Hi all, I know this is a debated topic around the Internet but wanted to get some thoughts on this forum. In an office environment, how would you compare the performance of studio monitors like Adam T5V/T7V, Mackie MR624, JBL, etc. with internal bi-amp capabilities and XLR vs. something passive like the ELAC B6.2 or Emotiva B1+ with a single amp like the Emotiva BASX A-100 and RCA only?
The studio monitors are definitely the best value pricewise, but curious from a performance perspective. Do you think the Emotiva amp would outperform the internal amps on the studio monitors? Would I gain anything from stepping up from any of these studio monitors to something like the B6.2’s, B1+'s, or similar passive speakers under $500?
It’s hard to say because the output can be so dramatically different. That A-100 is a great amp for the price but it’s far from neutral. I had it paired with my Kef Q100 and it was a great pairing. But the reason I’m using monitors today is that I gain a lot of desk space and using high quality monitors like Dynaudio, you get a lot of specificity in the pairing of amp and drivers.
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(Take this with a bucket of salt - I’m a clueless newbie)
I’ve been having the same debate, and went down the amplifier/passive speaker route. I get the impression that active monitor speakers tend to be tuned to be neutral whereas some passive speakers tend to be tuned for music listening. And the later is what I’m after.
But I’m probably in the process of making an expensive mistake, but what the hell, it’s only money.
What if throw in a mini dsp with the amp ?