Passive Monitors

Mickster

Mickster

Well-known member
What can you guys tell me about using passive monitors? Not basic speakers but brand name monitor companies that make passives. Are they worth it? I assume the amp used is the key of course.......and there's thousands of amps. I have a sort of fairly high end Denon receiver I can use to power the passives. It's a commercial unit of course. Am I wasting my time? Are the compromises too much? What should I be looking for in my amp to tell me it might be worth a try? Just wondering really.
 
Maybe, not a big deal. With the Denon, the electronics wont be in a vibrating box. Self-powered boxes can have the advantage of being bi-amped, etc.. For mixing, I have one amp I knew I shouldn't be using, because it was colored, but that is about as far as a amp issue goes for mixing. Dual Mono might be nice. I'm using a old Sanyo 45w integrated amp and there is nothing bad about it. I wouldn't want to listen to music for pleasure on it.

For me, cheap is good and I can use whatever amp I want. Second, I can switch to reverse stereo, Mono L, Mono R, Mono L+R, Monitors Two, select between many inputs, and crank it all with a big fat level knob.
 
For my money, Denon never made a bad ANYTHING! Their spares were also very GVFM.

It is true that a speaker with a passive crossover and a single power amp per channel will be less efficient (and IM distortion will be a bit higher) but the loss will only be noticed at maximum SPL and should amount to less than 6dB IMO.

Perhaps the biggest possible concern with passive speakers is the lack of protection? Speakers are usually given a fair range of amplifier power, 50-100W say, and I think it would be prudent to err on the lower side.

Dave.
 
Thanks for that Dave. I have KRK R6 gen 2's........Tannoy 501a's and JBL 305's already.........and they're all different. The Tannoys are the best of that bunch for mixing IMO. Anyway......I was thinking of going to an 8" monitor to add to the mixing playback options and thought I'd try passives with the Denon.

So.......anyone have any recommendations for a set of 8" passive monitors?
 
ecc83 said:
For my money, Denon never made a bad ANYTHING! Their spares were also very GVFM.

It is true that a speaker with a passive crossover and a single power amp per channel will be less efficient (and IM distortion will be a bit higher) but the loss will only be noticed at maximum SPL and should amount to less than 6dB IMO.

Perhaps the biggest possible concern with passive speakers is the lack of protection? Speakers are usually given a fair range of amplifier power, 50-100W say, and I think it would be prudent to err on the lower side.

Dave.
Click to expand...

Power can be a thing in other ways. some small boxes might do 86db SPL /watt, while other kinds of boxes might do 98. I have some like this and they are both rated for 40 watts. Not everyone needs loud, but the 86db SPL boxes would fry easier than the others, because we would keep cranking them to get loud
 
I'm using old RSL 2600 ? 14" tall. 8", 3-way, acoustic suspension loading. I don't know if Tannoy still have a nice co-ax in that studio form
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top