Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

Designing an amp specific to the speakers it is driving is a great idea. Remember Acoustats? They made an amplifier, the TransNova 200, that would drive their very difficult speakers. 1981, I believe.

My Acoustic Research LST speakers, now almost 50 years old, are still singing beautifully in my second system (yes, they've needed some repairs over the years). If they had internal amps... not so much, I think.

Isn't it true that pro speakers are internally amped primarily for ease of setup? A speakON and a power cord and you're good. Can you imagine the expense and hassle of miles of speaker cable? Not to mention the mess.

Seems like a good excuse to insert a plug for my dream speakers and their dedicated amplifiers. Yes, Darth Speaker and Mono-Me, but wow. Hear them if you can. 

Peace.

Anyone who buys an active speaker should expect it to die within a decade.

That's why I will never buy another active speaker again.

Simple.

You can wax all day long how actives are better than passives, but who cares.

Unless you are willing to kiss the speaker good-bye after a decade.

I'm not willing to do that.

@fred60 , if an amp goes out on an active speaker please don't chuck it. Unscrew the plate amp from the back, carefully disconnect the connector wires, and take it/send it to the dealer/mfg for repairs.

@lonemountain , how does ATC service amps from active speakers?

Most active speakers have Class D amps inside them.

Class D amps are basically unrepairable.

The dealer will not repair nor will any manufacturer.

Again, that's why I will never buy an active speaker.

If anyone has a different experience, I'd love to hear it.

@fred60 

per @lonemountain (Brad)

I agree with you I wish more people understood what they were buying.

At ATC, we build both active and passive of nearly every model from 2 way to big high power three ways. Understanding the advantages of an active system is not well understood out there in the market but should be. Reasons to NOT like it are usually baseless, such as "you can’t service the amps if they are installed inside a speaker" (silly as ATC amp packs bolt on and off and are can be sent to us for service without the entire speaker coming along- its usually easier to send us a amp pack then a standard 3-5Ru rack mount amp). Or other reasons like "plate amps don’t last that long" which is also completely untrue, I have so many active ATC speakers on for 15- 20 years for 18 hours a day its crazy. If they all broke I would be buried in service. Reliability doesn’t really enter into it as I think most well built gear lasts a lifetime now. Unless you are talking about cheap active, thrown together low cost contract speakers with amps inside that are built for price. That’s a different story but it has nothing to do with being active.

Again, being in the studio business as well as home audio in active and passive I see both. Studios have issues with passives and outboard amps more often than issues with actives because of the constant connections and unconnecting and the additional part and pieces that need adjusting. Connectors are a huge issue in reliability. Users at home have issues with outboard amps ( of various brands) than active set ups (of various brands) from my direct experience

I think its marketing that has convinced everyone they need to buy amplifiers and if they don’t all hell will break loose. Somehow something is being taken away or somehow something is lost when its really the reverse. Wire and caps and inductors are added between amp and speakers that doesn’t need to be there. I think what’s taken away with passives is imaging and a significant amount of your money.

When I see someone saying they like the ability to change the sound of their system, that’s totally fair and okay. That IS the single best reason to stay passive, not performance or reliability.

Some people want it to sound like it’s supposed to, the way Fleetwood Mac decided or Tom Petty or Lenny Kravitz. ATC enables you to get that, and you cannot get that with passives. You can get close, but not "there". Realism is what drives Billy Woodman- or should I say "low distortion", the doorway to realism.

Brad