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Pros and cons of active speakers

It's interesting to ask why classic designs don't appear to include active designs.

I'll speculate that this is down to advances in amplifier design lagging compared to the drivers, and specialist manufacturers dominating the leading edge during the 60s and 70s. You need vertically integrated companies that can excel in a range of technologies to develop active speakers, or you need modern supply chains to be established providing electronics to OEMs.

When the best amplifiers are valve based, you aren't going to get active designs unless you want to set fire to your home :)
 
I've had some really fantastic active speakers much better value and sound than many passives, but even from reputable makes they can be unreliable and sometimes because the speaker maker is represented by a distributor, getting anything done or repaired on the speaker can be a nightmare.

ATC are the exception, amazing service.
 
... There are not many designs available as passive or active to be able to make the comparison of course!
They are from ATC. The amp pack and the substantial passive crossover are interchangeable.


My demo pair arrived at my dealer's premises as passive, accompanied by their (own specifically set up) amp pack. It was a simple swap. I didn't listen to the passive version at that time though.

IMHO it's a good design for long-term maintainability. ATC have been known to supply some custom 'speakers to reviewers containing both, with mains-activated relays that swapped from passive to active whenever the mains was turned on.
 
When ATC say the passive crossover is the best they can engineer it, I think it's important to point out that if top crossover designers from other companies - say Kef, Tannoy, JBL etc, designed a passive crossover for the ATC, they'd all sound and measure different. So there's a possibility that the passive ATC crossover could be improved.
Parts quality could also possibly be improved. It looks like they use Ansar polypropylene capacitors. They are my favourite budget caps, but can be bettered.
 
I would agree with that. I had the D&D 8c’s here for three days or so. Very clever, mighty impressive technology. They just don’t sound very good.

You cannot say categorically that the "they just don’t sound very good"; just as they don't sound good to you it is obvious from others opinions/reports that it sounds amazing to others.
That is the nature of audio...
 
More advanced DSP active speakers like the Kii or Dutch & Dutch have advantages but as has been noted above its hard to get large scale from them and why the Kii have the large bass units available. Both of these models are great in near field studio applications or small rooms.

That is a bit extreme. Many member here have tiny to small standmounts which are far less capable of doing large scale.
 
Believe me the D&D 8C’s do big scale… very big scale at ASBO levels. They just need setting up correctly with a good target curve which takes time to perfect.
 
What is ‘big scale’ the 8Cs are completely full-range 20Hz-20kHz in room with no ‘boom’ for many customers it is the first time they have enjoyed real bass in their room, add to that their cardioid response, constant directivity, placement close to boundaries and adjustability.
Keith
 
You cannot say categorically that the "they just don’t sound very good"; just as they don't sound good to you it is obvious from others opinions/reports that it sounds amazing to others.
That is the nature of audio...
Of course, the only opinion I can honestly offer is my own. Despite all the clever engineering, measurement process, target curves, DSP adjustments e.t.c they sound like what they are, three way class D driven stand mounts.
 
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That’s reassuring as they are three way, stand mounted speakers which use class-d amplification .
They are also amongst the handful of finest measuring loudspeakers currently available, perhaps you just don’t enjoy transparency?
Keith
 
That’s reassuring as they are three way, stand mounted speakers which use class-d amplification .
They are also amongst the handful of finest measuring loudspeakers currently available, perhaps you just don’t enjoy transparency?
Keith
Yep, I’m definitely cloth eared these days. Again, the only opinion I can honestly offer is my own. Sorry if that offends you and your measurements.
 
Of course, the only opinion I can honestly offer is my own. Despite all the clever engineering, measurement process, target curves, DSP adjustments e.t.c they sound like what they are, three way class D driven stand mounts.

That is still a very sweeping generalisation in my view.
 
IMHO you do need to re-evaluate and re-level preconceptions before even coming close to accepting concepts the D&D 8c's and Kii's offer.
 
I remember one of our first 8C customers asking his partner what they thought of them compared to their current Harbeth's ( I think they were ) and she said the 8Cs were clearer with better bass, which is in retrospect exactly what they are.
Keith
 
That is still a very sweeping generalisation in my view.
Try ‘em! The vendor near me is very accommodating and knowledgable and lets you trial for a few days after suitable set up. I assume he only does this as he has a high percentage of buyers after the demo. They may work brilliantly for your room, ears, brain e.t.c.
 
IMHO you do need to re-evaluate and re-level preconceptions before even coming close to accepting the concept the D&D 8c's and Kii's offer.
That of course may be true, although I can honestly say that I wanted them to work for me, really wanted them to. I have a Naim high end/LP12 system into Obs 2 and was very keen to reduce the number of boxes in my room, which is at ridiculous ‘Wife enraging’ levels.
 
Ah, the classic ‘you’re listening all wrong’ argument….

PS I remember that one well from the 1980s…
How can you ‘listen wrong’ I would like to know exactly why Mat found them so objectionable when they are ( one of ) if not the most transparent loudspeakers currently available.
As CK said if perhaps you are used to an extremely coloured sound…
Keith
 


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