The active speakers club

[John Duncan]

My BiL's girlfriend just moved in with him. First question she asked was "where do I put all my shoes?"; second she asked was "where do I put my Beolab 8000s?".

You'd like her a lot.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Woman has her priorities right 🙂

What I really want is the money and space for a shoe closet and the Beolab 5....

 

[Overdose]

I'm coming round to B&O from an admittedly groundless opinionated position that they were perhaps more form over function.

However, my house would need a rather large shift to form, from 'function', for any of the B&O range to fit in.

 

[SteveR750]

I think a problem with actives is that the choice of domestic (i.e. slim/small, good finish, choice of finish etc) models is extremely limited. Literally, there are about 3 - 4 floorstanding models only that can be listed here at any prices that can be remotely called moderate ie sub-stratospheric:

Atc scm 20a

Adam artist 6 or pencil

Avi adm 40

Dunaudio xeo 6

What else?

While the choice of passive floorstanders will definately stretch into many dozens if not one or two hundred of models at the same prices (even factoring for amp cost).

This is the issue for me. If I could find a pair of floorstanders that were better than the D18s at a similar price, then it would get interesting.

 

[BenLaw]

I think a problem with actives is that the choice of domestic (i.e. slim/small, good finish, choice of finish etc) models is extremely limited. Literally, there are about 3 - 4 floorstanding models only that can be listed here at any prices that can be remotely called moderate ie sub-stratospheric:

Atc scm 20a

Adam artist 6 or pencil

Avi adm 40

Dunaudio xeo 6

What else?

While the choice of passive floorstanders will definately stretch into many dozens if not one or two hundred of models at the same prices (even factoring for amp cost).

This is the issue for me. If I could find a pair of floorstanders that were better than the D18s at a similar price, then it would get interesting.

Well if you sold your dac, amp and speakers you'd have more than enough for ADM40s. They also bear a passing resemblance to your current speakers.

 

[Overdose]

I think a problem with actives is that the choice of domestic (i.e. slim/small, good finish, choice of finish etc) models is extremely limited. Literally, there are about 3 - 4 floorstanding models only that can be listed here at any prices that can be remotely called moderate ie sub-stratospheric:

Atc scm 20a

Adam artist 6 or pencil

Avi adm 40

Dunaudio xeo 6

What else?

While the choice of passive floorstanders will definately stretch into many dozens if not one or two hundred of models at the same prices (even factoring for amp cost).

This is the issue for me. If I could find a pair of floorstanders that were better than the D18s at a similar price, then it would get interesting.

To be fair, it should be the D18s plus the Caspian.

 

[Torres09]

Hold on a minute, this thread has been running over 6 hours and no sign of "you know who"😉

 

[plastic penguin]

Hold on a minute, this thread has been running over 6 hours and no sign of "you know who"😉

Give "you know who" time... :shifty:

 

[stuartybass]

Talking of B&O, does anyone have any experience of using Beolab 6000s, purely for audio?

I've had trouble finding many reviews, I guess because they are often thought of as over-priced and/or a niche market and therefore difficult to compare to conventional hifi, but you can pick up pairs for less than £1k and that's bascially your whole system sorted, more or less.

 

[byakuya83]

When I'm paid at end of month I intend to purchase Audio Pro LV2e so hope to add something useful. What I would say is that I'm going down the active route mainly due to the reduction in equipment required.

Above someone said there was no merit in discussing active versus passive but I would like to know what the difference is beside space-saving through the built-in amplification.

 

[Frank Harvey]

That info can be found elsewhere on the forum - I think as far as everyone is concerpassim hey want this thread to run as though passives dont exist. Everyone wants to keep the passive/active thing out of this thread otherwise it'll degenerate and get locked.

 

[Ajani]

That info can be found elsewhere on the forum - I think as far as everyone is concerpassim hey want this thread to run as though passives dont exist. Everyone wants to keep the passive/active thing out of this thread otherwise it'll degenerate and get locked.

That's why I think it would be good to have a sub-forum for active speakers (like the headphones forum). Then we can have threads about the various active speakers persons have tried out or are interested in. + we can even have more controversial discussions (and risk getting them locked).

 

[Ajani]

I will edit this post with more manufacturers of active speakers, with some focus on those who have domestic versions.

Pro models only:

Genelec

Krk

Mackie

Acoustic Energy

Focal (except ????? desktop) or do they have domestic?

Barefoot

Yamaha

Behringer

Event

Pioneer

Ds peaker

Se munro

Pro and domestic models:

ATC

Dynaudio

Adam audio

Pmc

Domestic only models:

AVI

B&O

B&W (desktop model only)

Audio pro

Meridian

You need to add M-Audio to the pro models.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

When I'm paid at end of month I intend to purchase Audio Pro LV2e so hope to add something useful. What I would say is that I'm going down the active route mainly due to the reduction in equipment required. Above someone said there was no merit in discussing active versus passive but I would like to know what the difference is beside space-saving through the built-in amplification.

