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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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In Reply to: RE: best speakers under $500 (including used & kits) posted by devman on November 30, 2017 at 16:56:46:
actives CAN often sound excellent, even better as one reviewer said about ATC SCM40s, but to me, if you rely on built in amplification, you're limiting yourself to a likely limiting factor as built in amps probably aren't "high end" and are built to a price standard.
yes, that's a generalization, but i'd rather KNOW that i'm getting the best amp possible in my price range than count on an unknown quantity that can't be compared against anything else.
besides that, different amps have different personalities. what's a tube amp lover to do with active speakers? the last time i checked, NONE of them use tubes. i'm more of a class D lover, but even there... you need system matching, and down the road, if i go the hypex N core route (many think they're THE BEST amps in the world) i'd be inclined to pair them with tube preamplification to inject a bit of warmth to "liven up" both the class D and my digital source, but the only way to KNOW what i need is to start a system and track its weaknesses down.
if you buy an active system and then notice a weakness over time (like i did with the cabinet resonances of my energy RC10s with their ports plugged for instance, you are LOCKED IN with no way to fix the issue other than start from scratch with new amplification and speakers and even a DAC maybe.
i dread such a potential straightjacket.
back to class D, it REALLY perked my NHT superzero's treble speed & detail up over the "sloppy muffled" sound of them paired with NAD "classic", but my panasonic SA-XR sounded a bit clinical on my energys which might have benefited from more forgiving amplification. i was surprised at just how liquid they sounded when i listened to them one last time on a cambridge mini system at the shop i sold them to.
system matching gives owners the flexibility to tweak EVERY component in a signal chain AND upgrade everything at any time their budgets allowed.
THATs what goes on in my head. it's quite possible there are many active systems like the SCMs i'll never be able to afford (or trust to give me the treble detail i demand with their soft dome tweeters) that are so good, they could be lived with for the rest of my life.
even my humble NHT/panasonic system was very satisfying EXEPT when it came to metallic percussion where B&W, maggie, paradigm & energy etc ran circles around them.
i tend to believe that it's possible to build an AMAZING and CHEAP sub-sat system once i FINALLY heard "undistorted sound", not from $1,000+ towers, but my friend's $100 infinitys! my goal is to get the best bang for the buck out of every component as i don't buy (pun intended) the "you get what you pay for" argument with audio. i've heard B&W & maggies sound hideous on very expensive gear my cheap NHT/panasonic/onkyo DVD system sounded better than.
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Follow Ups
- RE: best speakers under $500 (including used & kits) - thump 12/2/1714:58:47 12/2/17 (0)
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