Passive vs. Powered Speakers
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Posted on Jan 25, 2009 11:43 pm
jojomanee
Member Since: May 15, 2008
What is considered a more "professional" or higher-quality way to go when buying speakers? I used to run sound for large outdoor shows and we always ran passive speakers with power amps. However, your goal should be to keep your connection from the power amp to speaker as short as possible, so I would imagine a powered speaker would be a better way to better sound.
Thanks in advance for your answers.
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Jan 26, 2009 12:28 am Most used are passive with power amps for their flexibility and the option that if one breaks, you don't lost both. But IMO, powered speakers sound better with the higher end stuff cause the "maker" can correct any freq. dips in the speaker with the power amp since it knows what amp will be used with it... But, that's just my opinion. Rob will be able to help more.
Jan 26, 2009 10:25 am Depends on what type of venue your in, or how you are running your system.
If you are in a venue of around 500 people or such, your fine with passive speakers. You don't get a lot of headroom, but, you also don't need that much with a small amount in your venue.
For anything larger then that, you going to need a active crossover network.
The reason for this is for headroom. By limiting the amount of frequencies and maximizing the power going to each driver, you can increase the headroom by a large amount.
The only thing is the price tag for an active network is much higher then a passive.
With an active, you need an amp channel for each of the drivers in your box. In addition, you also need an active crossover as well. Plus all of the cables going down to each of the amps.
I would also suggest a crossover that allows you to time align each of the drivers. Something that has delay for each of the band passes. This will make life so much easier when it comes to EQing a room.
The full on DBX drive rack allows for this, any London Blues, or even XTA. All of the names I just mentioned are top professional models. There are many others out there as well that will time align, these names are just a sample of what is out there. (If you find a Dolby Lake, let me know!)
So, active is better, but comes with a price. Just some thing to keep in mind when purchasing any system.
By the way.... Any interest in a older Turbosound Floodlight rig? I got one for sale. =)
Feb 10, 2009 05:58 am I just replaced my band's passive speaker setup with Mackie active speakers and we love them! Easier setup, lower noise and spectacular sound. I bought them as a refurbished set on ebay and they are perfect. If I didn't know that they were refurbs I would have thought that they were new. Full warranty etc. Here is the link cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI...em=270327155650 I also highly recommend the seller.
