...some active speakers. :shhh:
In my lunch break I decided it was time to hear why so many people seem to be promoting the benefits of active speakers so I went to listen to some for the first time in a long time.
I listened to the following:
Yamaha HS50
Yamaha HS80
KRK Rokit 5
KRK Rokit 8
It was a very mixed experience. I felt that the Rokit 5s were the weakest proposition. The top end sounds artificially dull and the mid-range isn't as open as I would have expected, with what I felt to be significant smearing of the sound in the lower mid-range/upper bass. To these ears the Rokit 5s didn't really make a great case for actives.
The Rokit 8s were significantly better. Much more open and detailed and the bass sounded more natural. I could actually listen to these for quite a long time but they still fell short of being special.
Then came the Yamahas. The HS50s are fantastic. Open, detailed, informative and very clear with a seemingly flat frequency response that really allows the music to shine through. The HS80s shared similar characteristics although I didn't feel the balance was quite as good as the smaller model overall.
In conclusion, I'm impressed with what some actives can do and I think the Yamaha HS50s are incredible value for money. They would make for a superb, simple and musically informative set-up with a decent DAC and I can fully understand why people would use them for general listening. Certainly makes me want to hear more - the Event 2020BAS V3 and the Adam A5x would be very interesting to hear for the comparison.
In my lunch break I decided it was time to hear why so many people seem to be promoting the benefits of active speakers so I went to listen to some for the first time in a long time.
I listened to the following:
Yamaha HS50
Yamaha HS80
KRK Rokit 5
KRK Rokit 8
It was a very mixed experience. I felt that the Rokit 5s were the weakest proposition. The top end sounds artificially dull and the mid-range isn't as open as I would have expected, with what I felt to be significant smearing of the sound in the lower mid-range/upper bass. To these ears the Rokit 5s didn't really make a great case for actives.
The Rokit 8s were significantly better. Much more open and detailed and the bass sounded more natural. I could actually listen to these for quite a long time but they still fell short of being special.
Then came the Yamahas. The HS50s are fantastic. Open, detailed, informative and very clear with a seemingly flat frequency response that really allows the music to shine through. The HS80s shared similar characteristics although I didn't feel the balance was quite as good as the smaller model overall.
In conclusion, I'm impressed with what some actives can do and I think the Yamaha HS50s are incredible value for money. They would make for a superb, simple and musically informative set-up with a decent DAC and I can fully understand why people would use them for general listening. Certainly makes me want to hear more - the Event 2020BAS V3 and the Adam A5x would be very interesting to hear for the comparison.