Vox vs Lab: those damned wires!

My vintage B&O speakers are all Beovox, driven by Beomaster tuner / amps. Wonderful sound and nice thin wires running to the speakers. (Let's not have an argument in this thread about the merits or otherwise of having super thick oxygen free cables!)

Most modern speakers, with the exception of the Beovox 1/2 wall speakers,are Beolab, needing an additional individual mains connection. For a clean looking installation the old Beovox speakers win hands down, and we know how most B&O adverts somehow miss out all the cabling.

Taking all the cabling and power issues into account, are active speakers really any better than the passive approach?

Graham

Active speakers have the advantage of having amplifiers directly matched to the drive units. This allows all sorts of variables to be taken out of the equation. It also allows the use of cheaper drive units as deficiencies in these can be edited out with clever electronics!!

Peter:

Active speakers have the advantage of having amplifiers directly matched to the drive units. This allows all sorts of variables to be taken out of the equation. It also allows the use of cheaper drive units as deficiencies in these can be edited out with clever electronics!!

I agree. But if you have the right Beovox speakers for your BeoMaster, didn't B&O match them anyway? Beolabs seem to have the main advantage of being able to accommodate other sources (non B&O...... and not generally promoted as a feature by B&O). And it is still far more difficult to accommodate those extra mains connections for each speaker..... even more so with current Building Regulation / IEE requirements concerning concealed cables.

 

Graham

EDIT

Maybe we all need to get used to seeing/ having long 'Socks' trailing around the room perimeter taking power and data to the speakers! But then there is a trip hazard........

Since you are using the old setups (The BeoMasters) you are likely to stay with two channels, yea?

I'm a stereo man myself also - like you I use several BeoMasters.....

With that being said, there is only a minor, minor inconvenience trying to find the outlet space for two more power supplies at the front of your room behind the receiver. The Powerlink cables I use for my 4500 system and BeoLab 5000s are thinner than all of my speaker wires running to my BeoVoxen. But, like you mention, there is the addition of the power circuit.

For the gain in acoustic quality, I am very happy to accommodate just two more wires

Evan:

For the gain in acoustic quality, I am very happy to accommodate just two more wires

There's also the possibility of audio signal delivery to the speakers becoming wireless in the future. Then all you need is the mains cable. You can usually find a power outlet near to potential speaker placement options, but audio cables (and wiring to passive speakers) will always need to run the full distance between the speakers and the rest of the system.

tournedos:

There's also the possibility of audio signal delivery to the speakers becoming wireless in the future. Then all you need is the mains cable. You can usually find a power outlet near to potential speaker placement options, but audio cables (and wiring to passive speakers) will always need to run the full distance between the speakers and the rest of the system.

--mika

While convenient, wireless signal is something that needs a dac and probably wifi of sorts... Much less attractive to me in that form.

RCA is here to stay in my house :-D

 

 

vikinger:

Taking all the cabling and power issues into account, are active speakers really any better than the passive approach?

 

 

I use both beovox and beolabs and never considered the cables - I just chase the walls and use the skirting to hide it behind.

 

 

valve1:

 

 

vikinger:

Taking all the cabling and power issues into account, are active speakers really any better than the passive approach?

 

 

I use both beovox and beolabs and never considered the cables - I just chase the walls and use the skirting to hide it behind.

 

 

 

I'm with valve1, I have never considered the cables to be any more than a passing consideration. I thoroughly enjoy all of the other benefits that come with an active loudspeaker now. Was even looking at those Meridians mentioned in another thread... very nice.

 

I have over 215 meters of cable going from my lounge under the stairs going to the kitchen and up to the bathroom and bedroom all hidden! A mix of cat,scart,speaker,master link, aerial wire and sensor! And may need another 3 wires to finish off if I do my next install...which will be another HDMI over cat!

But this is the only way to connect things for now!

But total wireless would be nice :-)