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Why do passive speakers still exist?

LOL! yeah, that's probably another deal-killer ...

I do wonder, though, what property of a speaker corresponds to the "liveness" you talk about ...

I'd actually defend any such language if used with context in a real attempt to get across an impression, rather than obfuscate. Because that's what language does when we try to describe experiences to one another - use whatever references we can to give impressions. That's what authors do all the time, whether they are writing fiction or trying to get across the character of real life events to the reader.
 
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I was mostly talking about the designer of the loudspeakers.
O' IC. Sorry about that. :D I see many active speakers out there and it seems that most of the big names are offering active models. The PC desktop actives are very common too. In time this will change even more so. Actives simplify so much that the market will shift to actives I figure. I have ~24 years experience with audio sales and repair service and am pretty confident actives will become a solid choice for most people. There is also the price points of the speakers and making a passive is easier than an active any day of the week and the passives are usually less money. Some people are all about the price and budget and passives fill that niche.
 
O' IC. Sorry about that. :D I see many active speakers out there and it seems that most of the big names are offering active models. The PC desktop actives are very common too. In time this will change even more so. Actives simplify so much that the market will shift to actives I figure. I have ~24 years experience with audio sales and repair service and am pretty confident actives will become a solid choice for most people. There is also the price points of the speakers and making a passive is easier than an active any day of the week and the passives are usually less money. Some people are all about the price and budget and passives fill that niche.

Probably in the lower speaker segment. But in the "high-end" segment I guess it will still have a lot of passive speaker because in some cases passive is better in that solutions for the designer.
 
Probably in the lower speaker segment. But in the "high-end" segment I guess it will still have a lot of passive speaker because in some cases passive is better in that solutions for the designer.
Well... That's opening more sub-topics to your topic of the manufacturers'/designers' perspective. To have a active speaker means that protection can be custom designed for the drivers, X-overs can be DSP based and the system can be bi-amp'd or tri-amp'd etc. For the designer this is great because then the amount of after sales service is hopefully minimized and that means more profits and more everything.
 
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Well... That's opening more sub-topics to your topic of the manufacturers'/designers' perspective. To have a active speaker means that protection can be custom designed for the drivers, X-overs can be DSP based and the system can be bi-amp'd or tri-amp'd etc. For the designer this is a great because then the amount of after sales service is hopefully minimized and that means more profits and more everything.

But some designer will think that passive will be a better solution than active for "X".
I like what the designer for my speaker said.
"I use active filters when it gives the best solutions, and passive filters when it gives the best solutions."

Too much in hifi/audiophile is done in the wrong order I think. Rather than having a well-thought-out goal and then choosing what works best to reach that goal, I think many people seem to start from rules of thumb about one of the parts and then try to reach a goal based on that.
 
But some designer will think that passive will be a better solution than active for "X".
For sure. In situations where a really massive power amp is required/desired then a passive speaker is still the way to go for many buyers. I was going to edit my last post and add to it. I was going to add that for some manufacturers and designers they don't have the resources to offer a active speaker with DSP and all that fancy class D jazz. So they go passive and use what they have on hand for personnel and materials.
 
For sure. In situations where a really massive power amp is required/desired then a passive speaker is still the way to go for many buyers. I was going to edit my last post and add to it. I was going to add that for some manufacturers and designers they don't have the resources to offer a active speaker with DSP and all that fancy class D jazz. So they go passive and use what they have on hand for personnel and materials.

There are other reason why some go with passive over active.
And I still don't know of any class D amplifier that are as good as the best AB amplifiers.
 
And of course we all know that Class ‘A’ is better than AB.
Keith
 
Passives are good anyone with a router can make some, dealers like them because of the ‘upgrade’ opportunity, no specialist knowledge of anything in particular required, contemporary actives on the other hand require a team of specialists, dealers don’t like them because there are no ‘upgrade’ opportunities it is all perfectly logical.
Keith
 
Somewhat appros of the thread...some recent anecdotal observations of listening to some active speakers....

These of course are not offered as my definitive judgements on How These Speakers Sound. Just think of it more as a casual report of someone's experience listening
to a variety of speakers in the store. That's all.

I'll do it in two parts:

1. Active Speakers At Pro Shop: I visited a local pro audio shop with my brother in law (who is all about active speakers these days) and we listened to s few models. I *think* I've got the models right:

ATC SCM25A Pro Mk2 Active-Studio-Monitor

Focal Professional Shape Twin Dual 5-inch Powered-Studio-Monitor

Genelec 8040B 6-5-Inch Powered-Studio Monitor

JBL 308P MkII Powered 8

ADAM Audio T8V Active Studio Monitor

Dynaudio LYD8 8

It really was just an informal, not lengthy listening session. We heard the ATC/Focal/Genelec in a dedicated studio-set up room, the ADAM/Dynaudio in a larger show room.
I was able to play a brief selection of tracks I know.

