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So, why is it that active floor standers are so rare?
- Thread starter dfuller
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The answer to "why don't they make something" is either there is not enough of a market for it, or manufacturers think there is not enough market for it.
If floor standers have disadvantages they are hard to move around and very expensive to ship if they need repairs.
If floor standers have disadvantages they are hard to move around and very expensive to ship if they need repairs.
Yes. Amps and cross-over are external.
Pictures from manual: https://www.bwgroupsupport.com/downloads/manuals/bw/Nautilus-OM.pdf
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restorer-john
Grand Contributor
My position is once the amplifier/s are outside the one cabinet, the speaker itself is not active. The system as sold may be active, sure. Yeah, it's splitting hairs, I know.
Otherwise you get a situation where tri-wired 3 ways with and external adjustable crossover and three amplifiers is classed as an active speaker. Or a 2 way with bi-wiring and a DSP running twin amps is also classed as an active speaker. Neither are.
But back to the main OP's question. The ampifiers inside most active speakers of days gone by, right up to present day units are generally poor, unreliable and cheaply made. Compared to a standalone power amplifier, they just don't measure up.
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That is not a sensible position
“Neither are” is an (IMO unfounded) assertion, not an argument.
JBL M2 is not an “active speaker?
NHT xD?
It’s all quite silly.
Senior NEET Engineer
Addicted to Fun and Learning
There isn't much benefit to active speakers for hi-fi.
yes, restorer-john's specs are crazy. But everyone draws the line somewhere...
The major reason for unpopularity of floorstandig actives (IMO obviously) is "hifi cult" For many decades hifi media and many manufacturers have been feeding the myth of how significant audible differencies lie in amplifiers, cables, dacs, etc. parts of the chain. All this BS overrides the cold fact that loudspeaker properties and the room make the sound and 99,8% of audible differencies.
So because of this brainwashing 99,8% of people who get interested in hifi, want to be able go on changing their sources, amps, cables and speakers over and over again (to get better sound), and of course the industry and retailers agree! And floorstanders are mostly purchased only by some sort of hifists.
The major reason for unpopularity of floorstandig actives (IMO obviously) is "hifi cult" For many decades hifi media and many manufacturers have been feeding the myth of how significant audible differencies lie in amplifiers, cables, dacs, etc. parts of the chain. All this BS overrides the cold fact that loudspeaker properties and the room make the sound and 99,8% of audible differencies.
So because of this brainwashing 99,8% of people who get interested in hifi, want to be able go on changing their sources, amps, cables and speakers over and over again (to get better sound), and of course the industry and retailers agree! And floorstanders are mostly purchased only by some sort of hifists.
Except that actives perform better than passives, in many cases. Naturally it is not because they are active (amped), but because they have been designed well and use dsp.
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restorer-john
Grand Contributor
To you maybe. Not to me.
An active speaker is a single device, hence the singular term. If the product is comprised of an external amplifier/Xover and a speaker cabinet, it's an active speaker system. It is not an active speaker.
The B&W Nautilus example above is an active speaker system, comprised of several pieces. It is not an active speaker.
The Philips MFB speakers from the 1970s were active speakers as they were a single box with the crossover and amplification built into the cabinet.
Some of the 'active' speakers @amirm has reviewed have a stereo amplifier in one cabinet and the other speaker is passively driven. They are an active speaker system too.
People blur lines, blur descriptions and do what they like. You are free to classify speakers according to your own beliefs, but do not tell me my position is "not sensible".
I had a demo about 25 years ago. The speakers are supplied with an analogue active 4-way per speaker crossover and the buyer chooses the amp.
I very much wanted to buy them since I love the styling but they didn't sound as good as the other speaker in the comparison and the cost of the 8-channels of amplifier recommended by the dealer demonstrating them was huge.
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Truth to be said, some advanced filters features cannot really be implemented with a passive crossover.
If I had those, I think I'd want use use them with Behringer A500 amps, pour epater les bourgeois !
S
If I had had the possibility of inexpensive powerful enough amps back then I may well have bought them, just for the styling! The Epilogs are somewhat pedestrian in comparison.
Honestly, I don't want to sound patronizing, because I'm sure you already know that and I sincerly don't know why you purposedly confuse "powered" and "active". Active just refers to "active" crossovers, this isn't a matter of opinion.To you maybe. Not to me.
An active speaker is a single device, hence the singular term. If the product is comprised of an external amplifier/Xover and a speaker cabinet, it's an active speaker system. It is not an active speaker.
And what's sure, is that it is how the word is used here, so I don't see the point of trying to use a different language to communicate. Unless you want everyone to use "bi-amplified" or "tri-amplified" for some reason?
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Bi-amplified or tri-amplified can be also implemented with a passive crossover with electrically separated branches as often seen with loudspeakers with more than a pair of connecting posts.
Isn't it bi|tri-wired, then?
restorer-john
Grand Contributor
I confuse absolutely nothing.
Powered and active are resonably interchangeable. Powered is a lazy term IMO, but useable at a pinch, I guess. They both refer to power amplification, not line level, passive, or DSP based frequency separation.
A 'powered' speaker has an amplifier/s. An 'active' speaker has an amplifier/s. Whether it has a crossover in the passive or active domain is irrelevant. The nomenclature is clear to me.
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