When should actives be recommended?

[edplaysdrums42]

Ahh. My mistake, i should added that lovely things like ATC actives would be well out of my budget, on top of that your going to need a top notch pre to do them justice.

If my circumstances were very different then i would consider that set up!!

 

[Andrew Everard]

that seeming rarity in HiFi these days; "the closest approach to the original sound".

Umm, that's Quad's slogan, isn't it? You know, the company that makes big ol' multibox systems, valve amplifiers...

 

[hoopsontoast]

that seeming rarity in HiFi these days; "the closest approach to the original sound".

Umm, that's Quad's slogan, isn't it? You know, the company that makes big ol' multibox systems, valve amplifiers...

Shhhhhh, that 50 year old legacy technology cant possibly sound any good...... :rofl:

 

[BigH]

that seeming rarity in HiFi these days; "the closest approach to the original sound".

Umm, that's Quad's slogan, isn't it? You know, the company that makes big ol' multibox systems, valve amplifiers...

Maybe but why do most studios use actives to monitor the sound recording?

 

[hoopsontoast]

that seeming rarity in HiFi these days; "the closest approach to the original sound".

Umm, that's Quad's slogan, isn't it? You know, the company that makes big ol' multibox systems, valve amplifiers...

Maybe but why do most studios use actives to monitor the sound recording?

This is a guess, but There probably is not room on top of the console for a power amplifier, the active monitos can plug straight into the mixer.

 

[JMacMan]

that seeming rarity in HiFi these days; "the closest approach to the original sound".

Umm, that's Quad's slogan, isn't it? You know, the company that makes big ol' multibox systems, valve amplifiers...

I believe that Peter Walker of Quad coined the phrase, yes, back in the day when science and reason, and not subjectivism in audio design held sway.

He was a bit of a modern day heretic really, in that he flatly stated that there was no technical reason why there should be any difference in sound between solid state and valves, and went on to setup controlled ABX listening tests to prove it. Quad solid state amps have always been held in very high regard from the early 33/303 to the later 606 series.

Then there were the equally famous tests of the AB's between an HiFi and live music - I wonder how many of the current PRaT playing, subjectively judged wonders, would hold up in such a test today against live acoustic instruments?

He was arguably the champion of what could be seen as the Golden era of UK HiFi, where transparency and accuracy to the source was always both the design and end user goal, quite unlike today, where it seems that any old sound that subjectively pleases one is good enough.

Of course, todays audiophiles then have endless arguments about how what pleases me, is somehow better than what pleases you, and round and round it goes.....

JMac

 

[relocated]

that seeming rarity in HiFi these days; "the closest approach to the original sound".

Umm, that's Quad's slogan, isn't it? You know, the company that makes big ol' multibox systems, valve amplifiers...

I didn't realise Quad still did valve amps. When did they restart with valves, I thought their valve amps were discontinued decades ago?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Maybe but why do most studios use actives to monitor the sound recording?

 

[richardw42]

BigH did say most, not all.

And the pic shows there can be room, if you want there to be. Which kind of reinforces what BigH said.

Thats MY logic.

 

[Andrew Everard]

I didn't realise Quad still did valve amps. When did they restart with valves, I thought their valve amps were discontinued decades ago?

Clickety

And indeed clickety

 

[CnoEvil]

Choose an active speaker with class A amplification such as ATC.

I believe they are AB.

 

[Andrew Everard]

BigH did say most, not all.

Tony Faulkner at work – note ESL-989s used for monitoring, as he does on location.

/sites/whathifi.com/files/images/yamaha/Tony_Faulkner.jpg

 

[WinterRacer]

BigH did say most, not all.

Tony Faulkner at work – note ESL-989s used for monitoring, as he does on location.

/sites/whathifi.com/files/images/yamaha/Tony_Faulkner.jpg

How many have you found that use active speakers?

 

[Andrew Everard]

How many have you found that use active speakers?

Not many, but then must admit haven't really been looking, because:

a) just commenting from personal experience,
b) can't really be bothered

 

[hoopsontoast]

BigH did say most, not all.

Tony Faulkner at work – note ESL-989s used for monitoring, as he does on location.

/sites/whathifi.com/files/images/yamaha/Tony_Faulkner.jpg

How many have you found that use active speakers?

A lot of studios use Yamaha NS10's, does not mean they measure particulalrly well, or sound good in a domestic setting......

 

[WinterRacer]

How many have you found that use active speakers?

Not many, but then must admit haven't really been looking, because:

a) just commenting from personal experience,
b) can't really be bothered

So in your personal experience, do most studios use passive speakers as their main monitors?

 

[Andrew Everard]

So in your personal experience, do most studios use passive speakers as their main monitors?

Not a clue: just pointing out that what is probably the country's best classical recording facility (and definitely the best-known), and one of the country's most acclaimed recorders of classical music, don't conform to the generalisation.

Just thought it may be of interest to readers of the thread – not actually trying to make any point at all, as life is really too short...

 

[nopiano]

A lot of studios use Yamaha NS10's, does not mean they measure particulalrly well, or sound good in a domestic setting......

Well said, hoops. That is surely the point here. Actives have studio lineage so rarely feature domestically. Passives are more domesticated, and may have their roots in matching items, for folk who buy an item at a time, or make their own (as in the early days of hifi, c. 1960s). Studio speakers are just not ideal at home and vice versa.

