Fostex PM.03 Active Speaker Review

[napilopez]

This is why I wish Devialet would make subs. Reactor 900 is just 219mm x 157 mm x 168 mm. A pair somehow actually reaches down to 18Hz farfield (3m/10ft) at the SPLs I listen to, 25hz comfortably. I'd love to see the sensitivity if amplification weren't built in.

Obviously wouldn't be cheap but if small is your goal....

 

[kaka89]

So distortion plays a big part in speaker performance and yet it is not included in the preference score.

 

[napilopez]

So distortion plays a big part in speaker performance and yet it is not included in the preference score.

Where did you get that impression?

If anything this shows that distortion plays smallef role than one might expect... The speaker had high distortion than most of what Amir has measured but he seems to have liked it.

Not that distortion doesn't matter. But usually if it isn't blatantly audible it doesn't seem to make much of a difference for most speakers. Probably matters more at the very high end when speakers are already good otherwise.

 

[Itay]

A small, although inconsequential, detail about the pm.03 is that they are not "active speakers", but rather "powered speakers". active implies the use of an active crossover with amplification for each driver, while the pm.03 is a speaker with a passive crossover that happens to have an internal stereo amp inside one of them.

 

[pierre]

 

[MZKM]

Preference Rating
SCORE: 3.3
SCORE w/ sub: 6.6

 

[wwenze]

A small, although inconsequential, detail about the pm.03 is that they are not "active speakers", but rather "powered speakers". active implies the use of an active crossover with amplification for each driver, while the pm.03 is a speaker with a passive crossover that happens to have an internal stereo amp inside one of them.

Again? This topic really has to pop up once in a while in any forum.

Can't wait to see the semanticians' heads explode when they encounter something like iLoud or Edifier (active crossover, passive slave speaker), or full range speakers.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Thanks for the standardised distortion measurements @amirm. Much appreciated

Did you buy the Klippel module or are you calculating the SPL/input voltage manually?

 

[q3cpma]

Again? This topic really has to pop up once in a while in any forum.

Can't wait to see the semanticians' heads explode when they encounter something like iLoud or Edifier (active crossover, passive slave speaker), or full range speakers.

That's not a "topic", active comes from active crossover, and that's all. "Powered" exists especially for those cases.

 

[wwenze]

That's not a "topic", active comes from active crossover, and that's all. "Powered" exists especially for those cases.

I always thought "active" comes from "active device".

 

[q3cpma]

I always thought "active" comes from "active device".

What's an "active device"? Something powered on, as opposed to "inactive"? Maybe going back to the past and using "biamplified" or "triamplified" would be less ambiguous.

 

[tuga]

Where did you get that impression?

If anything this shows that distortion plays smallef role than one might expect... The speaker had high distortion than most of what Amir has measured but he seems to have liked it.

Not that distortion doesn't matter. But usually if it isn't blatantly audible it doesn't seem to make much of a difference for most speakers. Probably matters more at the very high end when speakers are already good otherwise.

How do you know whether or not it was blatantly audible?

Amir may have not identified it at all or may have liked it; this doesn't mean that you or I wouldn't have identified it or that we would have liked it.
And from my understanding Amir's listening assessments are far from comprehensive nor is the methodology used particularly rigorous (in terms of analytical observation).

 

[andreasmaaan]

Powered (passive) loudspeaker seems an odd choice to me. You're already paying to put a power supply and a bunch of electronics in there - surely at this point it's cheaper, or at the very least a better engineering decision, to put the filters before the amps.

 

[DeeJay]

What's an "active device"? Something powered on, as opposed to "inactive"? Maybe going back to the past and using "biamplified" or "triamplified" would be less ambiguous.

Passive Devices
Components incapable of controlling current by means of another electrical signal are called passive devices. Resistors, capacitors, inductors, transformers, and even diodes are all considered passive devices.

