While I agree with the 10/10 comments, the seller has been around for decades, has a superb rating, and is suggesting use of an escrow service for the sale. He appears legitimate.
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Yeah, I worked for Adire in my early 20’s before I went to work at BG. As far as I know, Dan and Dusty Vawter from Channel Islands did most of the stuff for Walter on that line and I bet that it sounds good.
Yes, the FR-30 8" woofer uses the XBL split-gap technology, which is think is kind of a no-brainer for midbass/bass drivers, if you have the budget in the project. I learned a ton from Dan and Dave there and Dan has gone on to do a bunch of cool audio stuff as a hired gun and for various companies. I’m hoping to get him involved on certain driver projects here down the road, as we build things out.
edited to correct Dusty from CI’s name
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Dusty Vawter, you mean? Or is there another Dusty at CIA?
Yes! Please excuse the typo.
Yees…so we’ll see active PSA speakers sometime, I’m sure! 
And @stevensegal, Paul said he’d love to get rid of the pile of amps and cables around speakers, so it seems he was sold to your preaching
The power cable argument as to why people refuse active speakers was interesting!
Well, in the home theater space that one drove a lot of audio system purchases, one of the main impediments to active speakers was that preamp processor cost similar amounts of money to otherwise fairly similar A/V receivers and so that amplifiers were presented as nearly “free” and active speakers represented a big price increase.
In the pro audio space, there was a big push into high end sound reinforcement speakers with integrated amplifiers form folks like KV2 or meyer, that has gone back the other direction to outboard DSP amplifier “racks and stacks” once again, albiet with tightly integrated signal processing and the other benefits of active systems - though what is simplicity (having the amplifiers built into the enclosure) isn’t necessarily more simple in live sound reinforcement .
Meridian has been trying to make it happen for years in high end hifi but it is just now that we are seeing things become more and more compelling.
One of the things that excited me about PS Audio, coming in as a speaker designer was combining all of the other related IP/core competencies of the company (DAC/DSP, amplifier, etc.) into an active speaker.
One of the issues in doing it for us though is that it doesn’t really fit in the line. Yes, it combines much of our IP but isn’t really meant to pair with most of our products (other than a preamp/source). It’s not that this is a bad thing, it’s just kind of a separate thing.
It’s also a case of that the active system is necessarily better and it really comes down to the quality of the DAC, amps, DSP and implementation stuff. I couldn’t afford to put a Directstream DAC on every drive unit and so it’s a matter of making sensible compromises but compromises nonetheless. Still, having a more direct coupling of amplifier and transducer and knowledge of dynamic behavior of the system (and offering limiting and managing the dynamic behavior of the system to prevent damage and increase headroom in a number of cases) certainly has it’s benefits, along with external simplicity.
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Still can’t wait to see and hear the FR-30 and siblings.
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I think there’s a market for an audiophile grade, close to rear wall, active desktop speaker.
In my office I use ProAc Tablette 10 Signatures powered by a Parasound JC5. I’d gladly give up both to have TuneTot-like active desktop speakers.
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Yes indeed PSA with its amp competence would be predominated to make an audiophile active speaker with all its advantages. But my first thought when Paul also initially thought about it was, that it would hurt the own amp business. It’s understandable that for such reasons and the non acceptance of the market (which again certainly is influenced by manufacturers and press) the theoretically best (or a very good alternative) doesn’t always hold sway.
It’s fascinating to see how little power is only needed in an active design to provide immediacy, speed and control, compared to the demand of a passive. But the major benefit of an active speaker for audiophiles would be the option to have tonality adjustment options at the active crossover without the disadvantage of normal tone controls. This alone prevents most of the financial impact buying new cabling and gear with each small change in room or equipment for most and enables the choice of components and cabling more independently of tonality aspects imo.
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I have built an active system that does use three Direcstreams. It’s based on PMC studio speakers called BB5-XBDA ( see BB5 XBD-A | PMC Speakers (pmc-speakers.com).
I did this in about 2013. As standard PMC sold the speakers with Bryston analogue crossovers and Bryston power amps. I didn’t want analogue crossovers because I wanted to keep everything digital, so, I acquired the speaker cabinets/drivers but used a DEQX (Digital Equalisation and Crossover) crossover. For power amps I use BHK250s for mid and treble and a powerful Crown CE4000 to drive the paralleled bass drivers (the old design Crown amp is great into 2 ohm loads).
DEQX dialled in from Australia to calibrate the system’s impulse response and I use the software’s parametric equalisers to compensate for room acoustics (I have lots of absorption and bass trapping and getting the equalisers adjusted just right took many hours/days/weeks/months!).
PMC now use their own electronics in the replacement BB6-XBDA but they don’t offer the flexibility that my solution provides.
Dan.
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Thanks @jazznut, I had to watch that video to believe it, and I still don’t believe it!
In the CD era my hifi system was unchanged for over a decade, but then streaming came along and the first system I looked at, in 2007 or 2008, was Naim feeding ATC active speakers. I found those speakers a bit hard and analytical, unsurprising for what is designed as an active studio monitor, but I active always seemed perfectly sensible to me.
At some point much more recently I was looking at Dutch & Dutch 8c, but they give you issues connecting a phono source. It is possible but there is a box count, which rather defeats the object of the 8c.
My ceiling system is active, in that each unit contains the speaker, 75w Class D amplifier, DAC, streaming module and wifi + the lighting system, all in a unit the size of a 0.5kg (454g Imperial) jam jar.