There are very few real hi-end actives, so unless all the amp and speaker makers are conspiring, it simply is how it is. Having heard Linn actives in a Klimax DS system, I'd still choose something like Audio Research and Sonus faber if my premium bond came up.

 

[BenLaw]

Choose an active speaker with class A amplification such as ATC.

I believe they are AB.

They're class A up to 2/3 power, so class A in any domestic setting and most settings at all. Touch the heatsinks and this will be clear.

Fwiw ATC are against class D.

 

[John Duncan]

How many have you found that use active speakers?

Not many, but then must admit haven't really been looking, because:

a) just commenting from personal experience,
b) can't really be bothered

So in your personal experience, do most studios use passive speakers as their main monitors?

Most studios I've recorded in used passives. None of them were Abbey Road.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Most studios I've recorded in used passives. None of them were Abbey Road.

I'm reminded of the old 'How do I get to Carnegie Hall?' joke...

 

[hoopsontoast]

A lot of studios use Yamaha NS10's, does not mean they measure particulalrly well, or sound good in a domestic setting......

Well said, hoops. That is surely the point here. Actives have studio lineage so rarely feature domestically. Passives are more domesticated, and may have their roots in matching items, for folk who buy an item at a time, or make their own (as in the early days of hifi, c. 1960s). Studio speakers are just not ideal at home and vice versa.

There are very few real hi-end actives, so unless all the amp and speaker makers are conspiring, it simply is how it is. Having heard Linn actives in a Klimax DS system, I'd still choose something like Audio Research and Sonus faber if my premium bond came up.

Most if not all Studio's use mixing desks and consoles with the monitors on top. These have many many 'inputs' and equalisation settings. I dont see any of these people using them in their hifi setups to recreate that 'studio' sound 😉

As I have mentioned twice now, they are not the same markets, there are a couple of crossover products. Whats good for a studio is not always good for the home enviroment and the other way round.

 

[WinterRacer]

How many have you found that use active speakers?

Not many, but then must admit haven't really been looking, because:

a) just commenting from personal experience,
b) can't really be bothered

So in your personal experience, do most studios use passive speakers as their main monitors?

Most studios I've recorded in used passives. None of them were Abbey Road.

Surely recording in Abbey Road is only a matter of time. 🙂

 

[relocated]

Ajani said,

I think that like many other persons, you're really a fan of AVI products and not active speakers in general. I don't doubt that AVI makes great products, as they have many satisfied consumers. However, that doesn't mean that in general actives are better than passives. Yes AVI makes a lot of claims as if the problem with HiFi is the lack of active speakers, but that really is not the case. AVI products sounding good to you is not the same as active speakers sound good.

You can't just swap out KRK, Mackie, Focal, Dynaudio, Genelec, Event, M-Audio and Adam and expect them to sound the same or even similar. All of those brands have received critical and consumer acclaim for their pro-monitors, yet if you check out a pro audio forum you will see the same hifi style bickering about which one sounds great and which sounds rolled off, bright, muddy etc.

Even if all HiFi manufacturers went active, there would still be arguing on these forums about what products to buy. Persons would still want to upgrade from their Rega or Nad actives to Naim or B&W actives. People would still argue about Whether a soft dome active is better than one with a metallic tweeter.

IMO, you just need to listen to what you can and find the product that best suits your needs.

Ajani, firstly can I say that it is an absolute pleasure to debate with someone who wants to do just that. Not just snipe away and actually not contribute to the conversational at all.

I am indeed a fan of AVI because of the quality of the sound, VFM and primarily because it has cured me of tweaking and wondering/hoping/praying that nirvana is just one change of component/cable/etc/etc away. FOR ME AVI ADM 9T and now AVI ADM 40 are my audio nirvana.

As to AVI against other actives, I think I remarked earlier that, based on my experience of active AVI ownership, 40 years of passive ownership and auditioning, as well as believing the statements of manufacturers that do both and scientists that tell us that active is a superior technology; then actives in general are preferable to passives in absolute sound quality terms. Like others I am absolutely sure there are absolute dogs out there in active-land and I do not think for one moment that all actives sound the same. For a start off some have multi-position bass adjustment so they can't even sound the same within the same product.

As you say, if every manufaturer went wholly active there would be the same endless arguments about what is best. But IF this were done in a constructive way, WHICH EVEN HAPPENS HERE SOMETIMES, then for me that is a positive thing. I only came to AVI because of the exposure on this forum and knew they must be pretty good because people were being so pathetic in their unreasoned berating of people who were sharing their experience. Once again these berated people coming from plenty of experience of passive and loving a passive speaker until they heard an AVI ADM 9T.

Your concluding sentence is spot on and I entirely concur. You should indeed buy what you like, or should that be - you buy what you like and hope that you still like it at home in your listening space and in the long term?

In conclusion, I will repeat what I often have to say here. I recommend/endorse AVI because I am an owner and for me they have been a revelatory listen. I frequently state that other active speakers are available and I believe that whatever does it for someone then if they are as happy as I am then I am as happy for them as they are for themselves.

Relocated

 

[John Duncan]

Most studios I've recorded in used passives. None of them were Abbey Road.

I'm reminded of the old 'How do I get to Carnegie Hall?' joke...

"You go up to the zebra crossing..."