I don’t think that’s ATC’s view. In their FAQs they first highlight the ability to control level and phase independently and the major benefits that brings to stereo image stability as a significant advantage of active operation. It was indeed that aspect that first drew me to their active speakers. Of course, we’re all different, thank goodness, and imaging may not be of prime importance to all listeners but it’s a key part of what draws me into their sound world. I rather doubt I’d have built a system round the passive versions of my SCM 40s.
I think you are both saying the same thing!
The advantage is connecting the amplifier directly to the driver in actives provides a very real optimization, especially under load where the driver’s characteristics will start to change.
The crossover happens within the active speakers preamp, so it is an active cross over where you can more easily adjust eq/phase which you can’t really do with a passive crossover.
My Yamaha actives work the same way.
Passive crossovers tend to be fraught with compromises, unless very simple designs where other considerations are required to stop smearing, and of course it’s fixed. An active crossover can be more accurately integrated and effectively designed with less impact to the amplifier driver coupling particularly under load or where an tuned speaker room response is required.
I like actives, I use in my studio, but I do prefer small passives with hifi replay.
It’s hard to read past Linn’s marketing speak. They mention "speed matching’ (I think they actually say time alignment, but whatever) as a way to say that it’s superior to using a passive crossover as it does not introduce time alignment issues like a passive crossover, but Exakt is their digital crossover technology.
The Selekt has a built-in Exakt engine, so you can properly activate speakers that are compatible with it by using additional amp modules, and it will do the frequency splitting. That’s the diagram @DiggyGun referenced above.
Time alignment is a fancy way of saying phase alignment. This is crucial in multi driver speakers to stop smearing and distortion through the crossover frequencies. Mediocre speakers can be so so here, and it can really rob the audio of realism, and make it sound ‘hifi’… or lacking in the mids, and smearing can smother timing details… ie key parts of the audio spectrum get filtered…
However any filter whether active or passive or driver alignment on a baffle, or certain types of damping will affect phase. So you compensate for it in your crossover design whether it be active or passive, as well as your enclosure and baffle design. I seem to remember Linn have profiles for certain speakers so you don’t need to manually adjust.
Any filter modifies phase.
@ricsimas
Thanks for the reply it seems everything can be what a manufacturer likes to call it these days.
Buzzwords.
I’ll keep mine passive and analogue.
I’ve been through the box collections and i only know it only sounds more hi fi with lots of boxes but more musical and uncluttered without.
To my and others ears.
I have a smallish flat, but I do have the Acoustic Energy AE1’s Actives, that gives a very balanced sound, and they do sound superb. It’s good to know with Active speakers, that the power amps are matched exactly to the speakers that they are driving. I wanted to keep my set up very simple, and was thinking of going for the Naim NSC 222 pre amp streamer, along with my Uniti core music server. How are you getting on with your setup?
I was thinking of pairing my Sopra No1’s with the new Naim Uniti Nova PE, or maybe selling them to fund s NSC 222 to pair with the Acoustic Energy AE1’s.
I do a lot of headphone listening, so this route is another option for me, as I’ve not really looked into NSC 222.
If you are happy with your AE active speakers, I’m sure that a 222 will work fine with them.
Although I have not tried it yet, the 222 is claimed to have an excellent headphone amp.
I have no experience of other items you mentioned so will not comment on them.
Paul.
I’d be interested in how you find NSC222 with active AE1s, if you go that way.
I have a currently unused streamer/pre (Auralic Vega 2) which I’m planning to use in a second system with active speakers. It will be in a small room and active ATCs would be too bulky, so the little AE1s are definitely on my shortlist.
It definitely something I’ve been looking to do. I really enjoy headphone listening in my room, and the Acoustic Energy AE1’s are cracking little speakers, that are very well regarded. You are correct with ATC , they don’t make anything active in the stand mount lineup. Maybe that will change, as it seems lots of manufacturers are looking into this now. PMC is just another example of a manufacturer recently going active, with upgrades that the end user can add.
PMC Twenty5.21i Active – £3975
PMC Twenty5.22i Active – £5275
PMC Twenty5.23i Active – £5975
PMC Twenty5.24i Active – £7975
Active Twenty5i upgrade – £1795
I’ve just realised there is a separate thread on the PMC’s.
Anyway for the money, the acoustic energy AE1’s would definitely make for a good second system, and they are class A/B modules.
Actually they do in their pro series. The SCM 12 and 25 are both stand mounts and available as active speakers. The (newish) 25A is particularly interesting as I think it’s ATC’s smallest three-way offering.
I listened to a pair of ATC SCM20 actives a few years ago, and thought they sounded great. They do look a bit industrial, being intended for studio use, and regular HiFi dealers don’t generally stock them, but they might fit the bill if you can find a pair.
Would just like to thank everyone for their input into the direction,I’m thinking in taking my system too, with the many different speaker options to try.
I really do believe the Naim NSC 222, would make the ideal pre amp streamer solution, and I’m sure my Current Acoustic Energy AE1’s Actives will work very well indeed.
If further down the line, I decide to go for a different Active speaker, I can put my AE1’s in the spare room.
Looking at the ATC speakers, I wasn’t looking at the studio monitors, in particular the SCM25A Pro Mk2, but those do look very interesting, as mentioned also by a previous poster, the ATC SCM20A Pro MKII.
I just hope ATC look to launch some smaller Hifi stand mount actives in the future.
It definitely looks like I’ll be going the Naim NSC 222/Active speaker route now, as it
will work well in my living room, and meet my needs alongside my Naim Uniti Core.
They have been in the active market for a long time, albeit with amps separate not built into speakers. What is new is offering it on the lower consumer range.
The power amp class is immaterial - all that matters is how they sound!
Why? Larger speakers are more capable at the bottom end…
Well, i have finally taken the plunge, and just ordered a NSC 222 to go with my Acoustic Energy AE 1 actives. Although I’ve not had a home demo, or shop demonstration, I’m convinced this setup will serve me very well, especially as I’ve had the original Naim uniti, all those years ago, and really enjoyed it immensely at the time. Really looking forward to getting the NSC 222, and keeping my setup simple.
Interesting. I recently tried an NC222 into my Acoustic Energy AE1s and felt that if I were going to use larger, more revealing speakers, I would want to improve the source and preamp, probably by adding an NPX 300 (which I tried) or by going further up the Naim NC range (which I didn’t try). Adding the NPX 300 brought a greater degree of control and refinement than the bare NC 222.
And there, in a nutshell, is the difference between active an passive crossovers. The active crossovers contain active electronic components (like your op amps), whereas passive crossovers contain only passive components, such as resistors and capacitors.
