The true horror of passive crossovers !

I must say that when you look into it as we have in considerable detail, you just keep asking yourself why anyone would even consider passive speakers, they are a horrendous bodge!

DSJR a passive crossover produces about 1% distortion and an active one 0.001%, so that's a no brainer too.

The problem probably is that non technical audiophiles are persuaded that in order to find true system synergy they must accumulate the different parts of an audio system from different companies who are best at each of these. It's arrant nonsense but it has give dealers and magazines scope for "building systems" and selling endless upgrades, something I suspect that enthusiasts will be reluctant to give up on.

I'm very glad that a non audio industry scientist has presented the facts because it shows clearly that our claims were anything but reckless and that the reaction from some quarters to ADM9.1s was simply ill-informed prejudice and ignorance.

I do agree that passive speakers can sound pleasant and there is a place for them, but not for hi end if we agree that the highest possible sound quality is the goal.

Ash

Yes. You simply don't listen to headphones for the same kind of imaging you get from speakers. They won't deliver it. Hardcore headphone listeners sometimes refer to the image cans create as a "headstage," because it takes what was mixed to lay an image out in front of the listener and puts it around (and inside) the head. It is not natural. Of course neither is the stereo image created for most studio recordings, so it is, in the end, a matter of degrees. Hifi is a series of compromises and trade-offs. When i put on my Sennheisers and lay back in my recliner, I trade that somewhat more realistic image for intimacy, detail, and the comfort of knowing that if my wife asks me to take out the garbage in the middle of Monk's Dream, I won't hear her.

Also, until the 9.1s arrived relatively recently, the Senns were much better than my speakers on all fronts except imaging. They were so much clearer and more resolving than my speakers that they made the speakers difficult to listen to. I no longer have that problem and the Senns are spending a lot more time hanging on their peg.

Tim

Last edited by tfarney (2009-05-02 11:54:55)

As I understand it, there are two kinds of class D amps - digital and analog. At work, we have Pioneer Elite AV receivers which are fairly expensive, and use the B&O "Ice" amps. I think these are analog class D, though I'm not sure about that. I hear distortion in these amps, though it is not unpleasant. It manifests itself as a slight "warmth" (I hate that fuzzy term, but there it is) when compared, for example, to one of the high-current Yamahas of similar power driving the same speakers. It is extremely subtle, so much so that it could even possibly be my imagination. I also own a "class D" amp, a quite inexpensive Panasonic AV receiver I use as a headphone amplifier. It is digital, but I really can't comment on its distortion because the headphone section uses the digital front end, then converts to analog and amplifies with an op amp, not the digital amps. I've never had it hooked up to speakers good enough to hear its distortion, I'm afraid, though reports on the internet (for what they're worth) claim amazing clarity.

Tim

Oy...such a headache I have.

Seriously, I had to stop halfway and play some music.

Tim