I have often considered going pro-audio for the home because I feel that there might be better value there and possible better sound.
Trying to mix and match pro and home equipment seems a little difficult though. The cabling and connectors are different. The voltages and impedances are different. Pro-audio seems to lack the concept of a pre-amp, although there are mixers. I can't seem to find a pro-audio DVD player. If I use a home DVD player, then the connections are wrong to hook up to a pro-audio amplifier, and where does the volume control get handled. If I want to do surround sound and I have active speakers, then how do the channels get split and where does the volume get handled. I suspect for pro-audio, that computers are becoming the source. However, are there external sound-cards that split the signal into 7-channels and allow digital volume control from the PC. Is this split analog only, what about with active speakers?
As for speakers themselves, I have the following thoughts.
I think as a general rule, horns are more dynamic, but have more distortion. Sometimes, I here a sound-re-enforcement type speaker up against a wall and just think that dynamically these put home speakers to shame. However, when listening to a PA speaker out in a room, I am often amazed at how annoying the upper frequencies really are. I really think the horns shine against a wall or in a corner. Must be something about the sound dispersion. And interestingly enough, the pro-audio speakers often have 12" or 15" cones, where most home-audio equipment uses something around 6.5". I think this again leads to greater dynamics at the sacrafice of distortion. All the sound-reenforcement speakers look like they are designed to be thrown around and survive a hard life. They are not pretty.
Then there are the small studio monitors. I don't think these quite work in the home either, although I am not quite sure why. You need to listen further away than they were designed for. So you need a sub-woofer to help with the bass. I have oftened wondered if the cross-overs have more notch filters and stuff to really flatten the response, but at the expense of distortion. I think they are usually 4th order which might lower distortion, but increase phase shift. The best ones I have heard are Genelecs, but they are expensive, so there is no value proposition there.
Well, these are all sweeping generalizations, and there maybe exceptions.
I think I might like a passive solution though with the U15s or something like it. I am just not sure.