The Focal was definitely somewhat hot in the highs. Normally I'd expect that from their consumer gear, but I thought their pro gear was voiced more flat. Perhaps not(?)
Anyway, certainly gave a brillaince and detail to the sound. We A/B'd the Focal directly against the ATC monitor (in mono). That revealed the ATCs were obviously less hyped in the highs, less "airy and sparkly" and sounded easier and smoother on the ears. For long sessions I'd prefer the ATCs. Both gave decent bass response, and worked pretty well in nearfield.

A surprise to me was the Genelec monitors. They sounded...not as good as I was expecting. The sound was generally even, and box free, but there was a sort of gray-toned dullness, a slight opaqueness relative to the other two monitors. Could have been the set up, but while I'd imagine they are smooth to work with, the sound wasn't "wow, this active speaker's sure got somethin' goin' on!"

In the larger show room we demoed the cheaper active speakers: JBL, ADAM Audio, Dynaudio.

First I listened to some of the same familiar demo tracks switching between the JBL and ADAM Audio speakers. Both sounded very good for the money, I felt. Generally, again, neutral enough and smooth. But they certainly sounded different. The ADAM Audio speakers uses the ribbon tweeter and there was a very engaging combination of brilliant highs and smoothness to the sound: acoustic guitars in tracks had really nice tone and were well separated in tracks, having a nice golden sparkle to the strings. Nice, rich bass too!

The JBLs in comparison sounded very even and dense through the whole sound spectrum, treble a bit more "dense" less overtly airy, though tonally I found it a bit more bland and less engaging. The same instruments and voices didn't seem to have as much separation tonally or spatially. As to which was more accurate, I don't know from the brief listen, but my feeling was I'd likely choose the JBLs for a monitor, but definitely the ADAM speakers for musical enjoyment.

Then we played the Dynaudio speakers, which were more expensive, and because my Brother In Law actually owned the same pair and wanted to hear in comparison. We were both surprised: they didn't sound very good! Compared to the JBL and ADAM Audio speakers, which were rich and full sounding, in the bass as well, the Dynaudios sounded like all the bass was gone, and the tone was a bit uneven and sort of "pasty" and slightly crude sounding. More vivid, but in a "lack of bass" kind of way. Again, could have been the set up but we both thought the same thing.
My experience with the Focals was the same - stupid hot on the top end. I'd much rather the ATCs over those. However the price difference is a lot. Like 5x as much for the ATCs.
 
Passives are good anyone with a router can make some, dealers like them because of the ‘upgrade’ opportunity, no specialist knowledge of anything in particular required, contemporary actives on the other hand require a team of specialists, dealers don’t like them because there are no ‘upgrade’ opportunities it is all perfectly logical.
Keith

No, I don't think that is the case.
 
Really it is, the trick is to convince you ( the buyer) that it isn’t.
Keith
 
Really it is, the trick is to convince you ( the buyer) that it isn’t.
Keith

There is nothing to stop for example Magico to do active speakers if they would think that would be better.
Active speaker has it limitation and many prefer doing their speakers as passive.
 
There is nothing to stop for example Magico to do active speakers if they would think that would be better.
Active speaker has it limitation and many prefer doing their speakers as passive.
This is covered by , ‘no dealer upgrades with actives’.
I seriously doubt that the majority of loudspeakers even see a microphone during their development particularly the ones ‘tuned’ by the golden ear of the designer.
Keith
 
This is covered by , ‘no dealer upgrades with actives’.
I seriously doubt that the majority of loudspeakers even see a microphone during their development particularly the ones ‘tuned’ by the golden ear of the designer.
Keith

This is just your opinion as I see it. You have not proven that.
Yes, many brands is "audiofools" with "golden ear". But still, Revel, Magico and other are serious brands that use measurements and they use passive speakers.
I know one reason that the speaker designer for my speakers have passive filters and that is to lower the thermal compression.
 
Haha, no.

The best class AB amplifiers still better than the best class D. One could argue how much of that is audible and not just measurable.
Best in what particular way? Noise? THD? Dealing with corner case speaker loads while simultaneously dealing with corner cases in high power ultrasonics? Power per dollar? Efficiency?
 
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