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Intriguing inquiry, are floor-stand speakers always better than active speakers?

Preston8452

Preston8452

New Member
Hi guys,

Just a general wondering though, nowadays I've seen a lot of new active speakers, and truth to be told, I find them quite professional indeed, when I go into an audio shop and ask some advice, some might even encourage to purchase the bookshelf speakers, as they're more cost-effective and space-saving hahah.

All that asides, regarding the sound quality matter, it ain't bad at all, but I'm not sure if it's my living room just not that big or some technical matters, the sound experience is actually vivid, but yeah I also think when you put the extra circuit inside the speaker for amplifying use, it'd certainly affect the original performance more or less. Especially under this digital streaming era, every part seems to be specifically separated, so it can perform to its fullest, and lessen the interference between each device.

Anyways, let me know what you think, I'd be grateful, or maybe share you existing setup with us!

Best,
 
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there are active floor stand models so not sure why you're comparing one against the other, in this case I don't think there's an appreciable difference between the floor stander and the active speaker:D

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Grenadeslio said:
there are active floor stand models so not sure why you're comparing one against the other

View attachment 2506964

View attachment 2506961
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Oh geez, I didn't know about these hotties man, they sure look so damn fine, I mean, I now only use a Silent Angel Rhein Z1 as a Roon Core, and Munich M1T as a Roon Ready streamer, then to PS Audio DAC, then to KEF active speakers, that being said, my whole streaming system is based on Roon I suppose, never really pay attention to speakers that much, but the pics you posted are very cool, I'll certainly do some more researches in that area, thanks pal!
 
Preston8452 said:
Oh geez, I didn't know about these hotties man, they sure look so damn fine, I mean, I now only use a Silent Angel Rhein Z1 as a Roon Core, and Munich M1T as a Roon Ready streamer, then to PS Audio DAC, then to KEF active speakers, that being said, my whole streaming system is based on Roon I suppose, never really pay attention to speakers that much, but the pics you posted are very cool, I'll certainly do some more researches in that area, thanks pal!
Click to expand...

Montana Loudspeaker
 
Okay.

So let's do a theoretical experiment:

KEF LS50 wired vs wireless. I've only heard the wires version. But, from what I've read people preferred the wireless version as the amplifiers inside these versions were designed for them and matched for them. Versus, the wired version which is subjected to what amplifiers you have to pair with them. But, again what amplifier was used with the wired version.

There is a simplicity in not having to search for a "better" amp to match with the wired version.
 
mythless said:
Okay.

So let's do a theoretical experiment:

KEF LS50 wired vs wireless. I've only heard the wires version. But, from what I've read people preferred the wireless version as the amplifiers inside these versions were designed for them and matched for them. Versus, the wired version which is subjected to what amplifiers you have to pair with them. But, again what amplifier was used with the wired version.

There is a simplicity in not having to search for a "better" amp to match with the wired version.
Click to expand...

wireless is a misnomer as they still need to be plugged into a 120V receptacle
 
mythless said:
Okay.

So let's do a theoretical experiment:

KEF LS50 wired vs wireless. I've only heard the wires version. But, from what I've read people preferred the wireless version as the amplifiers inside these versions were designed for them and matched for them. Versus, the wired version which is subjected to what amplifiers you have to pair with them. But, again what amplifier was used with the wired version.

There is a simplicity in not having to search for a "better" amp to match with the wired version.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I mean, theoretically, wired should preform better than wireless I guess, given the stability and all that, but indeed sometimes the sound quality itself doesn't reflect the same way.
 
Preston8452 said:
Yeah, I mean, theoretically, wired should preform better than wireless I guess, given the stability and all that, but indeed sometimes the sound quality itself doesn't reflect the same way.
Click to expand...

some think all amps sound the same or should, if you think so then active is most likely a great option
 
Preston8452 said:
Hi guys,

Just a general wondering though, nowadays I've seen a lot of new active speakers, and truth to be told, I find them quite professional indeed, when I go into an audio shop and ask some advice, some might even encourage to purchase the bookshelf speakers, as they're more cost-effective and space-saving hahah.

All that asides, regarding the sound quality matter, it ain't bad at all, but I'm not sure if it's my living room just not that big or some technical matters, the sound experience is actually vivid, but yeah I also think when you put the extra circuit inside the speaker for amplifying use, it'd certainly affect the original performance more or less. Especially under this digital streaming era, every part seems to be specifically separated, so it can perform to its fullest, and lessen the interference between each device.

Anyways, let me know what you think, I'd be grateful, or maybe share you existing setup with us!

Best,
Click to expand...

At what budget level? Active speakers have the advantage of being able to design the amp for the specifics of the driver/cabinet since the designer controls every element. They often include DSP in the active speaker amp to compensate for any deficiencies (e.g. small woofer) or unique characteristics (bumps or dips across the frequency spectrum) of that driver/cabinet. Those "tricks" can be effective -- and they aren't even "tricks" in the negative sense because they specifically compensate for known (measured) issues with the speaker they are forever paired with. At the low end, an active speaker can perform very well and might be a better sound/value than a separate amp/receiver and speakers.

As you move upmarket in price, separate amp and speakers are typically a lot more flexible and logistically easier to deal with. Active speakers are fairly rare at the higher end. I'd expect those that do exist to perform very well for the reasons mentioned -- though the amplifier "tricks" should be less necessary and may be even harmful in larger/better speakers that can be made to perform well with a typical neutral amplifier. And with active you are limited in what you have for a "preamp" and have no option to upgrade the amp or speakers later.
 
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Another detail sometimes overlooked is the crossover. Active biamped speakers have active crossovers at line level, which are way more precise than a passive crossover at the speaker side. You'll see a woofer or tweeter inside a bi-amplified active speaker is connected directly to the amplifier without any passive crossover.

I fix powered speakers all the time, and usually the more expensive studio monitors sound very very good indeed... I'd say it's hard to beat them... Not a tiny budget speaker, but a high quality 2 ways monitor is defintely a very good speaker. On the other hand, I think they won't last 40, 50 or 60 years as many solid state amps and passive speakers still working today.

NO AFFILIATION, but this is a €100K powered speaker: https://www.bang-olufsen.com/es/es/altavoces/beolab-90
 
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