[yetis]

I notice there are growing number of active bookshelf speakers out there.  I would imagine as digital audio grows, the desire to plug in a digital coax into a powered speaker (that is connected via slave link), will only grow.  To date, Meridian and some studio monitors are the ones using the tech, but it seems to be growing.  Recently, there is this Australian company http://www.moosaudio.com/, and Dynaudio http://www.dynaudio.com/int/home_loudspeaker_systems/xeo/xeo.php, though I definitely don't want wireless speakers. 

Subject was also a focus of an Audiocircle post last year,  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=105702.0 

Any chance that Salk would go this direction with their monitor/mini-monitor offering?

Thanks

[jsalk]

I notice there are growing umber of active bookshelf speakers out there.  I would imagine as digital audio grows, the desire to plug in a digital coax into a powered speaker (that is connected via slave link), will only grow.  To date, Meridian and some studio monitors are the ones using the tech, but it seems to be growing.  Recently, there is this Australian company http://www.moosaudio.com/, and Dynaudio http://www.dynaudio.com/int/home_loudspeaker_systems/xeo/xeo.php, though I definitely don't want wireless speakers. 

Subject was also a focus of an Audiocircle post last year,  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=105702.0 

Any chance that Salk would go this direction with their monitor/mini-monitor offering?

Thanks

We've done active speakers in the past, but not mini-monitor.  If there was enough interest, we would certainly investigate doing them.

- Jim

[yetis]

Well I am interested.  I would be interested in something on the large bookshelf sort of size.  With the SS8's, don't need anything floor standing today. Seems like there is all sorts of new DSP and Class D amp tech out today that makes such a product, all the more refined!

[nyc_paramedic]

We've done active speakers in the past, but not mini-monitor.  If there was enough interest, we would certainly investigate doing them.

- Jim

I was actually just this today. With the baby and the new shop, I rarely find the time to fire up the hi-fi. And I don't want to uncover or run hot tube amps when the toddler is running amok.

I was thinking it would be great to have small active Salks on my foyer bookshelf where I could plug in my Android phone and stream that amazing Czech classical station or NYC's WQXR. Getting a custom finish would be gravy.

Another idea would be to have a micro version of the Salkstream embedded in the speaker which I could control with my Android phone. There are tons of small ARM based single board computers that would be perfect for this.

[JLM]

Salk/active would be a winning combo!  Just dreaming about an active WOW1.   

But please do active (one amplifier per driver with crossover upstream of amps) not powered (basically a matched amp built into a passive speaker).  The advantages of truly active designs are several and significant.  A few, like AVi or the new Quad 9AS are active pairs with all the electronics in one cabinet (including DAC/pre-amp) and a special cable connecting to the passive cabinet (thereby allowing for a single location for inputs and controls, even remote like many powered speakers).

One of the active advantages is deeper/tighter bass, standmounts can replace floor standers with the added coherence of smaller driver arrays (and another positive attribute of active designs even with the small number/positioning of drivers).

[DMurphy]

Salk/active would be a winning combo!  Just dreaming about an active WOW1.   

But please do active (one amplifier per driver with crossover upstream of amps) not powered (basically a matched amp built into a passive speaker).  The advantages of truly active designs are several and significant.  A few, like AVi or the new Quad 9AS are active pairs with all the electronics in one cabinet (including DAC/pre-amp) and a special cable connecting to the passive cabinet (thereby allowing for a single location for inputs and controls, even remote like many powered speakers).

One of the active advantages is deeper/tighter bass, standmounts can replace floor standers with the added coherence of smaller driver arrays (and another positive attribute of active designs even with the small number/positioning of drivers).

I'm not following why you would expect tighter bass from the design you describe.  The amp would still be working into a passive crossover.  Is it just because the are dedicated amps for each driver?  If that's the case, you could get the same result simply by bi-amping an existing Salk design.

[jsalk]

It would be a fully active set-up with DSP processing providing an active crossover.  EQ could be added in the process.

- Jim

[yetis]

XLR input!!! XLR input!!

