Any thoughts on passive v. active speakers?


I'm thinking about ditching my amps and cables and just buying an active speaker with a balanced input. I have a Krell 2250 and a pair of 140 watt Atma-sphere MA-1MKII. I desperately need speakers and cables, but not sure if I want to go through the bother (and expense) of finding the perfect matching set.

Should I go with a speaker & amp that are already matched or keep building my system like a bespoke smorgasbord?
rogerstillman
I'm not sure if there IS an active speaker than can compete with high end tube gear, but some of the PMC studio monitors look like they could blow my house down when standing on their subs.

I haven't heard them, but wonder what these sound like:

http://pmc-speakers.com/products/professional/active/ib2s-xbd

Of course those Active Speakers are many times what my tube gear would cost when new.
Please check out their website, speakers and read the English translation of the review just published in the German Audio Mag. They say its the best sound they have ever heard in over 30 years of testing. $14,000 a pair here in the US...just starting to ship....19 cycle bass from a 35 lb. monitor.....6 servoed Ncore amps in each box....

There will be even better things like this is the future. Imagine larger with Raal Tweeter and custom ceramic/diamond mids and even better amps....Yowzer! Active speakers will slowly take over the world...he he.
Sorry, Kii speakers....look them up. I thought if you change the subject it becomes the first line.....not so here. Kiiaudio.com
Here come the Active Speaker fans...bring it on.

BTW the L200 have great tweeters, the 810s are ok in the mid range & the bass is only faintly suggested.
Roger, another point to keep in mind when connecting speakers in series is to be sure to connect the + (usually red) and - (usually black) terminals of the amp and speakers correctly. The proper way for a series connection of two speakers is as follows:

Amplifier (+) to Speaker 1 (+)

Speaker 1 (-) to Speaker 2 (+)

Speaker 2 (-) to Amplifier (-)

It doesn't matter which speaker is connected as speaker 1 and as speaker 2.

If you don't do that correctly it won't damage anything. But the sound will definitely suffer, assuming the two pairs of speakers are in the same room, or at least if both speakers can be heard at the same time.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al