I've used active, pro monitors for a couple of years now, with very satisfactory results.
As in any system, you must match room volume and listening postition(s) to amplification requirements. My monitors have 2 x 150 watt amps in each, and my subwoofer has 400 watts, for about a kilowatt of power in my face. Those pricey, large-volume ATC and Adam monitors mentioned also have a whole bunch of internal amplification. They are also designed for a more distanced listening position, as opposed to smaller, less powerful monitors designed for the near-field. My listening position is only about 8 feet from my monitors, and I can get way over 100 db SPL there whenever I need to. It is also my living room system, and has enough power to be cranked throughout my modest home. Yes, I like it loud. Studio engineers have a reference which the home listener rarely considers -- the sound of the live performance. Pro monitors are designed to handle and produce high SPLs accurately because the engineers need to reference to live performance. People forget how loud even unamplified musical instruments play. 100 db SPL ain't no big thing for brass, woodwinds or percussion. What blows me away about my system is that it really does sound live, at live sound SPLs. Old rock CDs, which are universally chided for their poor sound, often sound darn real when cranked to real volumes. It makes me wonder what sound engineers use as their reference SPLs. When people try to adapt active, pro monitors to home use, they often under-amplify. Active monitors are not uncommon in the home theater world. When I read of dissatisfaction with these attempts, often puny amplification attempts to fill larger rooms. The prices for the entry level, active, pro monitors can entice, but those are near-field specific. The monitors that make a wonderful, accurate 5.1 surround system around a PC or mixing board, will need a lot more juice to get the same results at the couch. When you consider that large amounts of quality amplification is included in the price of high end pro monitors, they can be considered bargains when compared to prices of audiophile audio. If you decide you need more oomph, however, you can't go out and buy just a bigger amp. Which is a great excuse for getting "the big ones" now ;^) -- desertrat58 Transporter -> Bryston BP25MC preamp -> M&K (R.I.P.) MPS 2510 active monitors + M&K MPS 5410 subwoofer. Also a Sota Nova tt with Graham 2.2 arm & Benz Ace HO feeding into BP25MC. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ desertrat58's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=9431 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=37059 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