[Austin08]

XLR input!!! XLR input!!

+1. A pair of very long IC are needed in this set up.

[ratso]

a powered wow1 would be a pow1 

[Ace Deprave]

a powered wow1 would be a pow1 

 

[Brad]

or a POWWOW1  .....

[DMurphy]

or a POWWOW1  .....

Wow--this could be the first time we have the name for a speaker before Jim has built it. 

[yetis]

Personally, I would like a Silk Jr POW. Something more than a wow, but less than a Silk.  I imagine a Power Silk would be great, but pretty expensive!

[JLM]

I'm not following why you would expect tighter bass from the design you describe.  The amp would still be working into a passive crossover.  Is it just because the are dedicated amps for each driver?  If that's the case, you could get the same result simply by bi-amping an existing Salk design.

Dennis,

No, I'm thinking of a 'fully active' design (one amplification channel per driver, not 'powered' speakers that simply have an amp built into a multi-driver passive design).  An active design (as most define it) feeds low voltage signal to the crossover (which can be more precise/sophisticated) that feeds each amp which feeds each driver all via very short cabling.  "Simply bi-amping" costs more, takes more space, requires more cabling, and assumes I can match amps to drivers and pairings of amp/woofer with amp/tweeter as well as the designer.

[DMurphy]

Dennis,

No, I'm thinking of a 'fully active' design (one amplification channel per driver, not 'powered' speakers that simply have an amp built into a multi-driver passive design).  An active design (as most define it) feeds low voltage signal to the crossover (which can be more precise/sophisticated) that feeds each amp which feeds each driver all via very short cabling.  "Simply bi-amping" costs more, takes more space, requires more cabling, and assumes I can match amps to drivers and pairings of amp/woofer with amp/tweeter as well as the designer.

That's what I think of as a fully active system.  I got a little lost in your parentheses in the first post.  I thought you were asking for a matched amp built into a passive speaker--but I guess that was meant to be a description of what you didn't want.   In my experience, the main advantage of a true active system is that you can contour the bass level for a given room.  There are other theoretical advantages, some of which might prodcuce a "tighter" bass, but in my experience they aren't audible.   Jim and I compared a passive HT3 with a an active HT3 that used the most sophisticated electronic crossover available, and the only difference we could hear was in the midbass, where the active unit could smooth out some room modes. 

[yetis]

That isn't what I was getting at in my original post. I want the Salk equivalent of these.


http://www.electronichouse.com/article/hands_on_focal_solo6_be_active_monitors/

[srb]

That isn't what I was getting at in my original post. I want the Salk equivalent of these.
http://www.electronichouse.com/article/hands_on_focal_solo6_be_active_monitors/

That review from 2010 could lead one to believe that they were $1095/pair, but that price was for each speaker and they are currently $1350 each or $2700 pair.

If Jim does decide to build active monitors, to fulfill everyone's input requirements they would have both an unbalanced RCA and a balanced XLR analog input on each speaker in addition to having a DAC in each speaker, so that the USB output from a computer could be input into one speaker with the speakers connected to each other via a USB cable, like the KEF X300A.

I don't know what the price might be, and although I don't think anyone has taken delivery yet, it's hard to understand how Moos Audio is going to be able to deliver active monitors with Scanspeak Revelator drivers, Hypex amplifiers and DSP for only $2495.

Steve

[yetis]

Your correct on the pricing. I was thinking what Jim did might be higher than that.  I hear you on the dac, as that was part of my original thought. However, upon reflection, it seems like finding a cheap, high quality Dac with volume control is pretty easy. If someone is connecting via a computer, they are likely using a usb dac such as Firefly or Meridian Explorer, so using their computer for level control.  However, if somehow Jim could stuff all of this, along with dsp control into a bookshelf, that would be awesome!
I would note, if you include dacs for each unit, you wouldn't need rca or xlr inputs, just digital coax inputs (and an output) on one, linking it to the other.

I think at this point I will defer to Jim and see what he cooks up.