The active speakers club

[BigColz]

I just popped the pics up from Google, because I'm thrilled to bits with them, but was 'hush' on the brand name, partly out of interest to see if people would recognise them from the pics, but also as I'm new here, and I'm very aware that B&O are infamously perceived by many audiophiles to be all about style and no substance. :doh:

I wouldn't be so sure.

B&O have a great reputation for audio engineering. I have had the privilege of hearing the larger B&O actives (Beolab 5s and 9s) on a few occasions when we used to have a B&O showroom in nearby Chichester.

B&O still retains a place on my 'Lottery Jackpot' shortlist

I would definitely like to read more about (and see more of) your system. (I can't afford it myself, but I can - vicariously at least - enjoy it from your account.)

Don't hold me to this but i've been told that B&O invented the class D amplifier??!! So if any audiophile doesn't like them they should at least respect them! I had a brief listen and I think they are very cool.. I'd def consider them for a living room setup if I stumbled on a large amopunt of money.. Am I correct in thinking they don't have a pre-amp? How do you control volume etc?

and yes, pics please

B&O didn't invent Class D, however they did develop it and own the intellectual patent rights to ICE power - which is a subsidiary company of B&O - ICE power modules being used in Rotel, Jeff Rowland, Pioneer, and B&W amongst others.

The Lab 9's don't have a preamp as such - no - that is usually handled by B&O's TV's which all have pre-amp/DAC's and active speaker arrays built into them, although you can also buy standalone streamers which either come with a HD or can be connected to a NAS etc, and which have said pre-amp and DAC etc built into them.

The exception is the Lab 5, which does have an DAC onboard, as well as a lot of DSP, and is very much a reference loudspeaker.

In my case, all preamp/DAC/surround sound processor duties are carried out by my B&O V1 TV, which as mentioned above, also acts as the (active) centre channel when in AV mode in conjunction with the Lab 9's.

Being active and a sonic/tonal match for the Lab 9's, the sound is seamless, exceptionally clear and natural as regards the centre, main left and right blend, and of course with no separate centre speaker box needed, there are zero problems of where to place it, either aesthetically or from a performance POV.

It's only my personal perspective, and yes, as an owner I'm biased, but with B&O I finally feel I'm where I want to be with a HiFi system that will last me for many, many years - the ownership satisfaction quota is exceptionally high, and I have the same sense of quality and long term satisfaction I had with my Thorens/Rait/B&W system many years ago, as mentioned in my previous post.

In short, I think my 'audiophool' obsessing and faffing about with kit that first started in my Naim years, is now over - this is a system to offer both performance and ownership satisfaction as a total package, that will last a lifetime.

Merry Xmas to all

JMac

Ahh right.. Yeah maybe the guy was talking about ICE and I got mixed up.. I hear you on the audiophooling around.. I found a source I loved the sound of that is future proof. Bought Cyrus set up (as a mate works there and go it trade) and could never get the sound I wanted, tried tons of high end makes and couldn't find a sound that i liked let alone loved.. Until I heard Electrocompaniet.. Def a music lovers amp it sounds simply beautifull and doesn't fatigue at all.. It lets it flow and you listen to the music and not the kit.. Nop need to upgrade for many many years. Can't wait to get it home, plug it in and just enjoy my music :rockout:

Merry christmas :cheers:

 

[JMacMan]

Merry Xmas...

JMac

And to you. Thanks for the (very) comprehensive and interesting write-up.

Ditto, good stuff. So maybe pics when you've got the rears in place?

In time, will be happy to Ben. At the moment the room is still looking like a mad HiFi inventors lair or audiophile 'man cave' and I've new furniture coming over the next few weeks as regards storage etc; as it stands the Lab 9's are plumped in front of the SLB's and flanking tightly the TV and it's cabinet, with a portable A/C hiding in the corner. Selling of the separates system will free up around 1.5 - 2 metres of much needed wall space in an apartment lounge room of 5 x 4 metres, so all this is part of a plan to re-model my environment and get rid of the accumlated clutter of excessive HiFi collecting over the years... lol

The main forums I contribute on these days are Beoword (an independant forum for B&O owners) and AVI, where I've written quite extensively about the B&O decision making process and have posted a few pics there - my 'handle' there is jonboi, which was not available here when I joined, hence the change to JmacMan, so if you are able to log in to AVI forums, you'll find an extensive write up and some pics in the off topic section.

The owner of the forum has been gracious enough to allow me to prattle on about B&O, given it's an AVI site, but I've a number of friends there, and notwithstanding that some politicking goes on from time to time as it appears to do on almost all hiFi and doubtless other forums, it's a relatively OK place to hang out, all things considered.

Failing that, when I get a bit of time away from being caught up in the Xmas rush, I might re-post over here perhaps.

