Active Speakers - will this time be different?

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Thin is in
 
Of course it’s the core of our hobby and a lot of fun looking for synergy among swappable components. But… the idea of matched-by-design amplification and drivers, allowing designers to take the passive crossover with its compromises/assumptions out of the equation is very appealing. The Genelec G Three reviewed in the latest stereophile and by Steve Guttenberg is analog, fed by your preamp directly and sounds like fun for a small space and near field listening, at a reasonable price. The Kef LSX II I just bought for my kitchen Roon listening sounds pretty darn good for its size and convenience! Promising future I’d say. Thanks for bringing this topic up Mike.
 
I like the concept, and it has strong use-cases, but I tried the KEF LS50 wireless a few years ago and to me, they were maybe a step above Sonos sq, with less features. It's put me off the idea ever since.

One thing I'm not convinced on is whether a primarily speaker designer will engineer electronics at the level of Esoteric or Lumin or MSB, or an electronics designer can engineer speakers at the level of B+W, Magico, Raidho etc. Then again, there are a few manufacturers that have that all under a single tight-knit roof, like Audio Group Denmark.

Trying to keep an open mind, I have a den to set up. And those new large KEF look fantastic imo.
 
Yes, there’s always the potential drawback - whether the same manufacturer can be equally adept at designing the speaker and electronics (amplifier / active crossover / DSP) aspects of an active speaker. Many utilise the amplification module of a third party.

Hopefully, Avantgarde’s iTron amplification module will be exceptional. As I understand it, the current amplification design of the iTron module is designed for, and can only be used with, their own speaker drivers.

Apparently, only 1 W per driver (Armin Krauss mentioned 3W in total for the Trio G3).
 
There are certainly great potential cost and performance benefits as well as great challanges with active speakers.

I ran for some time an active Naim system with three NAP500 power amps driving their NBL speakers. It was great but with the external active filter and amps, all with seperate power supplies, it meant having 8 black boxes connected after the pre-amp with the related need for 8 shelves, 4 power cords, 4 sets of interconnects and 3 sets of speaker cables. Not something most people would accept in their living rooms. This set up also could not benefit from the significant cost saving potential from integrating the electronics into the speakers or using amps with great performance in the frequency span of the driver they are connected only (as opposed to the whole frequency spectrum).

An issue I believe with some new active offerings is that they, being launched by speaker brands, underinvest in the electronics. YG Acoustics have for example launched the Vantage Live which is about 50% more expensive than the passive Vantage it is based on. In other words, only 30% of the price goes toward the pre-amp/DAC, active filter and 6 channels of amplification. I think this is symptomatic of speaker manufacturers; many of them underestimate the importance of the up-stream electronics. If I look at, my current system with YG Acoustics Sonja 2.2i, and only counting the digital source and amplification, only 30% of the cost is for the speakers. I have seen the same approach from other brands such as ATC.

Another issue is which customers to focus on. Most people on this forum probably want to tinker with separate components; it’s part of the hobby. I see the target group more as people wanting great sound in an easy to manage and unobtrusive system, or audiophiles with dedicated listening rooms who still want a second good sounding system in their living rooms, possibly also connected to a TV. In both cases YG will probably do better if they packge the Bel Canto electronics into their Peak series speakers.

Regarding the new Avantgarde active speakers, I had the opportunity to listen to them at a show recently. Unfortunately the sound quality did not impress. They felt underpowered and grainy. They where using what looked like a very cheap Cd-player which may have been the culprit.

Best regards
Hans
 
The idea of active / powered speakers is appealing; the simplifying of things (fewer boxes, cables), and the potential of a perfectly matched speaker and amp. Have been reading up on them casually for a while.

Built-in room correction software that some have is also interesting. Genelec is a brand that caught my interest years ago.

The few reviews of the B&W Formation Duo that I've read are all glowing. Has anyone heard them? The wireless part I don't really care about, but descriptions of the sound have been enthusiastic.
 
I owned the Kiii Three for a while, i didnt get around to adding the BXT bass modules (would like to hear those one day). It was/is an impressive system especically for digital-only types and those wanting to eliminate boxes. Im primarily a vinyl guy, being that all signals went through the 'digital meat grinder' it was antithetical to my goal of keeping my main source 100% analog.

 
I also like the idea of an active system. At the Capital AudioFest in Washington DC, one of my favorite rooms at the show has consistently been the Eikon Audio room, especially when using their Image 1 speakers. Those speakers and the DSP correction system they employ really sounded excellent to my ears.
 
One of the companies that was always in active speakers is Backes & Müller from Germany. They make extreme high-end speakers. Not internationally famous I guess.
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^ Another glowing Genelec review, with measurements to back it up.

I actually have the G One, the smallest model, as my desktop computer speakers.
 
Mrppv said:
^ Another glowing Genelec review, with measurements to back it up.
I actually have the G One, the smallest model, as my desktop computer speakers.
Click to expand...
Cool. Yes, appears HR liked the sound quite a bit.
An audio club member/friend of Mike and I was a Genelec dealer (RIP) and had some similar to these set up in a hotel room once. Very nice sound.

cheers,

AJ
 
I thought the YG active speakers sounded very good when I heard them.

If I went active ATC would be at the top of my list.

Someone mentioned price ratio, not sure how they do it but seems some of the brands can achieve good sound. I would think ATC uses their own amps but not sure.

Dynaudio offers a good selection.
 
I think active is a good way to minimize cabinet size regarding bass, and eliminates the worry of component matching, but I listened to the atc active vs passive demo at axpona, last one b4 covid and tbh I didn't notice a difference in the 5 minutes it took to swap speakers
 
Mr Peabody said:
I thought the YG active speakers sounded very good when I heard them.

If I went active ATC would be at the top of my list.

Someone mentioned price ratio, not sure how they do it but seems some of the brands can achieve good sound. I would think ATC uses their own amps but not sure.

Dynaudio offers a good selection.
Click to expand...

ATC uses Class A/B amps of their own design.
 
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