When buying new technology, it’s not just about finding the best products, it’s also about finding the right ones that fit your lifestyle and your interests. This means learning what your needs are and finding the best fit for you. Because of that, we decided that there’s one really important thing for you to know when you decide to buy new speakers. You will be asked “active or passive”? What’s your answer? Read on to find out.
How can I decide which ones are the right for me?
You might be just a simple music fan who enjoys listening to music all the time everywhere, or you are a DJ, you play in a band or you organize a lot of music events. All these different activities might mean different types of speakers for you. The first step towards this is completely understanding the differences between passive speakers and active speakers.
Active vs. Passive Speakers
The active speakers have an amplifier built inside of them, so they just need a battery or some other power source in order for them to work properly. On the other side, passive speakers always need an external amplifier as a power source so that they can function properly. So, passive speakers need an extra amplifier whilst active ones don’t.
Active Speakers’ Qualities
The way you should see the active speakers is as systems that work on an “all-in-one” mode, similar to the combo amplifier that bass players and guitarists in bands use. With them, you only need to connect the speakers to power and feed the signal line-level (a microphone, an MP3 player or guitar), because they already have the amplifier built in the speaker. Almost always in the active speakers the amplifier is fully tuned to the speakers.
Active speakers also allow you to make changes to the voice
There are certain speakers that also have built-in mixers, with additions of microphone pre-amps and EQ settings. This way, you are able to mix the sound professionally and directly on the speakers.
So, the conclusion is that these types of speakers are best for bands, public speakers, people and organizations that plan events and need to play recorder or live music simply and with no problems or for DJs.
So, the top qualities are:
- an “all-in-one” mode
- you only need power connector and feed a signal line
- a built-in amplifier
- some can also have built-in mixers
You can try out the Klipsch Reference Premiere series whose speakers offer a true cinematic sound in your room, or you also have the Heritage series which will offer you speakers which will become part of your home and will please you both aesthetically and sound-wise.
Passive Speakers’ Qualities
The passive speakers need external mixers and amplifiers as power sources. They might also need cables which will transfer the sound coming from the amplifier to the speakers. This brings one more errand for you – ensuring that the amplifiers and speakers are compatible with one another and with their power ratings and impedance. Not having compatible parts can lead to not getting the best results and best sound, but also to blowing up the speakers.
If you need these speakers for bigger events, it’s smart to use also a sub-woofer and crossover components. The components will split the signal and will lead the higher frequencies to the main speaker, while the low frequencies will be lead to sub-woofer. But, since they have so many things built in them, they can be heavier than usual.
Having separate parts with passive speakers allow upscaling the whole operation.
So, the top qualities are:
- they need external amplifiers and mixers as power sources
- might need cables too
- need to be compatible with the amplifiers
- need a sub-woofer and crossover
The Klipsch Reference series will give you that legendary sound that you aim for.
Keywords: music, sound, Klipsch, mixers, amplifiers, music events, DJ
