Bookshelf speakers: Powered or Not?

*Note: By "Powered", I mean the speaker has a built in amplifier with built in DSP: you plug in an RCA/XLR/Digital cable and that's it. Not-Powered would mean you bring your own amplification (AVR or separate amp); your traditional bookshelf type speaker.

For a few years I've wanted to get in to the home audio side of things. I've built a few speakers myself for my HT but I'd like to get back in to it, building and selling off my speakers (not necessarily to profit from).

I'm curious... if you were shopping for a nice set of bookshelf speakers, would you be willing to pay an extra $200-300 for active powered speakers with built in DSP or would you want a conventional/passive speaker you would bring your own power for? (keep in mind, a lot of nice AVR's have pre-outs nowadays).

For me it would depend more on where the speakers were going, for example I am looking for a budget pair of speakers to use in the home office (I have a pair of 8" woofers that if I could figure out crossovers, tweeters etc would like to utilize, otherwise may just pick something cheap from PE), so having that built in amplification etc. would come in really handy. One less thing to have on the desk, just plug in my laptop/phone and I am set.

On the other hand if I am putting the speakers in a media room type environment, then I would likely go the traditional route. Bearing in mind this would be if those bookshelf speakers were going to be used as part of a surround sound set up and the AVR was also powering all the other speakers. If it's still just going to be 2.1 type set up, then depending on the pricepoint vs an AVR having bookshelf speakers with an amp built in again would be pretty attractive due to the simplicity.

Powered sounds interesting, but wouldn't you have to plug into each one independently to tune, EQ, and do volume...or it there some kind of linking system that I'm not aware of? You'd also have to have a power cable for each speaker.

you wouldn't touch the DSP once I was done with it. Basically, I'd build it, test it and create the filters. Save them to the amp/dsp and ship 'em out. You'd simply plug the appropriate cable in to it and be done.

Not powered would be a passive filter you would build?

Kelvin

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Originally Posted by subwoofery

Not powered would be a passive filter you would build?

Kelvin

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yes.

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Originally Posted by erinh

you wouldn't touch the DSP once I was done with it. Basically, I'd build it, test it and create the filters. Save them to the amp/dsp and ship 'em out. You'd simply plug the appropriate cable in to it and be done.

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need to find a way to lock it down for warranty reasons.

well, it sort of depends on what the end use is more likely to be, a pair of JBL monitors with their own DSP networks governing the output, would have to be bettered on either cost or quality issues to seem worth the time and effort.

not being able to tune the speakers to the room, DSP would essentially be ham-strung to get the most out of, unless there was a DSP on top of the DSP, more like a MS-8 for the nom-nom crowd, at home.

that said, it would be pretty cool to be able to address the speaker's contribution from driver interaction and diffractive, cabinetry stuffs as already solved sets of auditory equations.

I could see where spring board ideas, might jump in the middle of building/testing/finalizing someone else's suite of problems, delivering a potentially custom design where the market doesn't do, that voodoo that you do...