Active Speakers Better? No, per Michael Borresen

Not to beat a dead horse after my lengthy post, but read this active speaker review and you’ll have an idea if you want to go this route. This is a highly regarded all-in-one ’easy’ solution for going active. No doubt there are people who will want this, and the audio world is a better place for it, but it’s a different process. (Stereophile’s review of the also highly regarded Dutch & Dutch 8c is another you might want to read). Both are probably excellent choices for clean sounding minimalist systems.. but if you’re a traditional audiophile, in these cases you may very well start to wonder what other hardware is inside that box. Do you immediately trust someone when you meet them? Well, then you're a good soul.. and these speakers will be all you'll ever need. No right or wrong answer.. only choices.

Just to tickle the dragon, believing this subject somewhat beaten to death, not only in this post but others, but are not nearly everyone's subwoofers active?  I like many here have owned a plethora of everything, but I've never done the passive subwoofer with a dedicated separate amp.  Would that not be the same argument?

I'm just wondering respectfully how that plays out with the zealot passive transducer crowd.  Confident that confirmation bias will rage in and have a declaration of "that's not the same thing!"  It makes me smile.

I know what works for me and do not wish to proselytize to others. 

@celtic66 , that is exactly the same thing, the benefits of an active sub apply to active speakers. 

Imo, subs are a different situation… 20-30ft LF wavelengths and room interaction.. so a sub needs dsp to deal with modal issues. A properly designed speaker has controlled dispersion above 80hz.

And sure.. you can have a sub as separates if you want. The company that made my sub actually does this in their standard home theatre installations.. everything is separate, but this is far above my pay grade.

@jhw9 , all speakers have room interaction issues, need proper placement, and can often benefit from DSP. Many active speakers have controls in the back unlike passive speakers, similar to a subs controls only more appropriate for the type of speaker.