floor standing Sonus faber speakers. I use rokit 6 to monitor music. very accurate & easy going as well, With nice bottom end.. Unbeliebale value 4 the money. But when am not moniting music like to listen to my music a bit more coloured & much more relaxed hence the Sonus faber speakers.

But generally speaking pound for pound active speakers will out perform passives any day. That is a fact the recording industry will tell you.

That represents the quandary about actives and passives. They do have different jobs to do, so how can one necessarily provide better value for money? Is it just the fashion at the moment to have a more analytical sound?
 

relocated

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John Duncan said:
relocated said:
That is VERY nice for you John. I didn't realise I was entering into a 'mine's bigger than yours' competition or other more robust language alternatives.

No, you were hinting that passives are inaccurate, do not control bass and DO boom, which is incorrect and unhelpful to the OP. I was just adding some balance so that he might make an informed decision.

I was NOT hinting at anything, this is the spin that your viewpoint places on what I have written.

I believe the OP had asked specifically about active speakers and AVI speakers in particular and as I have some I gave my opinion on what I KNOW to be certain facts on the ADM 9Ts only.

You could have balanced things better by saying that all speakers have strengths and weaknesses and that, perhaps, you love your speakers which are........ whatever.

You do not balance anything by [deliberately??] misinterpreting something someone else has said. Whatever way you then try to dress it up.
 

steve_1979

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FrankHarveyHiFi said:
What's needed is a shoot out between an active and passive version of the same loudspeaker, then people can make their own minds up about the real differences between the two types, based on a real, meaningful comparison. Unfortunately, trying to find suitable test subjects proves nigh on impossible.

I've heard some active and passive Dynaudios speakers side by side and the active ones sounded a little bit better in both cases.

The active 5.25" BM5A monitors vs passive 5.25" DM 2/6 hifi speakers.

The active 6.5" BM6A monitors vs the passive 6.5" DM 2/7 hifi speakers.

Acoustic Energy also make active and passive versions of their AE22 monitors but I haven't had the chance to compare the two versions of these.
 
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Anonymous

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FrankHarveyHiFi said:
What's needed is a shoot out between an active and passive version of the same loudspeaker, then people can make their own minds up about the real differences between the two types, based on a real, meaningful comparison. Unfortunately, trying to find suitable test subjects proves nigh on impossible.

AEJim is on record saying that an active version of a certain one of his speakers (can't remember wich one) sounded much better than the same speaker in passive form driven by a SuperNait.
 

steve_1979

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If I remember correctly he said that he'd modified some passive Acoustic Energy hifi speakers and turned them into actives which improved the sound quality. I forget which model it was though.
 
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Anonymous

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steve_1979 said:
If I remember correctly he said that he'd modified some passive Acoustic Energy hifi speakers and turned them into actives which improved the sound quality. I forget which model it was though.

Found it Steve...

AEJim wrote:

Clare Newsome wrote:

We were just having a discussion about active speakers in the office. We're bemused why more manufacturers aren't offering them as an option - and I mean living-room friendly designs (like the AVIs), rather than more tweaky, pro-audio models.

We're trying to put together a test, and are struggling to find enough (relatively) mainstream options to add! (Eg widely available to demo/buy).

As a manufacturer we'd love to make more active speakers - it takes some of the variables of system matching out of the chain as well as the design being superior (if done correctly) to the conventional passive crossover/amplification route. In the current climate of growing usage of MP3 player sources it makes more sense than ever.

The problem is market acceptance (Worldwide, not just UK), it seems many members of the general public simply don't "get it". This isn't a criticism but more a case of active speakers being very new to people used to having a traditional stacking Hi-Fi system.

We had planned an active version of the new Compact 1 model (due in June) and in testing it sounds better than the passive version on the end of our Naim Supernait amplifier! The cost would rise from around £150 for the passive to nearer £400-500 for the active pair, while being a considerable saving over using even a very high quality amplifier it seems a large psychological jump.

What has put the project on hold for us, bearing in mind considerable developement time and cost is involved, is that in talking to various dealers who sell other active models it seems they don't really sell in any quantity. This could be down to the dealers not pushing and educating customers, that those models simply aren't that great, too expensive or indeed something else altogether. Either way that feedback mixed with the need to source and test many new components that we don't produce ourselves leaves a fair amount of risk involved.

It's something I'd certainly like to do but we'll need more demand and market maturity in that area before we can really go full-steam ahead. We do have the active Pro products because they are the norm in that market, the domestic Hi-Fi market has always been a little slower to embrace new things though... Not that active speakers are particularly new! This of course means some companies need to lead the way but we already tried that with Bluetooth speakers and WiFi Internet Radios, while they sold well enough they never set the world alight and we don't have the marketing budgets of a Bose or Sony to really do that!

It's a shame because I think the active Compact 1 prototypes we have are pretty special little speakers, it's a little bit of a chicken/egg situation I guess - manufacturers need press and dealers help to promote these kinds of technologies but you guys also need us to be making them to do so!
 

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