Opinions and recommendations on active loudspeakers

@lonemountain Exactly! I often get the sense that some people in these parts are simply EQing their system by other means. The clarity and lack of distortion with top quality active speakers/studio monitors may well tell some people more than they want to know about a recording, and such speakers can spoil a good bit of the "fun" of all the time tweaking. Myself, I’ve music to listen to.

A commenter, audiokinesis, on this thread: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/frequency-response-or-1-db , made some very valuable and relevant observations about the desirability of a truly flat speaker response, and linked to a very interesting technical review of D & D 8c monitors. Well worth the read.

Oh, and BTW, for much more than just reference, I’ve listened to Sarah Jarosz & Co. live from 10’ away. Very, VERY, good...

Agree fully. And rather expensive and time consuming EQing. I can’t myself really see the excitement in trying to find a different (better?) sound from changing the direction of some very expensive cable. And certainly not a digital one. Once you get in there though, it seems very hard to get out.

Warmest recommendation for the master storyteller Guy Clark’s live recording "Keepers". When he was at his best. Best ever? Unfortunately not on Tidal at the moment. Like a lot of his recordings. Shame.

I listen to a lot of mono LPs and electrical 78s.  Despite 78s  inadequacies in frequency range and flat recording response, their dynamics and tonality often are mesmerizing (along with the performances).  The sound in my almost high end system, washes over me and fills the room.  I'm just wondering if a speaker like a powered bass Von Schweikert VR55K would sound as full and lush as my Legacy Focus speakers.  Once I got to almost high end equipment, cabling and tweaks ($70K worth), sound anomalies don't bother me anymore.  Poorly engineered recordings do sound less involving (although my wife likes her heavy metal and rock LPs/CDs).  I haven't heard a Led Zeppelin LP sound as good as a Steely Dan recording.  I latter group paid enormous attention to the recording technique.  

I would say the Doobie Brothers is the group that had the overall highest standard when it comes to recording technique in the 70’s and 80’s. And why not musicality as well. Just listen to Takin’ it to the streets. Not a hint of distortion or bad EQing or painful compression. Just perfect. On active speakers playing at 105db... :-)

ATC has very revealing Midrange but I think they lack in Bass overall across their speaker range due to how they load the drivers up.

If you are requiring something thats Fatigue Free but has the transparency of Studio but with a more musical presentation (Warm Emotional) I would Highly Recommend the Quested Active Speaker Line with a tube Pre-amplifier. The Bass is tuneful and just right, the highs are smooth and the midrange is almost as revealing as the ATC but tends to be warmer and smoother and more forgiving on lesser recordings, which overall works better especially with Digital Recordings.