vln
Shuns mooks. And MQA.
So after many years of abstinence I once again bought a HiFi mag ("Stereoplay", from Germany) because an article really interested me - a comparison between an active and a passive version of their ATC SCM50 speakers.
After reading the article, I instantly regretted my purchase, as it was ridiculously short, but also not very informative (yeah, I know - did I really expect otherwise?!).
Two claims they made I found a bit odd:
1.) they say that they couldn't measure any advantage the active version might have over the passive version
and
2.) they could only hear a difference when the passive version was driven by a 19800EUR Ayre amp (then the passive version sounded better, so they say); when the passive version was driven by an average amp... wait for it... the active version sounded better
In the end, this "finding" didn't surprise me that much, IMO they would have to write something like that in order to still justify the existence (and, consequently, the reviewing) of very expensive "Audiophile" / "High End" amps (20k, FFS! Is it made out of gold?!), which is why the combination of expensive amp + passive version just had to win.
Am I being overly cynical? Anyone got any comments? James perhaps?
Cheers,
Samuel.
PS:
Here's the link to the article for those of you who can read German:
http://www.klingtgut-studio.de/word...011/03/ATC_SCM50_aktiv-passiv-Stpl-4-2011.pdf
After reading the article, I instantly regretted my purchase, as it was ridiculously short, but also not very informative (yeah, I know - did I really expect otherwise?!).
Two claims they made I found a bit odd:
1.) they say that they couldn't measure any advantage the active version might have over the passive version
and
2.) they could only hear a difference when the passive version was driven by a 19800EUR Ayre amp (then the passive version sounded better, so they say); when the passive version was driven by an average amp... wait for it... the active version sounded better
In the end, this "finding" didn't surprise me that much, IMO they would have to write something like that in order to still justify the existence (and, consequently, the reviewing) of very expensive "Audiophile" / "High End" amps (20k, FFS! Is it made out of gold?!), which is why the combination of expensive amp + passive version just had to win.
Am I being overly cynical? Anyone got any comments? James perhaps?
Cheers,
Samuel.
PS:
Here's the link to the article for those of you who can read German:
http://www.klingtgut-studio.de/word...011/03/ATC_SCM50_aktiv-passiv-Stpl-4-2011.pdf