Wish they'd have used more curved, less boxy looking cabinets...New from the Netherlands ;-)
I still don't follow. Outside the cables (speaker, mains or interconnect) that are designed to be seen, mains and speaker cables are similar sizes, available in a similar range of colours, and can be hidden using similar methods.More visible.
I still don't follow. Outside the cables (speaker, mains or interconnect) that are designed to be seen, mains and speaker cables are similar sizes, available in a similar range of colours, and can be hidden using similar methods.
You need cables to carry power and signal vs one cable carrying both.I still don't follow. Outside the cables (speaker, mains or interconnect) that are designed to be seen, mains and speaker cables are similar sizes, available in a similar range of colours, and can be hidden using similar methods.
and you also have two cables for each speaker - one for power and one for signal
This isn't a generic actives vs passives thread, it's about active floorstanders specifically. The cabling derail has absolutely nothing to do with anything. Unless you believe active bookshelves somehow don't require mains cables.
That's like buying Fifty Shades of Grey and saying "books sure are retarded, I'm never reading another!". Did your experience include brands like Genelec?It is totally right and correct that consumers are wary of active speakers.
If one buys an active speaker, one is stuck with the amplifier that comes with the speaker. The consumer has no say whatsoever regarding the specific characteristics of the amplifier, especially those characteristics regarding longevity. If something goes wrong within a reasonably short period of time, warranty will take care of it, although the consumer will be discommoded. But as years go on, costs of repair rise. Not only that, but the company may cease support of the amp section. MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE has been that an unacceptably large percentage of amp sections in active speakers have been unreliable. If there is someone who has had absolutely no bad experience with active speakers, what is that to me? I judge on my experience, not someone else's.
Obviously an advantage, but not weighted by the probability of said failure. Using it as the ultimate decider doesn't really make sense, when we're talking about already vanishingly low numbers. Reminds me of people buying 4x4 cars "just in case".If a consumer buys a speaker and separate amp, a replacement can be purchased the same day as the piece malfunctions IF NECESSARY.
Amplifiers don't "improve" unless you started with something utterly bad or don't have enough power.Not only that, but even if there is no malfunction, upgrades can be made judiciously based on market advances and tech improvements.
Most people buying ****** bluetooth speakers don't speak in favour of your magical statistic.Consumers in general want reliability and practicality.
You can probably blame the rising audiophool press of the early 1980s for active speakers not catching on. Active hi-fi loudspeakers go back all the way to at least the early 1970s (e.g. Braun LV720) and had gotten somewhat common around 1980. Arguably the most mass-market company to promote active speaker systems by that time was Grundig, with quite a range of preamps and preceivers to match. You can find active speakers from at least 4 big West German manufacturers of the time (Braun, Canton, Heco and Grundig), and they were not alone in Europe either (e.g. the now-legendary Philips MFB speakers employing motional feedback).I can't think of any practical reason to not do so other than audiophiles being oddly wary of anything active.
I'm not sure that's fair. Audiophiles of all stripes like to have control over the components of their systems. For example, many people here seem to like to buy components with better measurements even if they believe that poorer-measuring products will sound the same.You can probably blame the rising audiophool press of the early 1980s for active speakers not catching on.
Meridian are another counter example - they've been making active speakers with DSP and digital inputs for years, and usually have a floorstander in the lineup.
More visible.