Audiophile Active Speakers?


Bracing for a flame war on this one - but are there any really seriously good sounding active floor standers? The new Dynaudio XEO 6's intrigued me.

Here's why I'm interested. I recently acquired some great Verity Audio speakers that I realized my entire cabling, amps, preamps etc were too warm for. Problem is I'm getting past the point where I see this as a hobby and am just looking for good music reproduction without tons of system matching experimentation etc.

One interesting option would be selling all my electronics, cables, etc on A-gon and just purchasing a good DAC and good sounding Active floor standers. I could therefore afford decent speakers (up to $7K or so), pocket some cash, simply the system (and save lots of time and grief shopping for matching components).

Am I expecting something that would sound as good as the Verity's with appropriately good electronics? No - not even close.

But a quality audiophile sound I could live with and possible tweak with the right sounding DAC that could make me more or less satisfied is the goal. The don't have to be magical like the Verity's. Any thoughts?
larrybou
I hadn't thought about the question as "audiophile", but Kiddman's point is good, and can also be applied to the Adam speakers, which are also used in studio applications. I have heard both the ATCs (the 40s, I believe) and the earlier version of the smaller Adam model in their Tensor line (believe it was the Delta). Both have the dynamic capabilities that you need to make you think that you're listening to live music. They will not sound "pretty", though. I listened to the Wilson Sasha at the same time as I did the Adams, and while the Wilson did everything "right" in audiophile terms and sounded very good, I preferred the Adams speakers because of their openness, tonal fidelity and realistic dynamics; if I'd had the cash then and knew I'd be moving to a smaller room in a few years I would have bought them. I heard the ATCs in my home (their then-distributor brought them there for an NJAS meeting) and, aside from a bit of brightness that I attribute to the preamp that the distributor brought and used, I was struck by their resolving power and incredible dynamic abilities. These speakers aren't for everyone, but they might be what you're looking for.
Wow - great responses! And yes, I'm more interested in a realistic to timbre, scale, transients, etc sound than caring as much about audiophile fetishes such as perfect instrument placement, spooky imaging, or being able to actually hear whether Diane Krall clipped her nose hairs before stepping into the studio.

I've actually always been partial to good pro-audio sound and would probably go that way it if my wife would put up with it (as if..).

I guess I'll check out the ATC's Adams and Dynaudios.

But with active speakers you all still recommend a preamp rather than a front end? No preamp/DAC combos?
Has anyone mentioned the new Bamberg Series 3 yet? If not, end of discussion! ;-) It is seriously good, with imaging and design characteristics better than anything listed here.
I was part of a private demo of this speaker after hours at AXPONA this year.

Look it up and drop Philip a line.

I am unaffiliated, just very impressed by the Bamberg speakers I have heard. The Series 5 is outstanding as well!
I just ordered a pair of KRK Rokit 8 powered monitors for the bedroom TV and my computer desk in the same room. Reputation is very good but I chose a discontinued model thinking that these would be half the price of the VXT 8 and probably almost as good. They'll be here next week and I can let you know after that.
At $442.80 and free shipping for the pair, I figured the gamble was well worth it. I've never heard anything from this company but the customer reviews on line have been encouraging.
I agree with above comments about stand mount. Why is it important to buy floor standers? They usually cost much more and have about the same footprint as stands.