For Stereo Listening, Whats wrong with Active Monitors

[TLS Guy]

No problem.....I wanted to go Active but I couldn't find anything I liked that was also remote controled and had multiple inputs. Good luck with your search...pretty brutal trying to make a decision in that market as it is mostly geared toward the studio audio market. That means all the speakers either look like they belong on the stage of an AC/DC concert or they were designed by Justin Long to match his precious Mac Pro.....

Really, check these out!

 

[krzywica]

Really, check these out!

Those are lovely....but look to be all passive. AM I missing something?

 

[TLS Guy]

Those are lovely....but look to be all passive. AM I missing something?

Keep scrolling down you will get to the active speakers. The active speakers are available in active and passive versions.

 

[djreef]

Really, check these out!

Somebody please tell me these are quoted in some other currency.

DJ

 

[krzywica]

Keep scrolling down you will get to the active speakers. The active speakers are available in active and passive versions.

Damn it now I am going to have to sel my second and third born child as well.....

 

[davidtwotrees]

Somebody please tell me these are quoted in some other currency.DJ

The ATC SCM50 active is listed for $17,200 in black. The listing says "speaker" which often implies the price quoted is for one speaker...........also, one large bookshelf weighs 107.5 pounds!!??
I wonder what the up charge is for veneer?

I just bought a 2004 Toyota Tacoma for $11k.......

........c'mon, Dr. Mark............we need some everyman active speaker recommendations.....what I need is a review of the Quad 12L!
I can get a pair, in black, new, for $775 plus ship!

 

[KEW]

Well I read it as saying the passive crossover signal would be slower than the active one.

I can't claim much knowledge here.
I know that the Focal active speakers are quicker than the Paradigm S2 or the Salk SongTowers I compared them to.

I could be a matter of semantics, but let me try to reword, so when you tell me I'm full of crap I can take it to heart!!

I guess I was thinking that there might be some type of advantage to having the crossover performed at line-level, then feeding it to the amps which have a straight shot to the driver.

Intuitively, this notion makes some sense. A loose analogy might be that with a rear drive car you apply the power before the control offered by steering. Whereas with the more efficient front wheel drive you apply the power after the control input was complete.

However, I certainly know that just because something seems reasonable doesn't make it true.

So, can I reasonably assume that the active design affords no benefit over a standard amp/speaker as regards the systems ability to have the driver in the correct position at the correct moment in time.
If so, can I reasonably infer that the performance edge must be from the drivers themselves?

Thanks

 

[krzywica]

The ATC SCM50 active is listed for $17,200 in black. The listing says "speaker" which often implies the price quoted is for one speaker...........also, one large bookshelf weighs 107.5 pounds!!??
I wonder what the up charge is for veneer?

I just bought a 2004 Toyota Tacoma for $11k.......

........c'mon, Dr. Mark............we need some everyman active speaker recommendations.....what I need is a review of the Quad 12L!
I can get a pair, in black, new, for $775 plus ship!

$650.........

 

[TLS Guy]

The ATC SCM50 active is listed for $17,200 in black. The listing says "speaker" which often implies the price quoted is for one speaker...........also, one large bookshelf weighs 107.5 pounds!!??
I wonder what the up charge is for veneer?

I just bought a 2004 Toyota Tacoma for $11k.......

........c'mon, Dr. Mark............we need some everyman active speaker recommendations.....what I need is a review of the Quad 12L!
I can get a pair, in black, new, for $775 plus ship!

I was just winding everybody up. The ATC speakers are widely used as monitors, and by a few wealthy people. The little passive SCM 7 is a gem by the way. Those lower priced speakers are a new venture for ATC, who have been in business making fine speakers for thirty years. Ths SCM 7 is selling like the proverbial hot cakes on the UK right now.

If you can get the active Quads for that money hurry before they get away from you.

They are biamped at 1.8 kHz. 60 watts to the woofer and 40 watts to the tweeter. However they produce 115 spl. as no power is wasted in the crossover.

The huge advantage of active speakers are that there are no inductors in the crossover, just ICs, caps and resistors. Inductors are a huge quality spoiler in passive designs, and the lower the crossover point the worse the effect. At best a passive crossover wastes at least half the amp power and usually more.

The Quads also have a control to vary the diffraction compensation to allow a variety of placements, so you don't have to worry about placing the speaker closer to boundaries.

So Dave, go ahead and get yourself a steal. You will also get the benefit of superb Quad amplification.

 

[davidtwotrees]

If someone would buy my Canton towers I would surely purchase the Quads...thanks for the 411 on the quads....

 

[burak]

Avi Adm9.1

Hello...

There's a very nice looking and supposedly very very good (accurate) sounding active option from a respected UK company, AVI: ADM9.1. They've got a dedicated sub option as well. I haven't heard them and I'm not in any way affiliated with the company.

 

[Chatta]

active means no more upgrades...

 

[davidtwotrees]

Hello...

There's a very nice looking and supposedly very very good (accurate) sounding active option from a respected UK company, AVI: ADM9.1. They've got a dedicated sub option as well. I haven't heard them and I'm not in any way affiliated with the company.

Nice. I hadn't seen those, and these have a built in pre amp, as well. Interesting...........I am stuck on the Quads, but I will only take them veneered.