When should actives be recommended?

[edplaysdrums42]

It is interesting that many people advocate AVI active products as a 'cure' or solution to 'box swapping'.

Not so sure about that.

BigH mentioned - on another thread - about some ADM9.1s that sold on ebay for £600 last week.

I looked them up. I couldn't help noticing that the same seller has also recently sold his original (2007) ADM9s for £435.

He said in the selling notes...

"They have been in storage since October 2009 when I got a pair of ADM9.1's."

He also sold an AVI amplifier for £435 yesterday. He said of that...

"...I'm switching over to a digital music streamer and I need to reduce my box count. I doubt whether I will ever be able to match the quality of this amp again." (Surely, the subsequent two pairs of ADM9s must have been better?)

Presumably, upgrading from the ADM9s then to the ADM9.1s and now upgrading to whatever he has just bought (or is just about to buy) is not 'box swapping'.

The ADM9s cost about £1000 at the time. The ADM9.1s cost about £1100. So he has lost at least £1000 plus ebay/Paypal fees in total.

Interesting that he seemed to have used a 'traditional' AVI amp for eleven years from 1996 until 2007 before the pace of 'box swapping' accelerated with two sets of ADM9s in two years.

Why on earth would you devote this amount of time to delving into someone elses life??? Unless this specific person proclaimed that AVI ADM 9 series were the end of box swapping then your post is somewhat pointless.

AVI stopped producing seperates because of the performance gain in the ADM 9 [yes I'm sure there were some other considerations]. If they had been less than honest about the situation they could have continued making the seperates, given the regard those products were held in.

Anyway congratulations Chebby, you have managed to steer this discussion, about when to recommend ACTIVES [not AVI actives], into an anti-AVI thing. What exactly is your problem??? Don't bother answering I can't imagine being interested in your reply.

:?

Oh for goodness sake lighten up will you! i think you are a bit over protective of AVI. Chebby may have too much time on his hands but i dont think delving into someones life is really going on.

Relax........its Saturday

 

[chebby]

Why on earth would you devote this amount of time to delving into someone elses life???

What? Three minutes on ebay whilst having a coffee?

Put 'ebay uk' in a google search. Type 'adm9' on ebay search. Click on 'completed listings'. There they are. Top two listed items. It would be difficult to miss that they were from the same vendor.

You make it sound like I hired a private detective or stalked the guy!

Get some perspective.

Also worth noting that I am not saying anything against the products or active speaker technology in general. Just commenting that - evidently - buying ADM9s doesn't always cure the urge to regularly upgrade or 'box swap' (a claim that is frequently made by it's customers). If the boxes in question happen to be new versions of the same boxes, it's the same thing*.

*What would you say about someone who buys every variant of the Naim Nait 5 amplifier whenever a new one is launched? (For example)

 

[Dave_]

Actives are also less suitable in a 5.1 or 7.1 setup unless you have a bery large budget

I disagree.

There are plenty of inexpensive actives on the market you could use for a m/c setup.

I recently bought a pair of Studiospares branded/badged Seiwin 5A monitors for an office system which set me back £140 the pair

5 of them matched with something like an Yammy RX-V667 (that can be picked up for a couple of hundred on the likes of ebay) and one of the smaller subs from BK like the Gemini you'd have modest, decent sounding setup for around £700 - 800

 

[Native_bon]

Also, it's impossible to predict if the OP is going to be one of those people who don't like the "active sound", i.e. who likes a bit of "boom and tizz".

Additionally, many people don't even realise there are such things as active speakers or why (all other things being equal) they are technically superior.

If OP likes his sound to be clinical, cold and disconnected from music then an AVI made active sound can be recommended

Hum cold..?.. If ur statement is true why are AvI actives the least hifi item sold on ebay.. For some reason when people buy them, hardly sell...

 

[nopiano]

But back to the main question: When should active speakers be recommended?

When you don't mind something terribly plain and box-like, with mains cables running to each speaker, perhaps?

I'm sure there are some attractive actives, but I don't recall any with the styling of say the B&W PM1 or Sonus faber Venere. If this is because some claim a studio/professional lineage then I guess that's a compromise you have to be prepared to make. IMO the AVIs make even an ugly box like the (glorious sounding) KEF LS50 look attractive!

 

[CnoEvil]

If ur statement is true why are AvI actives the least hifi item sold on ebay.. For some reason when people buy them, hardly sell...

....probably it's because Actives make up a tiny percentage of the hifi that's out there, being sold.

 

[Alec]

They can be recommended when th eOP can afford them. This may mean pointing out to them that they have items in their setup that would be superfluous with an active setup and could be sold to help them to meet the cost. This depends, of course, on which actives are being recommended - do they contain a DAC, for example?

So, they can be recommended when they are, or could be made to be, within budget.

 

[Novaportian]

I think actives should be recommended as an option, I for one like the idea of reducing the box count etc. The main issue is that there is still a limited choice of actives with wood veneers, or something folk would want in their living room.

I'm on a quest for some actives for my study, so the appearance is not really a concern. I've demo'd the ADM9 and I really liked some aspects of he sound, but I just wasn't sold overall. They would be at the limit of what I would want to spend, I'm hoping to demo some KEF X300a soon, along some other monitors from the pro side of things.

it would be great if more speaker manufacturers from the home audio end offered an affordable active option, one that would be finished liked thir passive speakers. Hopefully we can have much more choice in future so that people can do home demos to compare. Currently though, the bulk of choice for home audio is with passive speakers and I for one have heard some brilliant passive systems at an affordable price.

