Bookshelf Speakers with the decent bass

"04-12-15: Chrshanl37
curious to know what actives you have auditoned zd
Chrshanl37 (Threads | Answers | This Thread)"

There's not that many high end powered speakers. Regardless, all of the ones I have listened to are overpriced for the SQ that they deliver. I have yet to hear actives that can compete realisticly with well matched separates costing the same or less. To be fair, I most likely have different taste's than most. For example, I like Ayre for solid state. There's no active speaker that has an amp like that inside of it. But what I find amazing about all of this, is how everyone is so careful to get just the right amp, preamp and speaker combo, but for an active, whatever comes in the box is good enough. Everyone just goes brain dead. All common sense goes out the window.

Anyway, to answer your question, I've either owned or demoed the following. All of the Meridians. Audio Engine, All the ones that they sell in the music stores (JBL, KRK, Tannoy, Adam, Alesis etc.), PMC, ATC, Genelec, AktiMate. There's probably more, but that's all I can remember for now.

I should also mention that I'm referring only to fully powered speakers. Some speakers just have powered bass sections (Vandersteen, Genesis, etc). They can sound fine.

To sum up, regardless of the type of speaker you buy, active, passive, or partial, the selection process doesn't change. Buying an active speaker guarantees you absolutely nothing with regards to sound quality. And why should it?

"There's not that many high end powered speakers. Regardless, all of the ones I have listened to are overpriced for the SQ that they deliver. I have yet to hear actives that can compete realisticly with well matched separates costing the same or less. To be fair, I most likely have different taste's than most. For example, I like Ayre for solid state. There's no active speaker that has an amp like that inside of it. But what I find amazing about all of this, is how everyone is so careful to get just the right amp, preamp and speaker combo, but for an active, whatever comes in the box is good enough. Everyone just goes brain dead. All common sense goes out the window.

Anyway, to answer your question, I've either owned or demoed the following. All of the Meridians. Audio Engine, All the ones that they sell in the music stores (JBL, KRK, Tannoy, Adam, Alesis etc.), PMC, ATC, Genelec, AktiMate. There's probably more, but that's all I can remember for now.

I should also mention that I'm referring only to fully powered speakers. Some speakers just have powered bass sections (Vandersteen, Genesis, etc). They can sound fine.

To sum up, regardless of the type of speaker you buy, active, passive, or partial, the selection process doesn't change. Buying an active speaker guarantees you absolutely nothing with regards to sound quality. And why should it? "

zd , How do you know all of this to be true ? Are you an audiophile savant ?

"zd , How do you know all of this to be true ? Are you an audiophile savant?"

I might be. What part are you referring to? For the most part, my last post is a mix of personal opinion and common sense.

As we all know there are no absolutes here and to me that is
the only thing that is common sense. To say that an active
speaker can't compete with a passive with a separate amp in
the same price range is nonsense and border line dillusional.
The same flawed logic could be applied to buying an integrated
amp vs seperates.

If a designer of an active has spent the time to mate an amp
that sounds good with them then he is taking the guess work
out of the equation. Who cares if its not an ayre its more
about synergy. The forums on every audio site are full of
threads dealing with the subject of matching speakers with the
correct amp. Obviously this is a point of frustration for many
people in this hobby. In fact judging by the sheer amount of
gear bought and sold on here it appears as if more people than
not struggle to achieve it across the board.

If the op auditions a pair of actives and likes them who are
we to say he or she isnt getting good sound? The
recommendation was just another option for the op to explore.

You like vandies as do many others for the various reasons you
have stated on other threads. I dont care for them and the
amount of other people who dont like or own them far out weigh
those that do. That doesn't mean you didnt make a solid
recommendation and I think the op should definitely check em
out.

Aplogies for the rant I just think there is a lot of opinion
expressed on here passed off as fact and it does this site and
the members a disservice. Apologies for the misspellings as
well I'm typing this on my phone.

((("zd , How do you know all of this to be true ? Are you an audiophile savant?")))
Maplegrovemusic
If you do this long enough you realize ZD is just making
an simple observation with coherence.
An honest full range speaker like he owns will have the advantage of a smoother bass in room response this allows
upper frequencies to sit on a better foundation allowing the music to be more dimensional. Most Mini box monitors have no foundation and are dicked up at two frequencies Mid bass and Treble as a balancing act,
this in combo with the box lends male voice to sound nasal by comparison. This is why i would guess ZD doesnt listen to
Bookshelves.