Active Speakers Vs Passive Speakers
Alot of people ask us what the difference is between Active Speakers and Passive Speakers? Most people, when they think of speakers for the home, imagine boxes with drivers in them and terminals on the back that connect via speaker wire to an amplifier. These are Passive Speakers. So what are Active Speakers then?
Active Speakers - Streaming Made Easy at What Cost?
An Active Speaker is one that has an amplifier built-in with analogue and digital inputs and almost always a Bluetooth receiver so you can stream from your smartphone, tablet or computer. The active option seems like a neat easy way to do things but there are a few down sides. Firstly most active speakers are small because they are often plugged into a computer and so need to be small enough to sit on a desk. This limits the size room they can be used in as they really won’t perform well in a big open plan space.
The KEF LS60 is the rare floorstanding exception that we sell and that sounds good even in Audio Trend’s super spacious showroom. Also, increasingly, people are plugging turntables, streamers and televisions into their active speakers and putting them in the living room. And that’s when it doesn’t look like the neat option anymore because one speaker has a whole lot of cables plugged into the back and things can look very untidy quite quickly.
Upgrade with Passive Speakers - Endless Choices
The other down side with active speakers is you don’t have the option to upgrade the amplifier or speakers on their own. You’ve got to update everything at once with active speakers whereas with a separate amplifier and passive speakers you can buy a better pair of speakers without necessarily having to change the amplifier. The other big upside to going passive is the number of models you have to choose from. We sell a few very nice active speakers but there is so much more choice when you’re shopping amplifiers and passive speakers. You can get amplifiers with room correction technology, bass and treble controls and 2 way Bluetooth so you can stream from you smartphone or listen on wireless headphones. You can also get various power ratings from modest to outrageous to suit your speakers, space and lifestyle as well as on-board music streaming in many recent models. And connectivity can be almost whatever you want it to be with HDMI for television listening, phono inputs for turntables and digital inputs for upgrading your CD player. You name it, we can probably sell you an amplifier that has it.
And the choice of speakers is such that there is sure to be a model you love and want to take home with you. If you want small speakers that can hang on the wall with a matching subwoofer handling bass, we’ve got you covered. If you want to put medium sized bookshelf speakers in an actual bookshelf, no problem. If you’d like something tall and classy standing either side of your TV, that’s easy. If you want the whole neighbourhood to know how loud your large full range speakers go, we have just the thing (we’re looking at you Klipsch). And if you want your speakers mounted in a wall or ceiling so domestic harmony is maintained, we have plenty of options to choose from.
So, Active or Passive Speakers, What's the Verdict?
So, active speakers are a good fit if you want something relatively compact with most of the connections you need at a pretty reasonable price and don’t plan on expanding the system in the future. However if you want the choice of every bell and whistle available, and the option to match the system to your lifestyle at whatever price point you’re happy with and the ability to upgrade the system down the line then a good quality amplifier and high performance passive speakers are the way to go.