active speakers, Paradise? Trouble in paradise?

Shadorne

Thanks... I get the 10:1 ratio on input to output imp. Though as frequency rises, so does it affect the output imp, and as well, if another device such as a sub is being simultaneously by the same line stage preamp, some severe increases in output imp arise or present themselves.

But, it's cool... I'll lug my pre over to the music store and plug it in if I find any units there which interest me.

How do you control the volume of your ATCs... or other active speakers?

and.. If a speaker s is designed for 'near field' use & operation, would it therrefore be unsuitable for any other non near field listening?

I'm hearing 'nearfield' designs (3-5ft or 6ft, max) simply will not do in normal audiophile 8ft to > situations.

Apparently, the field in near field, needs a bit more definition. Is nearfield listening taking place at 3-5ft in studios?

I'm about 7-10ft back from my speaks. usually about 8>, depending on how reclined I am at the time.

Nearfield is indeed 2 to 6 feet. It is an important consideration in many designs as most two-way speakers run a 6 inch woofer up to 3 or 4KHZ. This makes them ONLY suitable for nearfield because already above 1KHz the woofer is starting to beam (i.e. changing from a floodlight dispersion pattern to a spot dispersion pattern). When you sit in the far field it is very important to have a speaker with even dispersion as the room reflections play a much bigger role in what your hear from the mid range and a "spot" presentation will not sound natural at all.

Very few nearfield designs have wide dispersion - you can check this very easily by looking at the X-over frequency. Any design with a X-over at 2 KHz or below (between mid/bass and tweeter) will ensure wide even dispersion.

More farfield designs have wide even dispersion but again you may want to check the X-over frequencies to be sure. (For example B&W make many farfield three way designs with a tweeter X-Over close to 4 KHz and this design will require careful messing around with toe-in/out to get the right mid range balance at the listener and even then the sweetspot on these designs is ALWAYS narrow because of the way upper mid range behaves like a spot light. A good flood light B&W design was their Silver Signature)

Super. Thanks Shaterne.

That pretty much settles it for me then.

That pretty much settles it for me then.

Please note that my comments on nearfield two ways is not limited to active speakers at all.

I agree with Shadorne's point, but I'd just note that there is (at least) one (kinda rare) exception to the high x-over point = beaming rule. Omnidirectional drivers (like those in MBL, Ohm, B&O, etc.) are usually designed with a very high "hand-off" from the mid to the tweeter, yet (due to the omni design) the mid driver doesn't narrow its dispersion pattern near the top of its passpand.

Marty