Cheers

Nick

 

[Native_bon]

If ur statement is true why are AvI actives the least hifi item sold on ebay.. For some reason when people buy them, hardly sell...

....probably it's because Actives make up a tiny percentage of the hifi that's out there, being sold.

Even if it was a very small percentage being bought, it still does not account for much Resale all things being equal..?

 

[John Duncan]

I have yet to hear any piece of kit that, by dint of its design philosophy alone, makes it instantly recommendable over other products which do not follow that same philosophy.

 

[BenLaw]

I have yet to hear any piece of kit that, by dint of its design philosophy alone, makes it instantly recommendable over other products which do not follow that same philosophy.

And therefore why should anyone say 'don't recommend an active speaker'?

 

[Phileas]

I have yet to hear any piece of kit that, by dint of its design philosophy alone, makes it instantly recommendable over other products which do not follow that same philosophy.

Is this relevant? :roll:

 

[Phileas]

read what the OP wants

As I said, the OP, if for example a newbie, may be unaware of the existence and benefits of active speakers.

It's a more intelligent approach to read between the lines and try to see what the OP is really looking for. Not everyone aspires to be a box-swapper.

 

[John Duncan]

I have yet to hear any piece of kit that, by dint of its design philosophy alone, makes it instantly recommendable over other products which do not follow that same philosophy.

Is this relevant? :roll:

If you think that one should recommend a particular type of product (eg actives, passives, analogue, digital, class A, class D, whatever) simply because they are that type of product, irrespective of someone's functional requirements, lifestyle or budget, or how well a particular product performs, no.

 

[BenLaw]

I have yet to hear any piece of kit that, by dint of its design philosophy alone, makes it instantly recommendable over other products which do not follow that same philosophy.

Is this relevant? :roll:

If you think that one should recommend a particular type of product (eg actives, passives, analogue, digital, class A, class D, whatever) simply because they are that type of product, irrespective of someone's functional requirements, lifestyle or budget, or how well a particular product performs, no.

As per my previous post, I think you're rather making the case *for* recommending an active speaker as a plausible alternative to other suggestions, save where something has been said specifically to exclude it as an option.

 

[Phileas]

I have yet to hear any piece of kit that, by dint of its design philosophy alone, makes it instantly recommendable over other products which do not follow that same philosophy.

Is this relevant? :roll:

If you think that one should recommend a particular type of product (eg actives, passives, analogue, digital, class A, class D, whatever) simply because they are that type of product, irrespective of someone's functional requirements, lifestyle or budget, or how well a particular product performs, no.

Ah, so you're agreeing with many of us that it's generally fine to recommend actives, just like any other speaker type? I.e. there's no particular reason not to recommend them?

 

[John Duncan]

You both seem quite surprised by this idea...:roll:

 

[atticus]

In answer to the original poster; actives should (or rather, could) be mentioned at any time. A good rule of thumb would be if the person posting thought that the original poster would benefit from having active speakers recommended to them.

 

[Alec]

I have yet to hear any piece of kit that, by dint of its design philosophy alone, makes it instantly recommendable over other products which do not follow that same philosophy.

I stand to be corrected, but because of the variables involved, this statement seems pretty meaningless to me.

 

[John Duncan]

I have yet to hear any piece of kit that, by dint of its design philosophy alone, makes it instantly recommendable over other products which do not follow that same philosophy.

I stand to be corrected, but because of the variables involved, this statement seems pretty meaningless to me.

Then I shall be happy to do so. I don't think anyone should recommend 'active' or 'passive' (for example). I think one should recommend 'suitable' and 'good', neither of which are exclusive to any camp.

 

[Craig M.]

In answer to the original poster; actives should (or rather, could) be mentioned at any time. A good rule of thumb would be if the person posting thought that the original poster would benefit from having active speakers recommended to them.

 

[Alec]

That's not a correction, just a restating of your position, but thnks anyway.

 

[Alec]

In answer to the original poster; actives should (or rather, could) be mentioned at any time. A good rule of thumb would be if the person posting thought that the original poster would benefit from having active speakers recommended to them.

CRAZY TALK!

 

[BenLaw]

You both seem quite surprised by this idea...:roll:

If your post was always designed to be in favour of the recommendation of actives (this thread topic) when there was a possibility they fulfil an OP's needs, then great. Any surprise is because of the recent spate of objection to any post recommending actives, as has been the case from PP, AL and jjbomber of late. Your recent very silly isolated quote re the PMC YouTube video showed that you may be similarly biased, but glad to see that's not the case

 

[hoopsontoast]

I have yet to hear any piece of kit that, by dint of its design philosophy alone, makes it instantly recommendable over other products which do not follow that same philosophy.

I agree, I have no idea why people bring an 'us vs them' battle into it.

It just seems to be some people who have been mis-guided by some marketing guff that one approach is always better than the other. Its not, its just another way of approaching the problem. Every speaker is a compromise, pick the one that does the least wrong in your room, whatever brand, type or style.

In reply to the OP, Active speakers should be recommended whenever they are suitable for the person who is asking, and they can demo them to see if they like them before commiting.