Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

Past weekend I auditioned these.

I was blown away by their sound. Open, rich, tremendous separation of instruments and placement, sound stage wider than the speaker distance, deep yet tight punchy bass, clear highs. Tastes can differ, but these suit Me.

And I like their philisophy ... keep the sound digital until the very end where it feeds the loudspeaker. The speakers feature 4 internal amps and a DSP, via which tuning to your liking is possible, also via a room acoustics measurement system.

I thought they are fun to listen to, and will probably be fun to tinker with.

Big plus ... no discussions on the effect of cheap or expensive speaker cables ... there are no cables. :)

And I like their philisophy ... keep the sound digital until the very end where it feeds the loudspeaker,

kinda doesn’t work for tape of LP then…

@sokogear, They are a powered recliner just like any Lazy-Boy. They are not specifically designed for theater use although I use three of them in a theater set up. There is a second row behind up on a platform. It uses a Stessless love seat. I am going to have to get creative to make a foot rest for it as there is no room for ottomans. The problem was that I could not find any theater seating that could be made with the kind of leather I wanted. Most of it is not built very well. 

@donavabdear , I am agreeing entirely. The only difference is I prefer to be the one to choose the amp. I use two types of drivers, ESLs and subwoofers. Never is a long time but it is highly unlikely I will ever use anything else. Both types of driver have very specific requirements and are demanding to drive. The ESLs are very reactive being nothing but large capacitors with very low impedance at high frequencies. Then there are the subwoofer drivers that have huge magnets and 4" double layered voice coils which throw enough back EMF to light a city. Although there are some amps capable of driving both types it turns out the best amp for driving the ESLs is not good at all for subwoofers. 

Another point is that the room is an essential part of the loudspeaker system. I use microphones and computer programs to measure the result and apply digital equalization to get what I want. 

@holmz 

kinda doesn’t work for tape of LP then…

True, but isn't the vast majority of recordings available on Tidal and/or Qobuz nowadays? In lossless format, or sometimes even as a digital source in higher quality than LP or tape can ever offer?

@kota1 It is not a contest. It is about achieving the ultimate sound. It's not about achieving tolerable or OK sound. I have owned and listened to every type of speaker driver made. I even had access to a set of Hills Plasmatronics  for a month, nitrogen tanks included. I have the sound I am looking for in my head and I know the path to that sound as I have been on it for close to 40 years since I got my first pair of ESLs in 1979 , Acoustat X's which were active speakers by the way! They had their own special high voltage amps in back. The problem for Active speaker designers is that the room is an integral part of the system. You have to be able to measure the speaker in the room and have a means to respond to the discrepancies. The only other path to the absolute sound is shear luck. Using Room control for the bass only is not good enough. You have to use it full frequency. Then you have to make sure the frequency response of both channels is exactly the same or imaging will suffer. No two speakers are exactly alike. When you place them in different locations they can become vastly different. This is why the speakers have to be tested in place. There are some products that do this, it is becoming more popular in subwoofers. The very best way is to get your own USB measurement mic and the right computer programming. But, you have to be able to respond to amplitude errors and group delays. Without digital signal processing you are stuck with acoustic treatments and wishful thinking. However it is important to note that DSP has it's limits and appropriate room acoustic management remains very important.