Which Acive speakers @ £4.5k?

[TB303]

Hello People,

My budget is around £4.5k, source is a Chord Hugo.my 'passive alternative' is a (used) Classe Cap 2100 + B&W CM10s.

I listen to mostly electronic music but also rock jazz and pop.

I'm intruiged to find out (and hopefully hear too) what active speakers can offer me?

Thanks!

 

[matt49]

The best place to get a response is probably here: The Active Speakers Club thread

I haven't heard them, but I reckon the PMC twotwo series might be just right for you.

Happy hunting!

Matt

 

[skippy]

Focal SM9 are pretty much bang on budget WHF did a review a while back.

Similarly unconventional (centre speaker style) are the Adam S3x-H loads of power.

Genelec 8260 I think are over your budget, but the lower 8250's are well in. I have their 8050's and couldn't be happier, I've just plugged my Sonos connect in and apart from turning em on, that's it.

Listened to the lower ranges in Adam and Focal and they were impressive for the money.

The main difficulty I had was to find someone who stocked what I was looking for.

Hopefully you'll fair better as side by side comparison helps for a more accurate choice

Good look you jammy get

 

[Vladimir]

Meridian DSP 3200 + AC 200

Dynaudio Xeo5

Event Opal

AVI ADM9T

ADAM Column MK3

Listed in no particular order. Best to go and listen on your own.

 

[Rimse]

genelec,Klein + Hummel

 

[Vladimir]

Klein + Hummel

A 40 year old K+H model is still used by ECM's boss Manfred Eicher in his office to review music sent to him.

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/5782/8fh2.png

 

[davedotco]

Hello People,

My budget is around £4.5k, source is a Chord Hugo.my 'passive alternative' is a (used) Classe Cap 2100 + B&W CM10s.

I listen to mostly electronic music but also rock jazz and pop.

I'm intruiged to find out (and hopefully hear too) what active speakers can offer me?

Thanks!

Hi TB.

Generally speaking I am a big fan of active speakers, but mostly at the affordable end of the price scale. I think the lack of a 'hi-fi' presentation is a big thing and the value for money is immense. Get to about £2-2.5k and I start to run out of ideas.

There are few fully active hi-fi speakers above this price point and getting to hear them is not easy, trying to compare, say a Beolab to an ATC is pretty difficult. There are some examples, but mostly well off the beaten track.

Studio monitors above this level have issues too, you tend to pay a lot for robustness, output level, bandwidth and funtionality you are not going to need. For example, the PMC 22 series mentioned above have digital inputs on AES/EBU connectors, not exactly hi-fi friendly and similarly the Genelec 8250A has onboard digital processing that makes the Hugo rather pointless.

Above £2.5k the active options tend to dry-up, not a lot really stands up for home use so personally I would be swinging back to more conventional systems at the price level under discussion.

 

[TB303]

Hello People,

My budget is around £4.5k, source is a Chord Hugo.my 'passive alternative' is a (used) Classe Cap 2100 + B&W CM10s.

I listen to mostly electronic music but also rock jazz and pop.

I'm intruiged to find out (and hopefully hear too) what active speakers can offer me?

Thanks!

Hi TB.

Generally speaking I am a big fan of active speakers, but mostly at the affordable end of the price scale. I think the lack of a 'hi-fi' presentation is a big thing and the value for money is immense. Get to about £2-2.5k and I start to run out of ideas.

There are few fully active hi-fi speakers above this price point and getting to hear them is not easy, trying to compare, say a Beolab to an ATC is pretty difficult. There are some examples, but mostly well off the beaten track.

Studio monitors above this level have issues too, you tend to pay a lot for robustness, output level, bandwidth and funtionality you are not going to need. For example, the PMC 22 series mentioned above have digital inputs on AES/EBU connectors, not exactly hi-fi friendly and similarly the Genelec 8250A has onboard digital processing that makes the Hugo rather pointless.