Hope this helps

Merry Xmas..

JMac

 

[steve_1979]

Can anyone recommend some decent actives for around £250-400 new or second hand? Big entertaining fairly bassy sound but not wolly or out of controll or harsh trebble.. Cheers :cheers:

These cheap active monitors are capable of giving much more expensive passive hifi speakers a run for their money.

Behringer TRUTH B3031A £302

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/behringer-truth-b3031a-studio-reference-monitors--61718



Yamaha HS80M £408

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/yamaha-hs80m-active-studio-monitors-pair--68042



Yamaha HS50M £244

(IMO these have a slightly better midrange than the bigger bassier HS80M)

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/yamaha-hs50m-active-studio-monitors-pair--68041

Cheers Steve :cheers:

Don't forget that you'll need something to control the volume too. If you have a DAC with a built in pre-amp or an AV receiver that has 'analog pre-outs' then these can be used to control the volume.

Alternatively something like this would do the job: http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/tc-electronic-level-pilot-monitor-volume-controller--60711

 

[BigColz]

Can anyone recommend some decent actives for around £250-400 new or second hand? Big entertaining fairly bassy sound but not wolly or out of controll or harsh trebble.. Cheers :cheers:

These cheap active monitors are capable of giving much more expensive passive hifi speakers a run for their money.

Behringer TRUTH B3031A £302

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/behringer-truth-b3031a-studio-reference-monitors--61718



Yamaha HS80M £408

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/yamaha-hs80m-active-studio-monitors-pair--68042



Yamaha HS50M £244

(IMO these have a slightly better midrange than the bigger bassier HS80M)

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/yamaha-hs50m-active-studio-monitors-pair--68041

Cheers Steve :cheers:

Don't forget that you'll need something to control the volume too. If you have a DAC with a built in pre-amp or an AV receiver that has 'analog pre-outs' then these can be used to control the volume.

Alternatively something like this would do the job: http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/tc-electronic-level-pilot-monitor-volume-controller--60711

I was asking for a mate to use with a Sonos connect.. The connect has a volume control on it would that work as a preamp?

 

[AlmaataKZ]

New wireless actives from Focal announced.

http://www.whathifi.com/news/ces-2013-focal-launches-wireless-sub-air-subwoofer-will-expand-range-to-include-more-speak-airs

 

[daytona600]

Active electrostatics

http://www.sanderssoundsystems.com/products/electrostatic-speakers

 

[DocG]

Another source option for a minimal set-up: the Oppo BDP-105 + active speakers

the BDP-105 gives you:

- Sabre DAC chips

- a universal disc spinner

- inputs: SP-DIF (coax + optical), USB-A (x2), USB-B (async), HDMI (x2)

- streaming (Ethernet and Wi-Fi)

- outputs: RCA and XLR

- a remote and apps for iOS and Android

- and a headphone amp

For 1400€ (don't know exact UK price).

How about that?

 

[AlmaataKZ]

What about vol control?

 

[daveh75]

What about vol control?

With the volume + and - buttons

The Oppos analogue outs are variable

There are many Oppo owning 'analogue audio enthusiasts' who use their players fed directly into power amps.

I guess that's the market the 105 is intended for as it allows it to be used as pre/pro for other sources...

 

[Overdose]

It looks like a good source for active speakers if starting out from scratch. The universal disc thing gives a lot of flexibility and it is essentially acting as a digital preamp on top of everything else, so all good. It is a bit pricey though, so if I were to get one, I'd be waiting for a deal in a sale. I don't know what the interface is like though via the app, this would be very important to most using it's streaming capabilites.

 

[DocG]

It looks like a good source for active speakers if starting out from scratch. The universal disc thing gives a lot of flexibility and it is essentially acting as a digital preamp on top of everything else, so all good. It is a bit pricey though, so if I were to get one, I'd be waiting for a deal in a sale. I don't know what the interface is like though via the app, this would be very important to most using it's streaming capabilites.

Depends. Compared to the Weiss, Benchmark, Wadia, ... DACs, mentioned earlier, it's very reasonably priced. Certainly if you consider the transport and streamer that are included. :?

 

[Overdose]

It looks like a good source for active speakers if starting out from scratch. The universal disc thing gives a lot of flexibility and it is essentially acting as a digital preamp on top of everything else, so all good. It is a bit pricey though, so if I were to get one, I'd be waiting for a deal in a sale. I don't know what the interface is like though via the app, this would be very important to most using it's streaming capabilites.

Depends. Compared to the Weiss, Benchmark, Wadia, ... DACs, mentioned earlier, it's very reasonably priced. Certainly if you consider the transport and streamer that are included. :?

I see your point and agree, a grand for just a DAC? Yes V.expensive and unecessary, but when other functions are added, so is value.

