Alesis Mk2 Passive Monitors

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Bugz McNair

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I may be picking up a pair of these soon, and they will be my first studio monitors. I'm just a little curious about a few things.

I know I can use a stereo receiver to power them, which I plan on doing for now. But I'm curious if there are any other differences between active and passive monitors, besides actives being powered. Also, I'm assuming that the quality of my amp will have an effect on what I'm hearing as well, but by how much? And if anyone has any recommendations on some amps I could upgrade to in the future?
 
i have them and i use my ra-100 alesis power amp. they work well for the price. afaik, that is the only difference between powered and passive monitors. except some active monitors come with eq, volume, room correct.
 
in a blind fold test I doubt anyone can hear a difference between pass+amp and active.

i have had both and couldn't tell.

but I like the actives just because it was one less cable....

I do think the quality of the amp can make a huge difference. You should try a couple different ones with your speakers and see for yourself....one of the funnest things on HR was the speakers and amps etc...imo


I still have a 100watt rack amp and some old tower speakers with ribbon tweeters etc...sounded good the other day, along side the active studio monitors.
 
Thank you both for the replies! That cleared a lot up for me.

Coolcat, I have a pretty good Kenwood amp. I should be able to tweek the EQ settings on it, to be more flat. Do you think this would suffice for the time being?
 
Bugz McNair said:
I'm assuming that the quality of my amp will have an effect on what I'm hearing as well, but by how much?
Click to expand...

Yes, but a good quality amp will still give good results.

Bugz McNair said:
I should be able to tweek the EQ settings on it, to be more flat. Do you think this would suffice for the time being?
Click to expand...

Don't use the eq on the amp, leave everything flat. Changing the eq to counteract room acoustics does not work. Do a search there are plenty of threads that talk about this.

Another thing to remember is that the aux inputs on domestic amps are at -10dB not +4dB, so if possible use a -10dB output from the recording device or turn down the +4dB output and turn the volume up at the amp to avoid clipping the aux input of the Kenwood.

I have used hi fi amps in the past to run monitors and they work fine.

Alan.
 
witzendoz said:
Yes, but a good quality amp will still give good results.



Don't use the eq on the amp, leave everything flat. Changing the eq to counteract room acoustics does not work. Do a search there are plenty of threads that talk about this.

Another thing to remember is that the aux inputs on domestic amps are at -10dB not +4dB, so if possible use a -10dB output from the recording device or turn down the +4dB output and turn the volume up at the amp to avoid clipping the aux input of the Kenwood.

I have used hi fi amps in the past to run monitors and they work fine.

Alan.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not the amp will color the sound, or if I will damage the speakers somehow with this set up.
 
Bugz McNair said:
Thanks for the info! The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not the amp will color the sound, or if I will damage the speakers somehow with this set up.
Click to expand...

Amps do colour the sound, but if it's a good quality amp the colouring will be nothing to worry about. It could in fact colour it in a good way.

You will not damage the speakers if you do not overdrive the amp and the ohms rating of the amp matches the speakers.

Alan.
 
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