Thoughts on Active/Passive Speakers? Looking for pros and cons.

@james633 james633

Only con of active is you can’t tune the sound with different amps. All other things being equal are better IMO.

You might want to rethink this because...

@djones51 hits on something important when he says:

…the con is sometimes the subwoofers optimal position isn’t where you need to place your speakers.

As someone trying to master the room modes in my space, the ability to move the subs is crucial. The idea that the low end would be locked into one place severely limits options. Because at that point, it’s either more treatment or (possibly) radical changes in speaker or listening position. The ability to locate sub(s) is not a tool I’d be able to do without -- in my room. YMMV.

Another brand enters the market.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/heavenly-soundworks-five17-loudspeaker

Depends on your taste and the brand of speaker.

OP, you should listen to what @fiesta75 says about this topic and ignore the rest.

Active has a lot of limitations. And not only that the complexity is not worth it. For low end to mid fi, may make some sense. But high end will always be passive.

Oh really? Then can you please explain why nearly every professional audio rig you have ever heard (maybe you have not, which would make sense) at a live event uses active speaker systems?

Only in the US would an "audiophile" make such dubious claims without any experience.

The absolute best systems I have ever heard in people's homes have been active systems.

Active systems (if done correctly) are far superior to passive systems. Especially, and even in the "high end". Get with the times people.

^^^ If done right active can sound good but the complexity is probably not worth it.  You will need external amp and dedicated ADC per channel which won't come cheap.  Most people won't put up with all that external equipment.  Cheap miniDSP stuffs are not going to cut it.

On paper active may have an advantage but real world constrains make it not practical.

If you're just contend with built-in class D amp and cheap digital to analog conversion then well I suppose active is a good alternative.