[Ebunnage]

Hello everyone,
I am almost entirely clueless when it comes to speakers, so forgive me 

 
 I decided I could get passive however, when I was rummaging around in my basement and found two receivers which the passive speakers could plug in to. The receivers I found were the Pioneer VSX-108 and the Accurian ASR-5046.
 
My first question is would there be a strong difference with SQ with passive speakers+receiver+DAC/AMP versus active speakers+DAC/AMP? My speaker budget is about $350 for speakers then $150-$200 for a separate sub. If I do not need a sub, then my budget would be $500. For passive speakers I was eyeing the Energy RC-10 for $350 on Amazon and for active I was looking at the Audioengine A5's ($325-350). So, could one of my receivers power the RC10s if needed? And do any of you have any speakers+sub/just speakers for ~$500?
 
Thank you all very very very much 

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

There is no advantage in those two choices, becaus the Audioengines are not active, they are merely "powered." in other words, they have amps built inside passive speakers. To be active, and gain the advantages of active design, you need separate amps for each driver, coupled directly to the dirivers, with active crossovers before amplification. When done properly, the advantages are great -- lower distortion, lower noise, better driver control, greater headroom, etc. Not much in your price range but a few project studio monitors in the semi pro area. Check out the recording room at your local Guitar Center, Sam Ash Music, etc to see what they have. The little Yamahas are a bit on the bright side ( the bane of cheap studio monitors) but otherwise pretty remarkable for the money.
 
P

 

[Kawai_man]

The A5s are not active speakers, they are just regular speakers with an amp attached I beleive these are just called powered speakers , active speakers use active crossovers and an amp for each driver, active speakers IMO are way superior to passive speakers  due to
 
1 The amps are matched specifically for that speaker
 
2 each driver has its own amp
 
3 Active speakers have active crossovers which dont suck the clarity from the sound like the passive crossovers used in passive speakers do
 
4. You save space
 
Cons:
 
1. Cant use tube amps
 
2. You cant mix and match components if your into that
 
 
another option is single driver speakers which use full range drivers, these just use one full range speaker to deliver the sound,  but they are somewhat  limited in the frequency extremes but they still sound amazing, Im selling my tekton 6.5 speakers incase you or anyone is interested.
 
For Active speakers some brands I know of are ( there many other brands of course)
 
KRK
JBL ( I heard one model at guitat center that was like 400 bucks and they were really awesome)
Adam
Quad ( they have one model called the 12l and 11l)
 
 
 
Single Driver Speakers
 
Tekton Design  ( the 4.5 and 6.5 are really good)
Omegas
Whiplash (I have the ions which i use for my computer setup)
 
 
you can google most of these terms if you dont understand them, also google active vs passive speakers

 

[RicHSAD]

Energy RC-10 + the Energy ESW-V8 sub would be a great setup for music. WWstereo is still selling the sub on ebay for $225. A little over your budget but it would be worth it. You will have a hard time finding another sub in that price range that looks as good (piano black finish), has 200W RMS and hits as low (26Hz-120Hz +/- 3dB).

 

[Operandi]

 
Quote:

 
 
3 Active speakers have active crossovers which dont suck the clarity from the sound like the passive crossovers used in passive speakers do
 

 
That is a gross and generally incorrect statement.  Active crossovers have lots of advantages but a quality passive crossover will not "suck the life out of the music".  Quality also varies with active crossovers and are just as capable or ruining the music as passive.

 

[Qonmus]

I would also consider just spending as much money as you can on speakers right now, and then maybe adding a sub later. The speakers are the most important part of the chain, and you definitely want to spend as much as you can on them. Subs are nice, but I assure you the second you fire up a pair of nice passive speakers you are going to have an "oh snap" moment. Best to spend as much as possible on quality speakers, imo. 

 

[Ebunnage]

I think that I would like to go with active speakers now, as I have done more research and used all of your guys' helpful inputs!
 
And I will take your advice Qonmus, and spend more on speakers and hopefully get a sub for the birthday which is soon. 

 
Anyone have any advice on active/powered bookshelves for <$500? Comparisons between different speakers would be preferable and helpful too 

 I was looking at the JBL and Quad that Kawai recommended, but I was wondering what other brands would be good too.
 
And for a final note, if the speakers are silver/piano black/sleek looking, it would be nice, but not compeletely necessary (I just got a new desk and I would like to continue the modern style 

)
 
Again, thank you all for your help, its extremely useful 

 

[nautikal]

JBL 2325P
Yamaha HS50m or HS80m
Behringer
M-Audio
 
Go to your local Guitar Center with some demo material on a flash drive and try various speakers out. I thought I was getting the 2325Ps until I tried the HS80Ms which blew me away. I'd be interested to know how the HS50Ms compared but my Guitar Center didn't have them on display. 
 
But how are you planning on controlling your volume? If you get active speakers (as opposed to powered) the volume control is on each individual speaker so it's impractical to use those to control your volume. You need some sort of preamp or receiver to be able to control the volume, and that's the issue I'm having. Only high-end stereos and AVRs have pre-outs and separate preamps are $400 or more. The cheapest option I can find right now is a Harman Kardon AVR 254. It's $280 or more used which is pretty ridiculous to pay just for volume control and maybe some EQing. You basically end up wasting half your money on the amp part of the AVR by the time you get to the higher-end units with preouts.

 

[TopQuark]

A3X.  $100 over your budget but it looks very promising:
 

 
Review here:
 
http://www.adam-audio.com/files/downloads/ADAM_A3X_review_HarmonyCentral.pdf

 

[Ebunnage]

Quote:

 
But how are you planning on controlling your volume?

I am going to be using a Maverick Audio DAC/AMP D1 for volume most likely.
 
And I apologize for more confusion, but due to certain things, my budget is down to $350. Any thoughts on powered/active speakers for that price? Thanks for the recommendations however 

 
Again, sorry for the confusion.

 

[Ebunnage]

Double post, oops

 

[Operandi]

Quote:

 
 
But how are you planning on controlling your volume? If you get active speakers (as opposed to powered) the volume control is on each individual speaker so it's impractical to use those to control your volume. You need some sort of preamp or receiver to be able to control the volume, and that's the issue I'm having. Only high-end stereos and AVRs have pre-outs and separate preamps are $400 or more. The cheapest option I can find right now is a Harman Kardon AVR 254. It's $280 or more used which is pretty ridiculous to pay just for volume control and maybe some EQing. You basically end up wasting half your money on the amp part of the AVR by the time you get to the higher-end units with preouts.

Check out the Firestone MASS, King Rex also makes a small desktop sized preamp.  A preamp has significant impact on sound quality since its amplifying the source signal so its a bit more than just "volume control".