Are active speakers still worthwhile?

[fcracer]

I just ordered a pair of Ascilab C6B speakers and looking at the frequency curve and predicted in-room response, I'm wondering if active speakers provide any significant benefit anymore. I was always led to believe that active speakers were the future. With efficient Class-D amplifiers and digital cross-overs, they would provide significant benefits in a reasonable package.

However, with modern science-based speaker designs, we can see even affordable speakers like the C6B providing very linear frequency performance. I'm wondering how active speakers will differentiate and overcome some of their inherent challenges, namely: 1. Serviceability if the amplifier inside goes bad; 2. Hassle of powering two speakers; 3. Keeping software updated to keep them running.

I'm sure I'm missing some key benefits of active speakers, so I put this out there with the intent of learning. I always assumed my "end game" speaker setup would be active, but now I'm not sure.

 

[JohnnyNG]

I guess we'll find out when Ascilab release their actives.

 

[mk05]

I just ordered a pair of Ascilab C6B speakers and looking at the frequency curve and predicted in-room response, I'm wondering if active speakers provide any significant benefit anymore. I was always led to believe that active speakers were the future. With efficient Class-D amplifiers and digital cross-overs, they would provide significant benefits in a reasonable package.

However, with modern science-based speaker designs, we can see even affordable speakers like the C6B providing very linear frequency performance. I'm wondering how active speakers will differentiate and overcome some of their inherent challenges, namely: 1. Serviceability if the amplifier inside goes bad; 2. Hassle of powering two speakers; 3. Keeping software updated to keep them running.

I'm sure I'm missing some key benefits of active speakers, so I put this out there with the intent of learning. I always assumed my "end game" speaker setup would be active, but now I'm not sure.

Convenience.

 

[kyuu]

I dunno, for a near-field setup I would probably still pick a pair of Genelec 8030C over the C6B. Smaller, no need for the additional expense/space/cabling of an external amplifier. For a far-field setup, I think a bookshelf with a single 6" woofer is still inadequate.

Or, for much cheaper, get a pair of Adam T5V, Vanatoo Transparent One Encore, or Kali LP-6v2, which all have comparable performance and probably sound just as good in a near-field setup.

My point isn't to crap on the Ascilabs; they're very good for passives. But I don't think they've suddenly made actives obsolete or less attractive.

 

[Ellebob]

Technically, there are advantages of active deisgns if everything else is equal. The crossover is more precise. Driving each driver with its own amp has advantage in distortion and attack. If looking at the typical bookshelf sized speaker the active will often play lower in the bass. Because it is easier to have a hard cutoff for the bass driver. If comparing the Ascilab to a Neumann, JBL, Kali, etc. with the same size woofer the active version will be typically play lower. The Ascilab low frequencies will start to roll off earlier. If you are crossing over to a sub this might not be as important. Of course the active version can also have EQ to fix problems. Here is the same speaker in active and passive form. I am not familiar with this brand personally. But, I know some people in Europe really like them.

Measurements for speaker Aalto Speakers Aalto 3 Active Pro

www.spinorama.org

Measurements for speaker Aalto Speakers Aalto 3 Passive

www.spinorama.org

It is tough to state active is better than passive because of the design differences between brands and models. Rarely, do you have the exact model like above in active and passive form. But, if all else is equal I would go with the active version.

 

[levimax]

While "having the technology of the future" makes sense in many areas of technology (computers, TV's, etc.), for audio gear, which has been a solved technology for many decades (speakers excepted), it really doesn't matter very much. Active vs passive speakers and Class AB vs Class D amps are two examples where both technologies are fine and it really depends on the execution of the technology and the features you need. In audio, technological advances are mostly about making higher performance available at a lower cost for the consumer. Since speakers are the "weakest link" in audio I would expect both active and passive speakers to continue to improve in performance and decrease in price at a faster pace than audio electronics which at this point can really only be improved by being cheaper.

 

[Madlop26]

Yep convenience is the major advantage of the active speakers, especially in small spaces, regarding the mentioned 3 inherent challenges, I play my small Genelecs at my job office 8 hours daily for the past 5 years, have not had any issues, best investment ever.

 

[levimax]

Yep convenience is the major advantage of the active speakers, especially in small spaces, regarding the mentioned 3 inherent challenges, I play my small Genelecs at my job office 8 hours daily for the past 5 years, have not had any issues, best investment ever.

Convenience depends on if you have an outlet near where you want to put your active speakers or not.

 

[eric-c]

One area where passives are "better" really more convenient is cabling. You only need to run "speaker" cable to it vs a line level cable (no big deal) and power cable (big deal especially if they are surrounds). In my setup I have the active jbl 708p because it is behind a transparently acoustic screen. Easy for both line level and power cables. The four surround speakers are the passive JBL 705i which just need speaker cable from the amp. Running power to these 4 speakers would be a royal PITA

 

[DSJR]

Passive crossovers I believe, can never fully 'disappear' from the signal path and have the possibly suspect effect of disconnecting the drivers from the amp as the crossover starts its work. Fine eq work can't easily be done passively (although I gather that excessive dsp should be avoided as well).

If I didn't have all my 'stuff,' I'd return to good actives in a heartbeat. Passive speakers are so last century, but I have to acknowledge the wondrous efforts that some designers are achieving these days.