Above £2.5k the active options tend to dry-up, not a lot really stands up for home use so personally I would be swinging back to more conventional systems at the price level under discussion.

Thanks Mate,

That's my impression too, I'll try to listen to some active speakers but it looks like at that price level; it'll be hard to beat 'proper HiFi'.

Also most of those studio monitors are nearfield speakers so not as good filling a room with sound or listening from 4m away...

They also look like crap

Still,

I'll try to audition some.

Thanks!

 

[davedotco]

Hello People,

My budget is around £4.5k, source is a Chord Hugo.my 'passive alternative' is a (used) Classe Cap 2100 + B&W CM10s.

I listen to mostly electronic music but also rock jazz and pop.

I'm intruiged to find out (and hopefully hear too) what active speakers can offer me?

Thanks!

Hi TB.

Generally speaking I am a big fan of active speakers, but mostly at the affordable end of the price scale. I think the lack of a 'hi-fi' presentation is a big thing and the value for money is immense. Get to about £2-2.5k and I start to run out of ideas.

There are few fully active hi-fi speakers above this price point and getting to hear them is not easy, trying to compare, say a Beolab to an ATC is pretty difficult. There are some examples, but mostly well off the beaten track.

Studio monitors above this level have issues too, you tend to pay a lot for robustness, output level, bandwidth and funtionality you are not going to need. For example, the PMC 22 series mentioned above have digital inputs on AES/EBU connectors, not exactly hi-fi friendly and similarly the Genelec 8250A has onboard digital processing that makes the Hugo rather pointless.

Above £2.5k the active options tend to dry-up, not a lot really stands up for home use so personally I would be swinging back to more conventional systems at the price level under discussion.

Thanks Mate,

That's my impression too, I'll try to listen to some active speakers but it looks like at that price level; it'll be hard to beat 'proper HiFi'.

Also most of those studio monitors are nearfield speakers so not as good filling a room with sound or listening from 4m away...

They also look like crap

Still,

I'll try to audition some.

Thanks!

These days the term 'Nearfield Monitor' is really just a name. Ie they are not really powerful enough to be used as full sized recording monitors and will be used up close as a matter of course. They are not balanced any different to normal speakers and few, if any, control directivity enough to make a difference.

The big thing here is whether you like the way studio speakers are voiced, or more to the point not voiced. They, the better ones anyway, give a direct, clear and 'uncluttered' view of the music that some listeners find difficult. In addition the bass is usually both tighter and punchier than any comparable hi-fi speaker something that I find hugely preferable, though others miss the 'warmth' of hi-fi style presentation.

It kind of depends on how you like the music, I find several of the current crop of studio speakers in the £2k-ish range to be very much to my taste, I would take, for example, a pair af Adam S2x or Genelec 8240A over any comparably priced hi-fi alternative, and many at rather higher cost.

In a recent conversation about Elac speakers, I was reminded of the Rock Monitor by Unity Audio. Elac drive units in a custom enclosure with amplification by Tim De Paravicini's Esoteric Audio Research. The original version was delightful, the new Mk 2 reputably even better.

 

[steve_1979]

Event Opal

AVI ADM9T

ADAM Column MK3

+1

Genelec and Quested speakers are worth an audition too.

 

[Overdose]

Thanks Mate,

That's my impression too, I'll try to listen to some active speakers but it looks like at that price level; it'll be hard to beat 'proper HiFi'.

Also most of those studio monitors are nearfield speakers so not as good filling a room with sound or listening from 4m away...

They also look like crap

Still,

I'll try to audition some.

Thanks!

Do try to get a listen. You will be quite suprised at what you hear.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

If you are considering second hand ATC 50 are within reach.

 

[daytona600]

sanders sound systems model 11 under £4.5k without power amps

stunning with electronic/rock subsonics & dynamics like nothing else & they can handle several Kilowatts of power and a built-in Dac inside the crossover with DSP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2xbkBwsxyM