Active Devices
An active device is any type of circuit component with the ability to electrically control electric charge flow (electricity controlling electricity). Active devices include, but are not limited to, vacuum tubes, transistors, silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs), and TRIACs.

 

[wwenze]

Active subwoofer vs powered subwoofer. C'mon let those brain juice explode.

Powered (passive) loudspeaker seems an odd choice to me. You're already paying to put a power supply and a bunch of electronics in there - surely at this point it's cheaper, or at the very least a better engineering decision, to put the filters before the amps.

Today it is cheaper I think. Swan and Edifier have USD/$200 speakers that are biamp-ed and come with a 4-conductor slave cable. But the even cheaper ones are still ye-ol' passive crossover affair. Pro-audio brands do the same thing - Bi-amp for expensive, single-amp for cheap.

Then again when we look at the crossover of those <USD/$100 speakers and wondering if they even count as a crossover at all.

Spoiler

Maybe amplifier chips are still more expensive than crossover components. Guess this is something only the makers would know.

 

[kaka89]

Where did you get that impression?

If anything this shows that distortion plays smallef role than one might expect... The speaker had high distortion than most of what Amir has measured but he seems to have liked it.

Not that distortion doesn't matter. But usually if it isn't blatantly audible it doesn't seem to make much of a difference for most speakers. Probably matters more at the very high end when speakers are already good otherwise.

The Fostex has the same preference score as the KEF LS50 (with sub), but the Fostex is surely incapable to play in a living room.

I am just pointing out that the currently it seems there is no metrics to indicate this.

 

[SmackDaddies]

The dearly departed Micca Club 3 could do 40hz in-room w/ boundary reinforcement and DSP corrections from a single 3" woofer! http://noaudiophile.com/Micca_Club_3/

That was an all-time budget champ. They were often $60/pr brand now and they sounded really good for desktop use with NoAudiophile's DSP corrections, that could be used with a MiniDSP or the free EqualizerAPO on Windows. Add a small class D chip amp and that was some great value for $100 or so total. When I say "good" I mean roughly on par with something like a JBL 305, but without the incredible image control and with much more limited max output. It was a real eye-opener for me in terms of what can be done with cheap-ass physical drivers and DSP correction.

To be clear, they did sound like total butt without the DSP assist.


Wow, that's an enclosure a bit smaller than Fostex's at 200 (W) × 185 (H) × 233 (D) mm. If I didn't have an unfinished DIY Voxel subwoofer kit in my basement I'd be temped to try one of these desktop minisubs just for laughs. I don't know why. They're just hilarious to me.

Booty sighting

 

[Ron Texas]

OK computer speakers for only $90...

 

[Xulonn]

The dearly departed Micca Club 3

OMG - an honest subjective review of the Micca Club 3's - I guess the Fostex PMO.3 is still the current mini-desktop champion...

Listening impressions

The new cheap... shiny boxes that made from the cheapest crap you can find. As you can tell I needed a few beers to get through the review

Boomy, inefficient, painful treble, missing midrange, uncontrolled and to top it all off rattling.

The speakers overall balance is "V" shaped, all bass and treble, no midrange.

This is a high distortion low-fi speaker that has a boomy nasty bottom end like a cheap subwoofer.

The tweeter is alright, the problem here is the box, the woofer, and the lack of a crossover.

The Micca Club 3's grill is magnetic and does not like to stay on. This not a problem because these speaker are designed to be shiny and pretty. Grills are for people ashamed of their speakers, don't be one of those people.

The Micca Club 3's sound like a dollar store boom box with a tweeter for cancellation and some type of "super bass" loudness. Taking the time and effort to properly put the speakers together yields reductions in bass distortion as well as addition bass output, but the speaker still sounds like shit.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Maybe amplifier chips are still more expensive than crossover components. Guess this is something only the makers would know.

No, I'm sure you're right, especially if the "crossover" is basically an electrolytic cap on the tweeter

I was exaggerating slightly before...