wrote in message
ups.com...
The only "gold standard" is a minimally miked pure acoustic
performance-or other sound source, i.e. steam trains, et al-versus
actually listening to the source. When getting to reproducing popular
music recorded out of real time, multitrack, in various rooms, et al it
realy comes down to "my-fi" anyway. So if you think putting a 147
Leslie in each corner of your living room is the best way to listen to
your records, that's your opinion. It has no less nor more objective
validity than that of The Absolute Sound or Stereophile. If you want
to hear it as close as they did in the studio at final mixdown-an
admittedly arbitrary goal, but a useful "secondary standard"- using the
same speakers and amps they did is usually a good way to get you in the
ballpark.

When I listen to pop music for fun, I use EQ anyway-not consumer bass
and treble cut but a discrete SS based graphic EQ. I'd buy a Manley
Massive Passive but the price is ridiculous, so I put up with what I
have.

In general I think tube amps with moderate feedback or solid state
amps with a Class A power point "as loud as you can stand" are superior
to the Lin/Slone/Kruger/Aczel-Rich approved Class B solid state amp. My
preference. The best way to use a Class B amplifier is to have its
signal correctly phased and drive a cone directly without a crossover
in between. I believe active speakers are best for most people who are
not hard core audiophiles, you plug them in they work.

I don't find anything you say outrageous.

But although the principle is a good one, with all the mistakes one can
make designing loudspeakers, it doesn't appear that active designs are much
more likely to please. I have found a number of people who are natural
audiophiles, meaning they don't listen alot, but they know what they like.
They can be much pickier about the voice of a speaker than I've expected. As
for the hoi poloi, you could give them anything.

The problem with actives: Electronic circuitry does degrade from vibration.
Solder joints crack, capacitors leak, wirebonds in transistors in ICs break.
When the circuitry is installed in the speaker cabinet, it is subject to far
more vibration than if at a remote location. While passive speakers are
among the most reliable components, combination with active circuitry may
result in a product that is less reliable than the component parts.

It is my personal preference to optimize the environment of the
electronics. The ability to swap out a defective amplifier is also a plus.
When an active goes bad, you either have to ship a bulky box, or obtain
permission to remove the active circuitry, while storing a useless speaker,
perhaps for a while, until the circuitry is returned.