In my experience the great advantage of actives are the opportunities for DSP and room correction, for example the Linn Exakt technology. Devialet gives you those benefits for passive speakers with their SAM (Speaker Active Matching) software.
The disadvantages include connecting phono (analogue) sources, although Linn obviously prioritised that with their Exakt Box.
I agree with everything Paul says in the video, with one exception, in that thinks like 8c and Kiii do allow you to take into account the room. I think it’s no surprise that just about every maker of active speakers that I know of, excluding Linn, made them for the professional market and only then started selling to the consumer market.
In my book, anything with less cables is a good thing as cables never improve sound quality, they cannot add anything, they only make it less bad.
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Although I use (non market available) active speakers and am very happy with them, I agree that active speakers on the professional and consumer market often tend to sound quite dry and analytical in a negative way, not my preference. This may have to do with frequent use of class D electronics, partly complete digital signal processing and less care taken in developing/voicing compared to the best on the passive speaker audiophile market.
But if active speakers are made with equal care as passive ones, with class AB amps where meaningful etc., they can be extremely competitive, which is why I think if Paul and Chris would get into it with a bigger speaker, this would be an earthquake in the speaker market. We know that market earthquakes are not always appreciated by everyone So I just know a few partly active real high end speakers.
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I don’t think the idea of “fitting in” actives really floats these days.
The advantage of actives these days is simply being able to plug in an ethernet cable and you’re done. Think Kiii, Grimm, D&D. If you’re going to put the amplifiers onboard, why not everything, and (as you say) have separate DACs for each driver and DSP while you’re at it?
Meridian, but also Linn and far more successfully, have designed active systems as a complete system, not as a product that combines with other existing products. They are able to do this because they have 15-20 years of history developing the proprietary components, in Linn’s case their streaming platform (Kinsky, then Kazoo), Chakra Class D amplifier and Dynamik power supply. Meridian had the Sooloos platform, developed 20 years ago by the team that left to build Roon.
PS Audio strengths seem to lie elsewhere and the risk of relying on third party suppliers (e.g. Oppo) is well-known. The cost of developing a high-end fully active integrated system in one go would probably be astronomic.
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With reference to @danofesherintheuk, this is what PMC did 30 years ago. Peter Thomas was commissioned to design new speakers for the BBC Maida Vale studios, he adopted Bryston amplifiers and the relationship has prospered for over 30 years, to the extent that PMC are Bryston’s European distributor and service centre.
The large PMC BB5’s that @danofesherintheuk uses can produce a visceral sound. I’ve been to demo’s with PT’s uncompressed percussion recordings that would break most speakers. The cabinets are suitably massive. The consumer units are passive. The active professional units - the BB6 Active is a cool £65,000.
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Yes, correct, I heard those behind the link in Munich.
Then I knew that the famous track on the Tricycle CD can sound more dynamic
But it’s still recognizable by the sound and priorities that PMC comes from the studio environment. Would be interesting to hear of more active speakers from dedicated consumer high end companies.
When I decided to go for PMC BB5-XBDA with my version of crossover/dacs and amplification the price per pair was £95000, which is the current price of the BB6-XBDA. XBD stands for Extra Bass Driver and the A means Active.
I’ve just had a listening session and the system sounds great (to me).
I think I’ll put on some percussion, e.g. O-Zone Percussion Group Jazz Variants (I need to get rid of the dust on the bass drivers).
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I am a big fan off active speakers. Go on Instagram to Edmund Vinyl:
Edmund Vinyl
I‘d listen to that dream system with active ATC‘s and Reed Muse 3C turntable all day long.
The best close to the wall speakers are Rowen, Swiss HD and Von Schloo.
Another great sounding on wall speaker is Aloudo.
Rowen allows passive, as well as active with dedicated Rowen separates. All analog. For reasonable start budget to going all out.
We live in high density populated countries and can simply not afford to put speakers off wall.
Close to or on wall is all what the above brands have ever done, for many years and decades. Same goes with Abacus, all active speakers, highest quality built in amps and with some model ranges you can select DSP or Analog cross over circuits. No bit shuffling, all analog and no class D amps either.
Buchardt Audio A500 and A700 are the most attractive (view, budget and features) active speakers.
And yet, my passive Buchardt S400 Signature Edition + M33 Purify class D amp are a dream team in the living room.
In my home office my Yamaha MSP5 all analog class AB active near field speakers serve very well.
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January 2022 Stereophile arrived early this year. Nice 2 page (11 & 12) Aspen FR30 advertisement
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They WILL be reviewed, with so much advertising.
FR30 has hit the product website in hyperbole overdrive. Apparently available to pre-order, or find at your local dealer, but no pricing or listings as yet.
“ Over nearly a century of loudspeaker designs, few models have ever achieved legendary status. The FR30 joins the ranks of a rare handful of true full-range speakers that can honestly cover the frequency range of 28Hz to beyond 20kHz with grace, dynamics, slam, and low distortion. What’s captured on the disc is exactly what you’ll hear with a greater resolution than most have ever experienced. Grace, beauty, PRaT, power, and a musicality that is rare amongst 6 figure offerings from other manufacturers await owners of the aspen FR30. That this speaker is financially within reach of many makes it a miracle.”
The specification is unclear as in bold type it says in room bass response 20hz -6db and directly underneath it says frequency response 28hz - 20khz (-6db). What is it?
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