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Help with First Cohesive Build

andrewskaterrr

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Ugh everything seems like it going to cost way more than I thought.
I know I’m going through the same thing lol, but the truth is, you can always spend more for a little better in this hobby. My goal was to get an entry level real TT, not a $300 one that sounds “bad” and makes me disappointed. I’m spending about $1000 on my TT, 4x what I wanted to originally. I know that’s “cheap” and could spend $2000 easily on a better one, but it’s not worth it to me. I’d rather spend the money else where. So the real challenge is dividing up your budget around components that matter the most to you, and will give you the most performance increase per $. It’s a struggle :(
 

LTig

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I have considered them but I'm not too sure about them, I've heard that I can get better speakers if they are passive. .
This is wrong. There are exceptions of course. IME a good active speaker usually is better than a passive speakers of the same size and a power amp together in the same price range.
 
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Cosmic_Error

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This is wrong. There are exceptions of course. IME a good active speaker usually is better than a passive speakers of the same size and a power amp together in the same price range.


I also like that I can upgrade piece by piece as I get more money with a separate amp.
 

andrewskaterrr

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I think I likely will at some point but it would be nice if such things never were necessary.
With active speakers in this price range I don’t they will have underpowered amps. IMO there wouldn’t be much a reason to upgrade as any better amp would give minimal performance improvement. You do have more speaker options when going passive as most speakers are passive, but I doubt you’ll be upgrading speakers every 1-2 years. If you do, then you can just sell your active speakers and get new ones. Honestly there’s no wrong way to go with active or passive IMO...although you will have more power cables everywhere vs 1 for your separate amp/receiver.
 

LTig

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I also like that I can upgrade piece by piece as I get more money with a separate amp.
In your price range and chosing a very good measured active speaker by a well known manufacturer (Genelec, Neumann, ...) an upgrade wouldn't make sense. Those speakers contain amps perfectly designed for each driver - having just the right amount of power and sporting THD numbers well below those of the driver. They also contain safety features helping to protect the drivers from destruction due to overload.

Eventually it's the performance of the speaker including its active electronics which counts. Just look at the measurements of the Genelec and Neumann speakers here at ASR or at Sound & Recording and then try to find a passive speaker in the same price range which beats them - chances are almost nil. That's why I claim that updates make no sense, and it's the reason why professionals rely almost exclusively on active speakers if accurate sound is required.
 
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