Got Active Speakers. Do I Need An Amp?

[admin_exported]

Hello there.

Having recently moved into my own place for the first time, I have got hooked on the whole audio/visual world but know diddly squat about it! I am trying to learn through the great mag and forums like this, but still have about a million questions to ask, so this forum should prove to be a God send, i hope! Please forgive any stupid questions as i really am new to it all.

My first queston is this. Do i need an amp if i have active speakers?

I own a pair of active M-Audio- Studiophile BX5 (any good?) speakers which i want to use. I need to buy a cd player (was reading about the Marantz CD6002) but dont want and havent got space for an amp unless i really really have to. Will the set up work if i plug the speaker straight into the player?

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

 

[Anonymous]

no need for a amp with active speackers mate

 

[Anonymous]

Bloody hell that was quick!

Its good here!

Thanks for the reply mate. Exellent news

 

[Thaiman]

I haven't heard your MA speakers so I can't comment but like Sex said you shouldn't need an amp if they are active. As for cd player I would certainly recommend the Marantz you mentioned as it would be hard to beat at the price.

 

[Anonymous]

But you could do with a pre amp or you'll have no control over your volume without twiddling the speakers all the time. Audiolab are doing one that might suit you (depending on what you're after)

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/2389
or

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/2392

You can also find one being sold second hand for about £300 quid on another site. Google for a "forum" with "AV" in the title and have a look in the classified section. You'll bag yourself a bargain!

 

[Anonymous]

Will, I understand that i wont have any control of the volume of the speakers without manually turning the knob at the back of them but am i wrong to think that i will still have remote control over the volume that the cd player sends to the speakers? As it was when they were pluged into my pc, i had the speaker knobs set to about half way, left them alone and turned volume up/down on windows media player.

Would it not work like that?

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="can eryeler"]
Hello there.

Having recently moved into my own place for the first time, I have got hooked on the whole audio/visual world but know diddly squat about it! I am trying to learn through the great mag and forums like this, but still have about a million questions to ask, so this forum should prove to be a God send, i hope! Please forgive any stupid questions as i really am new to it all.
[/quote] welcome aboard!🙂
[quote user="can eryeler"]

My first queston is this. Do i need an amp if i have active speakers?
[/quote] not a power amp,no. IMO i really decent preamp with a remote control would really help[quote user="can eryeler"]
I own a pair of active M-Audio- Studiophile BX5 (any good?) speakers which i want to use. I need to buy a cd player (was reading about the Marantz CD6002) but dont want and havent got space for an amp unless i really really have to. Will the set up work if i plug the speaker straight into the player?
[/quote] No. You'll need to have a pair of digital active sspeakers ffor that, with crossovers and power amps built in to the cabinet.Meridian have been the forerunners of this for years but its 6 grand a pair!!!!!

clive

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Clive, so your saying it wont work? But the other guys seem to think it will

My speakers defanatly have amps built into them but dont know if they have crossovers in them(what are those?) As for digital, again im not sure but dont think so.

If i tell you what switches and settings are on the back, maybe someone here can tell me if it sounds like they have crossovers in them.

On back of each speaker i have:

Power Switch

2 inputs= XLR & TRS

Volume knob

Acoustic Space Switch. 0, -2, -4 (3x dB Settings)

High Freq Switch. -2, 0, +2

Mid-Boost Switch. In, Out (2x Settings)

Low Cutoff Switch. 56, 80, 100 (3x Hz Settings)

AC Select Switch. 115, 230

Does this make it any clearer as to what kind of speakers i have an weather they would work .

Thanks again

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Studiophile-BX5-Powered-Studio-Monitors-Pair?sku=603277&src="3SOSWXXA"

These are my speakers. Any good? Will they do the job?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="can eryeler"]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Studiophile-BX5-Powered-Studio-Monitors-Pair?sku=603277&src="3SOSWXXA"

These are my speakers. Any good? Will they do the job?

Thanks
[/quote]

Active speakers usually feature high-level (or speaker level) inputs. On the other hand CD players usually feature a low-level (or line level) output. With that combination it will make it impossible to connect them without a preamp. But I just checked the specs of your spakers. They have BOTH speaker level as well as line level inputs. So, you can have fun. If your future CD player contains a line level output, connect the player with the line level input on your speaker's back. Remember, in this case you will not be able to control the volume from the CD player remote control.

Your best bet would be to buy a CD player that has both line level and speaker level outputs (difficult job). In that case you can simply connect the speakers' XLR terminals with speaker level outs on your player and you are ready to go.