Active Speakers: The usual suspects ....

I hate to ask: Is that critically important?

Not critical - digital filters are more powerful and flexible than real circuits - but both need to be carefully designed - digital filters can introduce distortion that is unrelated to the music (truncation) and odd effects like pre-ringing and they can do tricks like linear phase - analog circuits however tend to produce harmonic distortion from non-linearities (less of a problem as it is related to the music). In a good design whether you have digital filtering or analog is a minor issue - as the filters will likely be simple and robust. If A to D or D to A conversion frightens you (it shouldn't) then stick to Analog Active speakers.

Emerald Physics CS-2

Keithr,

Oh - I am not sure - why not contact Thomas Barefoot and get his opinion - he is careful to say they are "near-fields on steroids" but I don't think he claims these are for far-field use (although I bet they go loud enough for most people).

If you have this much space then why not go for something bigger and less compact?

NHT XD
Meyer - HD-2's are real nice
Nova S applause
Adam
Blue Sky
Quad

to name a few more.

I believe you are saying the same thing. I am going back and forth between the Focal, DigiDesign, and possibly one of the baby PMC monitors.

Yes I am saying - that you should not base your decision on the active filter design (Digital or analog active) - BOTH can be excellent - so just choose what speaker rocks your boat.

The other factors in speaker design will be far far more important than this particular point - also be careful - picking up any active speaker is NOT likely to automatically be better than a good passive one - there are a great many fantastic sounding passive speakers as well as all too many poor sounding cheap active speakers targeted for low cost PC based mini home studios market - so whatever you do - LET YOUR EARS DECIDE.

Many people criticize active speakers for having built-in amps, their reasons vary. I'm not sure whether it matters, but I can see the benefits of external.

Internal amps can suffer from microphonics - it requires choosing components and gain designs that are not microphonic (not that difficult). A tube amplifier stage, for example, would be a problem in a speaker. Some potentiometers and caps can be microphonic too. Single box guitar amp/speaker with tubes are well known for this issue - some guitar players insist to have the amp separate. Pink Floyd puts tube amps in an entirely separate room from the speakers. Active speakers started in studios with the amps separate from each driver in an air cooled amp rack. I believe they only migrated into the actual speaker box in the past 25 years or so...initially it was for portability. It certainly limits one to SS amps....

Yeah the MM27 is king of meter bridge monitors for sure - in the tight accurate deep bass department.

A substantial heavy bookshelf sized monitor but with the kind of quality bass at SPL's you normally only get from large 100 liter+ big box cabinets. They are competely void of that typical muddy ported bass sound that you get from almost all ported two way monitors with impressive bass extension.

Barefoot are critcially damped Q=0.71. The subwoofer is actually a SEALED box. You are talking very high quality bass here in a small package. Of course SPL will still be limited/constrained by Hoffman's Law (efficiency of a woofer system is directly proportional to its cabinet volume and the cube of its cutoff frequency) but it is King of anything that size for sure!

IMHO, the raves are justified as there is really nothing like it in the monitor size of speaker unless you add a high sealed quality subwoofer. I think I have heard them called "near-field monitors on steroids". Great choice if you like totally realistic drums.

Unfortunately, the MM27 comes in at $7,000 pair (street price), which is way out of my price range

Yes - but look at what you get for all that! Plug in an iPod into these babies and you will be in serious rock heaven - nothing else required! Jack Black eat your heart out. Four ten inch woofers - OMG - absolutely ideal for highest quality rocking out in a small space! Despite the high price tag this is actually pretty good value.

In my next life I want an iPod and a pair of these in my college dorm room. ;-)

I'd say it is quite similar to ATC SCM100 in sound - really tight bass and a bit less forward in the upper mids - however the dispersion is narrower so definitely more suited to near field or smaller rooms.

Steve,

No I have not made direct A/B's. Frankly, when I say "King" I mean it is immediately obvious that nothing else that small without a big sub could sound anything like it. Drums are particularly good. For near-field I think that a cheaper set of Genelec 8050A's and a good sub would be my choice - basically along the lines you suggest but I am sure many people will be sold by the shock and awe of this small but powerful monitor.

Shadorne- could the MM27s be used 10" apart, sitting 12" back?

Sure....I think you could just turn them up anytime you needed to blow dry your hair...

Seriously I think NHT Moo or Soo and other much cheaper speakers would be more sensible for a PC workstation setup.