Active monitors as hifi speakers

[dionisp]

Not to derail this thread but a hopefully related note, how do people control active monitors in a home environment?

I just pulled the trigger on some Neumann KH310s and now trying to figure out a decent way to tie everything together. I have owned 1 XLR preamp- the Emotiva XDA-1 but the thing was honestly garbage (other than the 6 pound billet remote).

Anyone have any recommendations? Trying to integrate a Minidsp + subwoofers eventually as well.

I have the same speakers paired with Minidsp SHD and a couple of subs. If you don't care about your Emotiva then this is a great solution for stereo setup.

 

[beefkabob]

My SHD Studio just went back to the factory for repairs or replacement. They're paying the shipping, so I can't complain too much. Things happen. The process with support was a bit slow, with lots of emails back and forth over different time zones and work hours, but they finally exhausted all possible user repairs and are now taking care of it.

 

[goldenears]

Do active monitors have any latency, and does this cause problems with Audyssey?

 

[beefkabob]

Monitors with DSP have latency, but it's a pretty tiny amount. The JBL 708P have a function to ADD delay so that your slow-ass TV can catch up.

 

[KozmoNaut]

Do active monitors have any latency, and does this cause problems with Audyssey?

Audyssey will handle it by setting the speaker to a larger physical distance than the actual distance, making sure everything syncs up.

It does the same thing if you use a wireless system for your subwoofer, due to the slight delay added.

 

[Jaysz]

My sub's here
The bass seems alot tighter than subs i have had before
One thing not sure of is these dacs are transparent so cant be ideal putting xlr into sub through it's amp and filters before sending it to monitors
Must degrade sound
Would it not be better using xlr splitter from dac to sub and monitors

 

[PresbyByrd]

Hey, I recently set up a small room with Adam X7 and Adam’s Sub10. I run those directly from an RME ADI-2 DAC. the whole setup is about $3600. It sounds better than my $14,000 system with passive speakers. Both rooms are appropriately treated. It‘s so good I am going to turn my other room into a home theatre and use the smaller room for exclusive two channel listening.

 

[Tom C]

Hey, I recently set up a small room with Adam X7 and Adam’s Sub10. I run those directly from an RME ADI-2 DAC. the whole setup is about $3600. It sounds better than my $14,000 system with passive speakers. Both rooms are appropriately treated. It‘s so good I am going to turn my other room into a home theatre and use the smaller room for exclusive two channel listening.

Have you worked out how you’re going to do the theater room?

 

[PresbyByrd]

Have you worked out how you’re going to do the theater room?

Not yet. I have some ideas, but I have to consult with the wifey. That will probably not take place till after the holidays.

 

[Sprint]

Hey, I recently set up a small room with Adam X7 and Adam’s Sub10. I run those directly from an RME ADI-2 DAC. the whole setup is about $3600. It sounds better than my $14,000 system with passive speakers. Both rooms are appropriately treated. It‘s so good I am going to turn my other room into a home theatre and use the smaller room for exclusive two channel listening.

Which speakers, amps and receivers you have in your passive set up?

 

[PresbyByrd]

Which speakers, amps and receivers you have in your passive set up?

Tyler Audio Monitors, Rel Stadium Subs (2), Cambridge Audio power and preamp (850 series), M2Tech Young Dac (not the newer one), Marantz cd, Mac Mini, monoprice wires.

 

[LTig]

Not to derail this thread but a hopefully related note, how do people control active monitors in a home environment?

I just pulled the trigger on some Neumann KH310s

You won't be disappointed.

and now trying to figure out a decent way to tie everything together. I have owned 1 XLR preamp- the Emotiva XDA-1 but the thing was honestly garbage (other than the 6 pound billet remote).

Anyone have any recommendations? Trying to integrate a Minidsp + subwoofers eventually as well.

Well - I have the predecessor here (K&H O300D) for 15 years now, and I fed them

• by a DIY preamp with unbalanced outputs,
• by a Marantz AV7701 (AV prepro) with balanced outputs
• by a Classé Sigma SSP (AV prepro) with balanced outputs
• by an RME ADI-2 DAC PRO fs with balanced outputs (just for a test - in a non blind test I could not hear any difference in SQ compared to the Classé)

So I'd say as long as your preamp has sufficient output voltage it should work.

 

[LTig]

Do active monitors have any latency, and does this cause problems with Audyssey?

Audyssey will handle it by setting the speaker to a larger physical distance than the actual distance, making sure everything syncs up.

I would expect shorter.

 

[KozmoNaut]

I would expect shorter.

Yes, you're right.

E: No, it is a larger distance than normal. The delay makes Audyssey think the speaker is farther away than it really is.

 

[LTig]

Monitors with DSP have latency, but it's a pretty tiny amount. The JBL 708P have a function to ADD delay so that your slow-ass TV can catch up.

With some monitors you can chose filters with less latency e.g. for viewing videos. The Kii three has a latency of some 90 ms for the standard filter and less than 1 ms for the short filter.