active vs passive monitors?

[illies17]

im thinking about getting some monitors, and i have a firebox, so would i need active monitors or would passive work? as to my knowledge passives need an amp so would my firebox work for that? passives are cheaper i believe so that would be nice if it would work. the monitors im thinking about are the behringer truth b2031a's or b2031p's. or if anyone has any other suggestions for the same price range.

 

[Massive Master]

Actives have amplifiers built-in. Passives require an external amp. It's that simple.

 

[Ethan Winer]

would i need active monitors or would passive work?

Besides John's advice, here's my standard blurb about this:

There are many advantages of active monitors for the typical project studio, besides a simpler hookup with less pieces to carry if you ever do remotes:

Active speakers are typically bi-amped, which often yields a cleaner sound with less distortion. And bi-amping offers more ways to optimize the crossover performance because it uses active rather than passive components. Also, the power amps will be well matched to the speakers, they won't have a fan, and the wires from amp to speaker are shorter which improves damping. But to me the overwhelming advantage, as implemented in Mackie speakers anyway, is that the woofer cone's motion can be included within the power amp's feedback loop to reduce distortion by a significant amount.

--Ethan