Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused


17 of 23 speakers in my studio and home theater systems are internally powered. My studio system is all Genelec and sounds very accurate. I know the best new concert and studio speakers are internally powered there are great technical reasons to design a speaker and an amp synergistically, this concept is much more important to sound quality than the vibration systems we often buy. How can an audiophile justify a vibration system of any sort with this in mind.

128x128donavabdear

@fpomposo 

Regarding vibration control, it is everything, half the holographic, super detailed sound of my system I attribute to my ceramic cones, maple boards, sorbothane pads on the rack, carbon fiber pucks under the speakers, Schumann wave generator etc... and you cant use most of that stuff on a powered speaker system.

I have used Mapleshade Bedrock stands on my active speakers for years, stunning upgrade:

https://www.mapleshadestore.com/speakerstands.php

@gruvjet I have not heard Focals so can’t comment, but your friend lacked the same ROOM you had, so can’t really compare apples to apples.

FYI, did you see this:

 

 

edgyhassle 30 years ago at an AES convention I got to talk to John Meyer about this question, he thought there was no way to design the most accurate sound reproduction system without the speaker being designed for the amp and visa versa isn't even worth a conversation.

The problem is culture, greed, and physics. I have a wonderful 2 channel system that somehow sounds wonderful magical and I'm honestly sad that I don't really want to fix it or make improvements, I love to tweak I love to look forward to a new purchase but I don't need to, I'm happy with my stereo. Greed comes in when the niche shops and companies lure rich guys who were nerds in high school to fit into a very expensive community just like supercars (I have one of those too). Physics enters the equation in a very practical sense, I recorded movie sound for many decades and have been in some of the top recording studios in the world. I know the words that describe the level of quality in an audiophile speaker ad are not the same level that the dialogue was recorded on the set of a huge movie or a world class music recording. Audiophile equipment can't make the original product better, until we get to the point when artificial intelligence can fill in the cracks in the quality of the sound, that time hasn't come yet. 
 

Fun is a good reason to be an audiophile but be careful it's not arrogance because you feel you have listening attributes that are metaphysical, if this is the case you are fooling yourself which happens to be an audiophile speciality and an entire branch of study called psychoacoustics.