Hi byakuya83

Nice one 8) Out of interest what components does your system currently consist of?

Btw, here (page 9) http://www.atcloudspeakers.co.uk/downloads/CompanyProfile.pdf is ATC's view on active versus passive speaker designs.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Request to all for this thread:

Please post, for a manufacturer that you know (but without repeating):

- name, and a note if they do pro only, domestic only or both

- link to web site

- a pic or two of a typical active speaker

- a comment e.g. on stand-out features (e.g. vol control, digital inputs, price range etc), company credentials etc

For example:

ATC, both domestic and pro models, no vol control, xlr inputs

www.atcloudspeakers.co.uk

Price range for actives: 3,000 gbp to 48,000 gbp http://atcforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=672

 

[fr0g]

Pro audio

RCF

http://www.rcf.it/homepage

RCF Ayra 6 studio monitor... Typically £330 a pair. They sound good and imo look pretty nice for a studio model. You'd be hard pushed to get similar performance from any (new) amp/speaker package.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

However , I hope this doesn't happen because I am interested to learn more about active speakers and think that in about 3 or 4 years I might be ready to seriously consider buying some . So by that time there should be some second hand AVI ADM40s or reasonably priced ATC speakers available and other companies might have jumped on the bandwagon giving more to chose from .

Plenty of choice now, if you consider the pro audio market. There are even some aesthetically acceptable pro monitors.

Please post links, pics, comments/observations as above.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

An excellent idea for a thread - no really!

There's no real merit in discussing active vs passive, which is a waste of everyone's time, but discussion of 'pro-audio' speakers in a domestic environment is helpful, because there is fairly recent interest in this application. Also, there are some technical aspects, such as cabling and volume control, which aren't covered particularly well elsewhere.

In addition, there is currently a niche market for domestic active speakers, such as AVI, Dynaudio Xeo and AudioPro, which is just starting to expand.

(I would add Audio Pro to the list of manufacturers) - sorry you already have

Agree, vol control is one of the aspects to look into with actives. There are several cases:

- if the speaker has no level adjustment whatsoever you need a pre-amp amp with vol control separately or within the source

- if the speaker has level/sensitivity adjustment there is a chance that it will work fine if your source has a vol control (e.g. itunes on a computer or Squeezebox touch) but you still ideally need a preamp with vol control

- if a speaker has proper full-range volume control all you need is a source

- if a speaker has a pre-amp with multiple inputs and vol control (only one or two models like ths exist e.g. adm 40, 9T - any others?) all you need is a source - and there can be many of these

there is a wiki article and a page on slimdevices wiki about connecting sources directly to power amps.

Another aspec of using actives is power on/off. most actives have just a power switch, i.e. no remote power on/off. A simple way to add remote power on/off is by adding a IR or radio controlled powr socket like savasocket or energenie.

What issues are around cables?

 

[AlmaataKZ]

That info can be found elsewhere on the forum - I think as far as everyone is concerpassim hey want this thread to run as though passives dont exist. Everyone wants to keep the passive/active thing out of this thread otherwise it'll degenerate and get locked.

Yes, let's try to avoid that and instead build and maintain this thread as a resource for those exploring active speakers. Nothing wrong with comparing with passives or whatever other technology but keep it useful, informative and free from arguments.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

PMC, pro and domestic models (if a bit rough looking)

http://www.pmc-speakers.com/

the bigger active models use external crossovers and amps so quite bulcky.

Do not have price ranges but not cheap - prices similar to ATC .

I have heard the model in the pic as part of a 5.1 AV demo and it sounded superb - very clear, dynmaic and clean bass.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

AVI - domestic only

http://www.avihifi.co.uk/

Standout features - multiple inputs including plenty of digital, remote control pre-amp built in.

I have heard teh 9ts in comparison with Adam Artist 3 and Dynaudio 100a - see my ssystem thread for observations.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Adam Audio - both pro and domestic

http://www.adam-audio.com/en/multimedia/products

Some models have volume control.

I have heard Artist 3 - excellent sound, very compact speaker.

Prices are from about 500gbp (for Artist 3) to stratospheric (the big Actives in the Tensor range).

 

[shooter]

Wireless LAN active from Teufel:

Multi-room streaming with controls courtesy of the Raumfeld Controller or the free Raumfeld App (Apple or Android)
Two 170 mm woofers, a 130 mm midrange driver and 28 mm tweeter in each speaker for astounding sound
Integrated, efficient amplifier with 170 watts of performance capacity
Recommended for rooms up to 40 m²

RRP £1120

 

[shooter]

Ella Active from Klangwork:

Two way active with balances input.

Level setting and roll offf setting form easy positioning.

6 Moons reveiw: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/klangwerk/ella.html

RRP 6k

 

[shooter]

Nice floorstanders coming!