Passive Moniters + Receiver?

[birdyfoot]

I have a nice receiver that works well with the stereo outputs on my audio card, and some pretty nice speakers that work ok for monitoring but, I have been thinking about getting some dedicated monitors.

Because I already have an amplifier (the receiver), I thought I might get more for my money if I bought passive monitors, I guess because they wouldn't have to carry their own amplifier. Maybe, I was thinking I might even be able to afford something nicer, if it where passive, or louder/larger.

Makes sense doesn’t it? However I have the sneaking suspicion that things are a little more complicated.

What's the word homies?

 

[SRR]

I just bought some $250 active monitors (wharfedale 8.2), and I had extra amps and recievers that I could have used. But for the life of me I couldn't find something that would have been way better for the same price, maybe the passive York's or something might have been a tad better. But I figured with the crossover at line level I am probably breaking even or close to even on the quality scale that it would have been a wash. Not to say passives are bad, heck NS-10's are passive and you don't hear complainents about them cause they are passive, may hear complainents for other reasons , but not cause they are passive. Don't worry to much if they are powered or passive. In your situation I say IMHO, that you could go either way and not lose out.

 

[birdyfoot]

I see your point. I probably wouldn't save too much either way, quality VS price, between passive and active.

Are there no issues then with useing a decent receiver as an amp for passive moniters?

 

[Dogbreath]

I'm using a Pioneer amp and a set of Yamaha home stereo speakers. Not the optimum, granted, but the trick to these, I've found, is learning them. I've burned a bunch of coasters learning how to make them translate well on other systems.

At this point, I'm getting good mixes that are translating pretty well. Not the best solution but one that I could afford.

 

[mshilarious]

A decent quality receiver should be fine. I don't know why actives and passives cost the same, they really shouldn't as the price of the transformer alone would buy a quality passive crossover. All the other bits in the power amp have to add up.

I use quality passives with a high-end power amp, and I am very satisfied with my setup. Before I scored the power amp, I used an old Sherwood receiver that worked fine. I did not notice a huge leap in quality with the power amp upgrade. Mainly I just wanted six channels for surround.