Why so few active speakers?
Discussion
In car audio when you want to improve the stereo you remove the power sapping passive crossovers then put an active crossover inbetween the source and the amp with one channel per speaker.
Is there a reason this is not done in home audio more?
The extra clarity and control are more than worth it in car.
Is it that the manufacturers don't trust customers to set parameters themselves.
Plenty of car audio users create sub enclosures for in home with high quality drivers.
Maybe car users are expected to be more hands on whereas home users are expected to take what they are given?
Is there a reason this is not done in home audio more?
The extra clarity and control are more than worth it in car.
Is it that the manufacturers don't trust customers to set parameters themselves.
Plenty of car audio users create sub enclosures for in home with high quality drivers.
Maybe car users are expected to be more hands on whereas home users are expected to take what they are given?
There are some about: PMC and Meridian to name two, though I'm sure there are more, not including the cheap computer type active speaker sets. Maybe it's more critical in a car as car speakers tend to be 4ohm due to the 12 volt power supply limiting the amount of voltage swing you can have. I don't know if this makes the crossovers less efficient though compared to hifi speakers more typical 8ohms rating. Plenty of hifi speakers allow biamping/triamping if you want to add extra power amps for eacg driver (done it myself on my front three speakers).
BlueMR2 said:
In car audio when you want to improve the stereo you remove the power sapping passive crossovers then put an active crossover inbetween the source and the amp with one channel per speaker.
Is there a reason this is not done in home audio more?
As well as PMC and Meridian there are other active Hi-Fi speakers out there but move over slightly to the pro/monitor market and you'll find active speakers are the norm and passive are the exception. There are pages of them here.......Is there a reason this is not done in home audio more?
http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/active-monit...
Some active Hi-fi products
http://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/Default.aspx?page...
http://www.avihifi.co.uk/adm9.html
http://www.atcloudspeakers.co.uk/scm100slat.php
Active in car audio terms is that the frequency ranges are determined prior to amping by external amps, it seems active in home is regarded as having the amp in the same physical box as the speakers.
Those last ones look interesting but 68kg each
and at $32,000 a set you could get 6 channels of nice amplification with an active crossover and some very nice speakers to build your floor standers.
They choose odd crossover frequencies and don't seem to bother changing them even when they change the size of the speakers.
With the cheaper ones, you wonder how well they are put together and what the quality of the parts are, whilst with others, with amp parts inside they are tremendously heavy for the average house holder to have on stands. You wouldn't want to explain how your kid got that bump on their head in this day and age.
Those last ones look interesting but 68kg each
and at $32,000 a set you could get 6 channels of nice amplification with an active crossover and some very nice speakers to build your floor standers.They choose odd crossover frequencies and don't seem to bother changing them even when they change the size of the speakers.
With the cheaper ones, you wonder how well they are put together and what the quality of the parts are, whilst with others, with amp parts inside they are tremendously heavy for the average house holder to have on stands. You wouldn't want to explain how your kid got that bump on their head in this day and age.
BlueMR2 said:
Active in car audio terms is that the frequency ranges are determined prior to amping by external amps, it seems active in home is regarded as having the amp in the same physical box as the speakers.
Those last ones look interesting but 68kg each and at $32,000 a set you could get 6 channels of nice amplification with an active crossover and some very nice speakers to build your floor standers.
They choose odd crossover frequencies and don't seem to bother changing them even when they change the size of the speakers.
With the cheaper ones, you wonder how well they are put together and what the quality of the parts are, whilst with others, with amp parts inside they are tremendously heavy for the average house holder to have on stands. You wouldn't want to explain how your kid got that bump on their head in this day and age.
Those last ones look interesting but 68kg each
and at $32,000 a set you could get 6 channels of nice amplification with an active crossover and some very nice speakers to build your floor standers.They choose odd crossover frequencies and don't seem to bother changing them even when they change the size of the speakers.
