Are studio monitors a better buy than passive hifi speakers?

[DSJR]

In the keilidh case and my

I suppose that most of us are placating our spouses and amps built into speakers improves spousal acceptance leading to approval for bigger speakers as less perceived boxes and clutter.

I have settled on Kii BXT speakers in one listening room and ATC SCM100ASLs (current spec) in my second listening room (just about finished). Pretty much everyone who has heard both sets of speakers at my place has preferred the ATCs but I have to admit the the low bass on the Kii BXTs is hard to live without. I have purchased a pair of Perlisten D215S subwoofers to augment the ATCs is there new listening room with hopes of matching the depth and resolution of the Kii BXTs.

I could never go back to passive speakers.

Passive Speakers I have owned:

Yamaha NS1000
Yamaha NS1000M
Naim SBL
Spendor SP9/1
Apogee Duetta
Monitor Audio GR60
Monitor Audio GS60
Monitor Audio PL300
Quad ESL2905
Royd Sovereign
Linn Kan

Active Speakers I have owned

Linn Keilidh
Linn Ninkas
Kef LS50 wireless
Kef LS50 wireless 2
and of course the Kii BXTs and the ATC SCM100ASLs

my experience has been that for every speaker I have heard in active and passive variants the active version was more detailed, had better imaging and lower bass.

My experience with Keilidhs using LK140s and the 5125 using four of the five channels, is that the aktiv version pits the midrange back which we found rather lacking in any passive option we tried

The Ninkas to us, sounded as you say as regards passive vs their active versions


In UK audio-speak, passive speakers with amps built in are 'powered-passive' where an active set whether amps are internal or external, are 'active.' Surely that makes some form of sense?

If the 'WAF' factor allows, the better pro models should make excellent sense as too many domestic passive models are deliberately tuned for a 'nice' sound I feel or increasingly, ssssspiced up for ageing buyer's ears! Mind you, the odd directivity of B&W N series speakers may well work in apartments with walls of glass as I've seen in estate agent promotions of wealthy-people's flats with the speakers flat and tight to a full length and height glass window.

 

[Behrelec 37]

Sometimes when I was building horn DIY speakers, I would place a specially tuned Styrofoam ball in the center of the treble and at a precise distance from it, and I was able to produce high frequencies that you can no longer hear with your ears as music, but rather you hear those frequencies with your feelings (as if they were vibrations in your brain) , a bit like when the low frequencies of a subwoofer go low enough with enough power that you no longer hear the low sounds with your ears, but with your internal organs in your stomach/intestines, vibrating holistically, almost vomiting or dizzying, like the movement of a roller coaster car.

It is no longer listening to music from external sources, with the actual sound being projected into the air, but rather music that is experienced internally. It is difficult to explain if you have no experience of either of these extremes.When listened to through headphones, the same idea is only a shadow of what I mean by high frequencies compared to listening to music through speakers.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

Isn't it possible to be subconsciously aware of ultrasonics? I think it makes sense for speakers to be able to reach 45kHz.

lol "[Thing not supported by science] hasn't quite been unequivocally proven to not exist at all, so it's real" is a take, I guess

 

[theREALdotnet]

Here is the hi-res waveform from a modern Grammy nominated recording. See the noiseshaping? You want to "hear" or "feel" that?

No, I don't think anybody wants to hear noise shaping artefacts. What some people would like to hear is the HF content of the original performance.

 

[dagfinn]

No, I don't think anybody wants to hear noise shaping artefacts. What some people would like to hear is the HF content of the original performance.

Reality is, it's not there. Unless you're a bat, you can't even hear it if it was. Where are the complaints over noiseshaping? It's there - many speakers can play it, yet noone complains. Why? You should do a blind test, highpassing everything over 22kHz. Prove you can hear anything.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Sometimes when I was building horn DIY speakers, I would place a specially tuned Styrofoam ball in the center of the treble and at a precise distance from it, and I was able to produce high frequencies that you can no longer hear with your ears as music, but rather you hear those frequencies with your feelings (as if they were vibrations in your brain) , a bit like when the low frequencies of a subwoofer go low enough with enough power that you no longer hear the low sounds with your ears, but with your internal organs in your stomach/intestines, vibrating holistically, almost vomiting or dizzying, like the movement of a roller coaster car.

How can adding a styrofoam ball add additional high frequencies?

 

[Head_Unit]

Read tests on some of the so called pro stuff, it's certainly not all great. And if the speakers are great then the amp inside might not be the best either, some have hissing sound

Mine have a slight hissing sound, but it's not loud enough to be an issue unless on the medium or high gain settings.

But why is there EVER any hiss? Are those amplifiers just crap? Why is anyone designing with crap?

Back to whether monitors are better, what I've observed is that is the space where we finally see large waveguides on tweeters, rare still in the consumer spaces. I'm not sure why as the cost increase is minimal and the advantages large. Offhand the total package price of some of the stuff from say Kali and PreSonus etc seems hard to match passively.

 

[Behrelec 37]

Sigbergaudio.

Here are a few pictures from about 20 years ago, when I was adjusting high frequencies with a horn (plastic food bowl) and various furry mats/soft ball filters in front of the tweeter. I used Styrofoam to control the sound waves and, as a rule, to amplify the frequencies in the midrange downwards and at the highest frequencies also upwards, i.e., different materials to amplify or attenuate different frequencies in layers in a ring shape. The treble became very deep and clear, as if it were vibrating inside my head rather than as if I were listening to external music with my ears. Of course, music must have high frequencies, which are amplified even more, but acoustically with such directional structures.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Sigbergaudio.

Here are a few pictures from about 20 years ago, when I was adjusting high frequencies with a horn (plastic food bowl) and various furry mats/soft ball filters in front of the tweeter. I used Styrofoam to control the sound waves and, as a rule, to amplify the frequencies in the midrange downwards and at the highest frequencies also upwards, i.e., different materials to amplify or attenuate different frequencies in layers in a ring shape. The treble became very deep and clear, as if it were vibrating inside my head rather than as if I were listening to external music with my ears. Of course, music must have high frequencies, which are amplified even more, but acoustically with such directional structures.

What a strange speaker, which speaker is that? Is that an air filter from a car on top of it?

 

[Behrelec 37]

The last two pictures were included only because I still have these parts of the guide in storage. The distances between the layers of the guide were adjusted using micro magnets and micro pins layer by layer. A push gauge was used to ensure that the distance between the two structures was even.

 

[Behrelec 37]

This is my own DIY speaker construction, with Behringer 2031a amplifiers at the back, and its treble and bass elements.
The enclosure is made of MDF boards and is slightly larger than the original Behringer speaker.
The car air filter was used solely as a decoration to cover the ugly rear part of the tweeter from my eyes.
Thin silver wires were also pulled to the treble.
I designed and built this when I was about 30 years old, just because I wanted to sharpen and clarify the midrange and treble areas.

With humor and joy, I modified these different variants over several years. I also used different plastic bowl /plate, but this shape was by far the best.