Active speakers - are they a good idea?

[RockAddict]

Just a couple of suggestions but both require a significant budget stretch:

Elac Navis ARB-51 [£1,799ish]
Dynaudio Xeo 20 [£1,999ish]

I've not heard either but there are plenty of online reviews for both.

That said, I have the Xeo 10s for a second system (list price £1,299ish), fed wirelessly by a Bluesound Node 2i from the main system. It means the speakers are the only physical footprint in the second system. The Xeo 10s are decent but definitely not the last word in dynamics or detail. I use them mainly for late night low volume listening which, with the right music, works well for drifting off to sleep. For a main system? Not for me, but there are others who think the Xeo 10s are "amazing".

[Marco]

Active speakers? I think they can work well in certain set-ups, IME, mostly AV-related and in recording studios, where the application and goal is slightly different from home audio, and also in some 2-channel home music systems.

However, the on-board amp packs will often be the weak link, and sonically inferior to high-quality off-board examples, partnered by equally high-quality passive speakers. It's one of those areas, much like passive preamps, where *on paper* it makes sense that it should offer a superior solution, but in practice doesn't always hold true.

Nothing is ever written in stone when it comes to hi-fi, but in the near-40 years I've been into high-end audio, I've yet to hear a pair of active speakers that I could live with and which have the same level of musicality as their passive counterparts, of the calibre mentioned above, when driven by top-notch external amplifiers. Ultimately, I can always hear the limitations of the on-board amp packs, superimposing their rather 'grey' sonic signature onto the music.

However, as ever, YMMV

Marco.