I use the CA DACmagic Plus and having tried many DACs and tinkered with a few DIY DACs, I cannot see huge differences between them, so for a multi purpose product, I see the DAC as perhaps one of the simpler components and therefore should be quite cheap. It's a new product and the R&D outlay needs to be recouped as soon a s possible. Prices will drop sooner or later and will be better VFM. This is diverging a bit, but the newly re-emerged 3D equipment was expensive when it first came to market, it's now mainstream and almost standard (not to mention almost defunct).

Apologies to the OP, perhaps we can get back on track.

 

[byakuya83]

Questions;

Are all B&O speakers active?

Can Meridian speakers be used with non-Meridian equipment?

Anything like the Audiolab 8200CDQ that can also play DVDs?

 

[Overdose]

Don't know

Probably

Oppo 105 for starters

 

[jubair]

I have recently joined the active speakers club with an Audiolab 8200cdq and Focal CMS65 speakers. I'm very pleased with the sound and have no regrets at selling off my passive system. I can play my cd's or listen to music from the laptop using an optical cable.

Previously I owned a naim uniti which was paired with many speakers but just didn't work in my listening space with any of them. I really liked the uniti otherwise as it was very well built and easy to use. I have tried it with pmc db1i, dynaudio focus 110, dali mentor 1, spendor a5, dynaudio x12, neat motive 3, sonus faber toy, elac bs243, snell k7 and proac 1sc speakers... so no one could say I didn't give it a fair chance.

I also owned a system consisting of cyrus cd6se, plinius 9200 and spendor a5 before that. I think my current system easily beats any of the others I have owned. The sound is very clear and detailed and there is plenty of bass but this is very fast and controlled. The system is very simple and doesn't take up any more space than my naim uniti did with passive speakers. The audiolab is again very easy to use and is connected to the speakers with some xlr cables. The focal cms65's are very well built and also have added option of being able to adjust bass and treble.

 

[jubair]

EDIT double post

 

[DocG]

Double post: deleted.

 

[DocG]

Another option, not yet mentioned on the forum: the Reveal 501A and 601A by Tannoy (http://tannoy.com/studiosummary.aspx).

They sport XLR and unbalanced jacks, input sensitivity an a HF-trim. And the front reflex-port makes positioning less fussy. The 601A digs a little lower than the 501A (60 vs. 64Hz) and has a volume control!

EDIT: oh, and the prices are 230£/pair for the 501A and 300 £/pair for the 601A.

501A

601A

 

[BigH]

Thought Behinger and Focal were domestic as well?

 

[Overdose]

Another option, not yet mentioned on the forum: the Reveal 501A and 601A by Tannoy (http://tannoy.com/studiosummary.aspx).

They sport XLR and unbalanced jacks, input sensitivity an a HF-trim. And the front reflex-port makes positioning less fussy. The 601A digs a little lower than the 501A (60 vs. 64Hz) and has a volume control!

EDIT: oh, and the prices are 230£/pair for the 501A and 300 £/pair for the 601A.

Tannoy also do a nice sub that would go well with these.

 

[DocG]

Another option, not yet mentioned on the forum: the Reveal 501A and 601A by Tannoy (http://tannoy.com/studiosummary.aspx).

They sport XLR and unbalanced jacks, input sensitivity an a HF-trim. And the front reflex-port makes positioning less fussy. The 601A digs a little lower than the 501A (60 vs. 64Hz) and has a volume control!

EDIT: oh, and the prices are 230£/pair for the 501A and 300 £/pair for the 601A.

Tannoy also do a nice sub that would go well with these.

How does that work then? source - XLR - sub - XLR - 601As?

 

[lecson]

Not all B&O speakers are active. You have to look carefully to check out which are which.

the last time I looked, the passive speakers were in the minority.

The Meridian website will tell you about connectivity to non-Meridian equipment. The older actives from the 1990s were designed to connect to any preamp which hadstandard DIN connections (I think - I may be wrong about the DIN).

 

[Overdose]

How does that work then? source - XLR - sub - XLR - 601As?

Yes.

A Sub (used with monitors) usually has a feed from a source or preamp, this is then bypassed to the monitors. The signal that the monitors get is dependant on the Subs filter settings or left as a full frequency signal that can be cutoff with a high pass filter on the monitors.

If you look at images of the backs of the monitors and sub, you can see what I mean.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Another option for driving actives is the recently announced Musical Fidelity dac pre amp.

http://www.whathifi.com/news/musical-fidelity-reveals-m1-sdac-with-preamp-headphone-amp-and-aptx-bluetooth

 

[Roger_A]

I'm not familiar with all Meridian speakers (they moved out of my price range) but my M2 speakers from the 1980s have both DIN and RCA inputs. For the DIN input it can be either single ended or balanced depending on the lead and how the plug's wired.

Roger