Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

BTW, if you don’t like Focals you could take that same budget and build a great active atmos setup with neumann, jbl, dynaudio, ATC, etc.

I look at these JBL’s and immediately want to build another HT just to house them, three 708P as L-C-R ($2K each biamped with 500 watts) matched with eight 703P ($1100 each biamped with 370 watts) brings a system in around $15K, for 11 speakers and over 4.5kw of bespoke amplification. With a $25K budget you have $10K left over for subs.

Now if you want a passive setup all good, JBL has the HDI series but expect to pay a lot more for the additional amps and get a lot less power.

 

Can anyone guess which type of system (active or passive) this pic represents?

I know your next question, why do people waste so much money on mismatched amps and speakers. I can’t hide the elephant in the room,

because its fun to roll amps and tinker 🤘

@kota1 why would I be shopping for those speakers was because at that time 3 years ago I didn’t have all that equipment (also you got most of the specks wrong, I’ll give you a list). I’ve put about $500k in sound equipment in the last 3 years about $200 for the mixing system and about $250 for the home theater in my room plus 14 TVs and another atmo system in my Theater and another small system in my family room. I wanted to listen to the best Focal speakers they had at upscale audio and I was prepared to buy them if they were good but they weren’t , when I heard the Paradigms they were unquestionably better in the first 2 seconds. I’m going to listen to a Steinway B system and some Sonos Faber speakers, (may have to go to LA to do it). I want a system that I don’t want to improve on It may be that I just get new subs and stick with my 9hs they have excellent mid and high frequency. I’ve always loved Sonos Faber but I haven’t heard them in 10 years.

My 2 cents on JBL, I’m from recording, every studio when I was coming up had JBLs I though they all sounded wonderful, I have a little set of powered JBLs they sound great. I heard Hardens (JBLs concert system) inside their big building and it was amazing. They are like any other big company they have a line on the very best cutting edge tech it’s simply a matter if marketing will allow them to put it out at this point in time at a certain price point. That’s why when your Sony headphone amp sounds great I sure your right Yamaha is the same way they don’t really make big moves in the audiophile world but they could dominate it if they wanted to but it wouldn’t make enough money because of volume, hopefully that will change. Also the more I work on my Genelec system the better it gets.

My listening room equipment:

Lyngdorf 60.2 processor

2x PS Audio BHK 300 hybrid amps

PS Audio BHK hybrid Preamp

PS audio Direct Stream DAC

PS audio Perfect Wave SACD transport

2x PS Audio P20 Power Regenerators

Paradigm Persona 9h main speakers

4x Paradigm Persona B surround sound speakers

Paradigm Persona C (center) speaker

4x Paradigm ceiling speakers

2x JL Audio Fathom 113 v2 Powered subs

JL Audio CR-1 Bass crossover (for sale)

2x Anthem MCA 5 channel Amps

Sony SACD Transport

Panasonic 9000 DVD Transport

A ton of AC cables speaker cables racks

2x Isolated AC circuits with AC boxes

Naim Atom Unity HD Amp

Focal Stella headphones

And the ProTools, MATRX Studio, HDX, Avid S4 Control Desk, 11x Genelec 8351B SAM "the ones" powered speakers, Genelec Sub, Yamaha CX-A5200.

Also I have to say in your article about the JBL speakers the mixer said

“The 708P monitors never deceive me and always make my mix sound bigger,” That’s what I disagreed about with Brian the owner of the mastering room because you don’t ever want to mix on speakers that make the sound bigger smaller fuller clearer more musical more coherent or any superlative word. When mixing you want to make the sound as it actually is, accurate is what mixers are going for not sound great on a great set of monitors no way. This is why mixers don’t use expensive speakers, and today mixes may be done in several studios, for a mastering house it doesn’t matter because they are always in front of the same speakers so those speakers become your reference no matter what quality of monitor they are.

 

@donavabdear

I’ve put about $500k in sound equipment

Is there any purchase you made with hindsight that you wouldn’t make again? I’ll bet that killer sales guy is either very happy or very sad, depending on your business relationship. I love $$$ systems and am very happy for you.

the best Focal speakers they had at upscale audio

It sometimes takes a bit of shopping to find what you like. It is a shame you didn’t stick to your OP there are some GREAT places to shop in LA for gear. I guess you wanted to check out the "dark" side and man, you chomped off quite a bite at $200K.

every studio when I was coming up had JBLs

like any other big company they have a line on the very best cutting edge tech

The JBL’s got better since you were coming up. The M2 monitor changed everything. I wanted the M2’s but needed a desktop system and they wouldn’t fit. When the M2 came out JBL had two lines of speakers that used trickle down tech from the M2’s (the 705P wasn’t out yet). I auditioned the active LSR305 and the passive Studio 230’s. No other speakers prior to those used the trickle down tech from the M2. When I added a Parasound preamp and power amp the 230’s sounded great. When I changed for a Sunfire pre and Carver amp it was like nothing I could compare to. The sweet spot, the imaging, the soundstage, I still have them and built another system around them in the man cave.

That’s why when your Sony headphone amp sounds great

The story behind the Signature line is exactly that, the CEO opened up the budget and challenged the engineers to see what they could accomplish if they focused on simply building the best. They took about 5 years and got it right, all the way down to using silver solder and Kimber cables internally.

Also the more I work on my Genelec system the better it gets.

See? You know that going in, no surprise here. What you did on your passive rig was I guess "different".

I disagreed about with Brian the owner of the mastering room

Uhhhh, does Brian have very many clients? That’s what matters right? What the client wants?

This is why mixers don’t use expensive speakers,

The Genelec’s weren’t expensive? 😥

As for your HT components I think it is an issue of taste, not really an issue of value. We both had different strategies. I followed the strategy you laid out in the OP. I actually own both the active and passive version of the Paradigm Reference Studio 20. The passive version can never get the bass extension of the active version no matter what amp I use. In order to get both speakers to sound competitive I had to spend more on the amp and the speaker cables that I mated the passive 20’s with than the entire cost of the active speaker. I don’t need all the racks and wires too, more budget freed up. Fortunately I saved money in the process.

Here is my million dollar question (I mean half million dollar question😁)
Dollars to donuts, where does an audio dollar stretch further, active or passive? You have both systems, what do you think?