Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Tommy Peel]

When I buy speakers I go to a store with about $x.  When I listen to $x powered and passive speakers the $x passives sound so much better.

Of course I should be comparing $x passives to $2x powered, but I already have the amp channels.  And I didn't walk into the store planning to spend $2x.  :-)

... but I do hate carrying too much gear at setup/teardown.

IMO you can't really compare $x passive with $x active without factoring in the cost of new amps for the passive. For example:


Active
JBL PRX 715 = $949 x2 = $1,898
Total = $1,898
Passive
JBL PRX415 = $549 x2 = $1,098
Crown X4000 Power amp(1000w@8 ohms per channel) = $649
Total = $1,747

All prices taken from Musicians Friend.

It should be noted that, according to the specs, the 715 is rated at 136dB peak and the 415 is rated at 128dB peak. Therefore I don't know how fair a comparison this is as the 715 is rated higher than the 415 though I think they are close enough for comparison. I also suspect, from other reading other forum posts(not personal experience), that the 715s sound much better than the 415 because of the internal bi-amping and DSP.

Anyway I also see that it makes sense to buy passive if you already have a significant investment in power amps, so I see where you're coming from.

[John Roberts {JR}]

At the risk of repeating myself, any good powered cabinet will have an active crossover and use separate amps per driver. Perhaps a simplified passive  crossover between mid and high. So add a crossover and perhaps more channels of amps.

JR

[Lyle Williams]

I wasn't claiming my comparision made perfect sense.  Evolutionary step-at-a-time purchases can lead to odd outcomes.

[Brad Weber]

At the risk of repeating myself, any good powered cabinet will have an active crossover and use separate amps per driver. Perhaps a simplified passive  crossover between mid and high. So add a crossover and perhaps more channels of amps.

Also consider that with a powered speaker the speaker processing not limited to the signal flow, virtual processing devices and allowed settings defined by others as you are with an unpowered speaker and external digital speaker processor.  A powered speaker designer can freely incorporate any signal processing they feel may be appropriate.  And you don't even have to think about the processing settings or investing any of your own effort in determining them.

[John Roberts {JR}]

Also consider that with a powered speaker the speaker processing not limited to the signal flow, virtual processing devices and allowed settings defined by others as you are with an unpowered speaker and external digital speaker processor.  A powered speaker designer can freely incorporate any signal processing they feel may be appropriate.  And you don't even have to think about the processing settings or investing any of your own effort in determining them.

Yup, this is an old theme from me, but another useful factor in favor of properly engineered powered speakers is that smart driver protection can be engineered in. While perhaps not necessary a designer could even directly measure driver temperature rise, and dynamically tweak internal limiting wrt actual conditions.

I know I can't do a better job than the full time speaker designers. YMMV Of course cheap powered speakers are just like cheap passives.... cheap.

JR

[Lyle Williams]

I know I can't do a better job than the full time speaker designers. YMMV Of course cheap powered speakers are just like cheap passives.... cheap.

+1

Better design is better design.

[Travis_Valois]

IMO you can't really compare $x passive with $x active without factoring in the cost of new amps for the passive. For example:


Active
JBL PRX 715 = $949 x2 = $1,898
Total = $1,898
Passive
JBL PRX415 = $549 x2 = $1,098
Crown X4000 Power amp(1000w@8 ohms per channel) = $649
Total = $1,747

All prices taken from Musicians Friend.

It should be noted that, according to the specs, the 715 is rated at 136dB peak and the 415 is rated at 128dB peak. Therefore I don't know how fair a comparison this is as the 715 is rated higher than the 415 though I think they are close enough for comparison. I also suspect, from other reading other forum posts(not personal experience), that the 715s sound much better than the 415 because of the internal bi-amping and DSP.

Anyway I also see that it makes sense to buy passive if you already have a significant investment in power amps, so I see where you're coming from.

Those boxes also make use of completely different 15's and HF drivers than the other, and are nowhere near alike soundwise, or even the price of the raw components themselves.

[ProSoundWeb Community]