| barefoot wrote on Sat, 04 February 2006 18:30 |
| jazzius wrote on Sat, 04 February 2006 12:38 |
Definately go the passive + amp route......more upgrade options, better sound (in theory)
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I'm not sure how you arrive at that statement? I guess it depends on what you define as better sound. With respect to professional monitoring I consider things like lower distortion, faster impulse response, flatter group delay, and lower dynamic compression to be better; amongst other things. And all things being equal, active speakers win hands down over passive speakers on these counts, in theory. But of course, the end results always depend on the quality of any particular design and implementation.
Thomas
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I disagree. In practice (not in theory) most active speakers are a bit underpowered or exhibit some form of dynamic compression compared with what you can construct passively. All things are NEVER equal because of size and weight considerations.
For example, one of the most highly-regarded active loudspeakers is the Meyer HD-1. It's a terrific speaker, plays loudly and cleanly, but it doesn't compare to the passive prototype that Meyer originally designed with those drivers and cabinet. Meyer has put a limiter circuit in the HD-1 to protect something (the drivers? the amplifier?) which goes into action without any indicator light. I did a mix on a pair of HD-1's and then took the mix to my mastering studio, only to discover that the ONLY thing that needed to be done to the mix was a tetch of compression as the recording was a bit over dynamic. But the HD-1's did not reveal that.
Size and weight considerations? Try putting my Pass X250, which weighs 75 pounds by itself, into a speaker cabinet
Another example, you can power up a Dynaudio BM15 with much better amplification than what's in the BM15A and they have much more headroom. I don't understand why you would say that group delay or any other factor cannot be equal on the "passive" side. If the physical and electrical filters are the same, all that remains is a question of amplifier power and quality.
Next, if you check out Lipinski's philosophy, he refuses to build active speakers because of the sonic effects of the microphonics from the vibration. How audible that is would be probably on the same level as the dithering test, but I suspect microphonic effects on components may be audible to some degree. A bit more "fuzz" in the sound?
Nevertheless, I do agree that there are some very well-constructed active loudspeakers. The Meyer HD-1 is no slouch, nor is the Dynaudio BM15A, or the Air 25, or some models of ATC whose numbers escape me. But I guarantee that the passive equivalent of the same loudspeaker will sound much better when you eliminate the compromises.
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Topic: New monitors, budget limited to $6.500 + VAT (Read 23855 times)