With the cheaper ones, you wonder how well they are put together and what the quality of the parts are, whilst with others, with amp parts inside they are tremendously heavy for the average house holder to have on stands. You wouldn't want to explain how your kid got that bump on their head in this day and age.
blueMR2 said:
Is it that the manufacturers don't trust customers to set parameters themselves.
I think that's a factor ~ the end result of a system configured by ear alone is very unlikely to sound as good as one designed/developed using comprehensive measurements. Car audio and home hifi differ greatly ~ active car setups are usually after market installations which have to have flexible crossovers to cater for a huge number of variables ie multiple car body shapes, differing after market drive units, differing after market amps and most of all the huge variation in what the end user percieves to sound good / correct. Cars usually don't have large enclosures for hiding the amps away either. Home audio has a different and much more integrated design brief; where endless cables connecting multiple external amps and crossovers don't usually go down well from a domestic point of view.
I agree ATCs cost serious money but many think they are the best speakers available and the best usually does cost more ~ hundreds of recording, production, mastering and broadcast facilities use them for a reason. Their client list is interesting..... http://www.atcloudspeakers.co.uk/clients2.php
Regarding 'odd' crossover frequencies and not bothering changing them when they change the size of the speakers. 380Hz ~ 3.5Khz appears to be the bandwidth that designer Billy Woodman has determined to be optimum for the 3" soft dome mid he uses on all of ATCs top speakers. Its unlikely to work well at lower than 380Hz due to its 320Hz resonant frequency / max power handling.
B&W, Gryphon, Meridian are "state of the art" too. I fancy a pair of these myself even if they are only semi active
http://www.gryphon-audio.dk/Edited by Crackie on Tuesday 27th December 12:52
BlueMR2 said:
Active in car audio terms is that the frequency ranges are determined prior to amping by external amps, it seems active in home is regarded as having the amp in the same physical box as the speakers.
Those last ones look interesting but 68kg each and at $32,000 a set you could get 6 channels of nice amplification with an active crossover and some very nice speakers to build your floor standers.
They choose odd crossover frequencies and don't seem to bother changing them even when they change the size of the speakers.
With the cheaper ones, you wonder how well they are put together and what the quality of the parts are, whilst with others, with amp parts inside they are tremendously heavy for the average house holder to have on stands. You wouldn't want to explain how your kid got that bump on their head in this day and age.
Car audio and home hifi differ greatly ~ active car setups are usually after market installations which have to have flexible crossovers to cater for a huge number of variables ie multiple car body shapes, differing after market drive units, differing after market amps and most of all the huge variation in what the end user percieves to sound good / correct. Cars usually don't have large enclosures for hiding the amps away either. Home audio has a different and much more integrated design brief; where endless cables connecting multiple external amps and crossovers don't usually go down well from a domestic point of view. Those last ones look interesting but 68kg each
and at $32,000 a set you could get 6 channels of nice amplification with an active crossover and some very nice speakers to build your floor standers.They choose odd crossover frequencies and don't seem to bother changing them even when they change the size of the speakers.
With the cheaper ones, you wonder how well they are put together and what the quality of the parts are, whilst with others, with amp parts inside they are tremendously heavy for the average house holder to have on stands. You wouldn't want to explain how your kid got that bump on their head in this day and age.
I agree ATCs cost serious money but many think they are the best speakers available and the best usually does cost more ~ hundreds of recording, production, mastering and broadcast facilities use them for a reason. Their client list is interesting..... http://www.atcloudspeakers.co.uk/clients2.php
Regarding 'odd' crossover frequencies and not bothering changing them when they change the size of the speakers. 380Hz ~ 3.5Khz appears to be the bandwidth that designer Billy Woodman has determined to be optimum for the 3" soft dome mid he uses on all of ATCs top speakers. Its unlikely to work well at lower than 380Hz due to the driver's 320Hz resonant frequency and power handling limits.
All imho of course ~ B&W, Gryphon and Meridian actives are "state of the art" too. I fancy a pair of these even if they are only semi active
http://www.gryphon-audio.dk/Edited by Crackie on Tuesday 27th December 13:11
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