 

[Ktacos]

Active when done well, typically sounds better than comparative passive version of a speaker to my ears. being able to align the drivers in the time domain and linearize phase can have some major benefits. Some speakers I've made really come to life when applying delays as small as 0.04ms.

Of course if your a serious company, you can just optimize your waveguide/tweeter depth to have the drivers alignment in the time domain be as optimal as you can get it. I'd argue not many companies are like ascilab.

 

[DVDdoug]

There are potential design advantages but of course not every active speaker sounds better than every passive speaker.

As far as I know, most main monitors in pro studios are still passive. But active near-field and mid-field monitors now seem to be the norm.

Passive speakers are still standard for home audio. And I expect them to remain standard because with home theater, I don't think most people don't want to plug 5 or more speakers into power outlets.

 

[nat1]

Convenience depends on if you have an outlet near where you want to put your active speakers or not.

lol, you need to be near an outlet regardless of whether you go active or passive. For active you'll just be running long power cables rather than long speaker cables if you're not next to an outlet.

 

[Salt]

One area where passives are "better" really more convenient is cabling. You only need to run "speaker" cable to it vs a line level cable (no big deal) and power cable (big deal especially if they are surrounds). In my setup I have the active jbl 708p because it is behind a transparently acoustic screen. Easy for both line level and power cables. The four surround speakers are the passive JBL 705i which just need speaker cable from the amp. Running power to these 4 speakers would be a royal PITA

AT least Hypex plateamps allow interconnect via SPDIF and would result in same: one power and one data cable.

 

[Salt]

Active speakers with integrated DSP are great for speaker's crossover design.
With passives you have to change every coil, cap and resistor and then remeasure ... takes time and needs a box of resources ... with DSP one can dial in the xover and measure the result ...
That's from the view of the 'designer'.

On the other side, at the user , if any new arrangement of the xover is investigated, softwareupdate is sufficient, no coil-cap-res exchange needed.

(And besides: if every transducers has it's own only amplifier, this can not be that bad?).

 

[levimax]

lol, you need to be near an outlet regardless of whether you go active or passive. For active you'll just be running long power cables rather than long speaker cables if you're not next to an outlet.

For active you will be running both a long power cable and a long line level cable so twice the number of cables. Power cable are also tend to be thicker and heavier and stiffer than speaker or line level cables. Without nearby outlets for each speaker installing an active MC system is much more difficult and harder to conceal than a passive system.

 

[GXAlan]

100%, yes. You want actives.

The frequency response at 86 or 96 dB at one meter is a certain amount of amplifier power. Active speakers do allow frequency response correction, but if you look at impulse or phase, it’s not perfect.

See what Dr. Klippel has to say about phase, politely. (It matters in multichannel, and stereo is multichannel).

Zero Phase In Studio Monitors

This Voice Coil’s Spotlight, written by Vance Dickason with commentary from Floyd Toole, Wolfgang Klippel, Andrew Jones, and James Croft, focuses on Zero Phase in Studio Monitors. As Dickason explains, "the implication of using FIR filters to zero out the phase of a loudspeaker to improve its...

audioxpress.com

Second, speakers can have compression as your SPL gets higher and excursion limits as well. Active speakers can provide superior protection of voice coils based upon thermal load and also account for non-linearities at different volumes.

100% is an exaggeration of course. Power management and cable management are much tougher than a simple passive setup if you are running everything to code. Smaller speakers like the ASCII labs may work with 5-pin 48V DC/XLR power a la the Meyer Sound IntelligentDC, or PoE and AoIP like Genelec.

But frequency response at one volume is not the end game (though clearly a MAJOR element of the experience).

 

[Jim Creek]

Active speakers with rechargeable Lithium batteries would solve the power cable problem. The active speakers could come with speaker stands that have the Lithium batteries built into the base.

 

[kyuu]

Active speakers with rechargeable Lithium batteries would solve the power cable problem. The active speakers could come with speaker stands that have the Lithium batteries built into the base.

Not just another expense but a hassle to move around and connect every time you want to use them. I'd much rather just have them permanently wired... and of course we're back to it being much easier and neater to run speaker wire for that purpose than tapping into 120VAC somewhere as well as running the signal cable. Utilizing POE++ so you just run a single cat5/6 cable for surrounds might work, though I'm not aware of anything in the consumer space that does that.

There are soundbars which use the battery concept for surround speakers, and you can just dock them to the soundbar to recharge them. I'll bet 90+% of people who get those soundbars never even bother to use the surround speakers.

 

[GXAlan]

Active speakers with rechargeable Lithium batteries would solve the power cable problem. The active speakers could come with speaker stands that have the Lithium batteries built into the base.

That definitely works for bookshelves and some soundbars use battery packs for their rear speakers which are charged by attaching them to the soundbar.

But for high powered active speakers, it’s a different story.

Datasheet — ULTRA-X20XP | 22XP | 23XP

docs.meyersound.com

Datasheet — ULTRA-X40 | 42

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Meyer Sound Amie Monitor Review

This is a review, listening test and detailed measurements of the Meyer Sound Amie Studio (active) monitor speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $4,080 each (sold in pairs?). The deep, horn like waveguide sets the speaker apart from its competitors. The large throat of the...

www.audiosciencereview.com