@rudyb I have both the active and passive versions of Paradigms Reference 20 speaker. The passive version extends down to around 55hz, the passive to around 36hz, big difference. Active has the advantage here.
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.
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@kota1 , Atmos is also marketed for music. Glad to hear you do not use it for that.
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This is the confusion of speaker demos- you aren’t demoing speakers, you are demoing the room. That summarizes it perfectly, and it ain’t just demos, its systems. I like going through the virtual systems area as much to see how members treat their rooms as for their equipment. My active speakers have contour knobs for bass and treble on the back along with a high pass filter. It comes in handy if I have a speaker closer to a room boundary than ideal or if I want to get better integration with my sub and in room bass response. |
@kota1 , the reason that the active Paradigms go lower is because the bass is EQed up. You can do that with the passive speaker and digital EQ. No magic here. By the way, what are you sending to the loudspeaker? An analog low level line? RCA or XLR? Can you give it a digital cable, SPDIF or AES? Is the crossover analog or digital? |
@mijostyn , I am using the XLR inputs for home theater. There is a toggle switch for RCA on the back and I have tried some two channel preamps so I can switch between HT and 2 CH preamps if I want. I can’t give it a digital cable. The Active 20 measurements are HERE As for the crossover info see the specs here: http://www.cain.cainslair.com/Paradigm%20Reference%20Active%20Series%20Specifications.htm From the Active 40 review : Audiophiles just don’t readily accept the idea of their speakers being self-powered. But active loudspeakers have some distinct advantages over their passive counterparts. In fact, when I asked the designers at Paradigm which technology was better, active or passive (since the company makes both types of speakers), I couldn’t even finish my sentence before the word "active" was rushed back at me. There was just no second thought about it. Review: https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/paradigm_active40.htm
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