I also am of the former sort, despite having gone through a fair amount of gear.
There are quite a few articles about the technical benefits of active speakers. For example:
Pros (recording studios, etc.) almost always use active speakers, while audiophiles almost always choose passive. This means most active speakers are made for pros and hence (1) tend to have an ugly utilitarian appearance, and (2) are not in your neighborhood hi-fi store. If you’re open to that, you have many choices. Check out some of the threads on gearslutz.
ATC and ADAM have active speakers targeted at the home listener -- essentially versions of their pro products. I’m sure there are others.
I’ve been to both Audio Vision SF and to Music Lovers (the one in Berkeley) several times. Music Lovers Berkeley is off the deep end.
There are quite a few articles about the technical benefits of active speakers. For example:
- Rod Elliot, Benefits of Bi-Amplification (part 1, part 2)
- Rod Elliot, Active vs. Passive Crossovers
- Genelec, Active vs Passive Loudspeaker Design (a concise distillation of the above)
- ATC, Active vs Passive Loudspeakers
- ADAM Audio, Active vs Passive?
Pros (recording studios, etc.) almost always use active speakers, while audiophiles almost always choose passive. This means most active speakers are made for pros and hence (1) tend to have an ugly utilitarian appearance, and (2) are not in your neighborhood hi-fi store. If you’re open to that, you have many choices. Check out some of the threads on gearslutz.
ATC and ADAM have active speakers targeted at the home listener -- essentially versions of their pro products. I’m sure there are others.
I’ve been to both Audio Vision SF and to Music Lovers (the one in Berkeley) several times. Music Lovers Berkeley is off the deep end.