What is the difference between powered speakers

Everyone understands that. There will be a source of sound at the beginning of the chain, and then a specific process to get actual sound from the speakers at the end. Getting loudspeakers to produce a sound — ideally a faithful, accurate, enjoyable sound — can be done a few different ways.

You can use passive loudspeakers , or active loudspeakers, or powered loudspeakers. The process involved in getting sound from a speaker is, broadly speaking, the same in every case. First of all, you need a source. The preamplifier tends to be used to switch between different sources, and to adjust the volume of the sound that eventually comes from the speakers.

This is because active models have built-in amplifiers, while passive models require external amplifiers. Passive speakers do not have built-in amplifiers and require external amps, while active speakers do have built-in amplifiers. This difference also means that active speakers require power to function to power their amplifiers. In contrast, passive speakers do not require power to function though the connected amplifiers do.

These built-in amplifiers increase the weight and price of active speakers, but the consolidation of speaker and amplifier makes them arguably, easier to use. The AudioEngine P4 link to check the price on Amazon is an example of a passive speaker. The Edifier SPro link to check the price on Amazon is an example of an active speaker.

In addition to having an active design, this speaker also has Bluetooth and USB connectivity. Passive speakers, generally speaking, are made of an enclosure, one or more speaker drivers, and a passive crossover network if there are multiple drivers. So, then, passive speakers do not require any power.

Their crossovers and drivers are passive in nature, working with passive electrical components and electromagnetism.

These speakers receive an amplified speaker level signal from a connected power amplifier. The speaker level signal is then split into different frequency bands by the crossover unit before being sent to the appropriate drivers.

All other frequencies are split and sent to the woofer. In a 3-way speaker, the crossover splits the audio signal in 3 ways. It sends highs to the tweeter, mids to the midrange woofer, and lows to the larger woofer. The power amplifier and passive speaker s must be matched appropriately for optimal performance. The signal from the preamp goes into an active crossover network. While this performs the same job as the crossover in the passive set-up it works at line level around 2v rather than speaker level typically v.

Working at lower signal levels means the components used can be optimised for precision rather than power handling. Such a design would normally use active components, and on more sophisticated products, some form of signal processing whether digital or not to get the best out of the drive units.

The result is a filter network that is potentially way more accurate in its operation, and delivers a better integrated and optimised sound. Each separated frequency band of this line-level signal is then sent to a dedicated power amp that feeds as many drive units as are responsible for delivering those frequencies.

On paper, active speakers have a whole host of advantages. Their crossover design gives the designer much greater control over the signal and is far less prone to losses and distortion when compared to a passive filter alternative. As the power amplification is integrated into the design, it can be optimised for a specific drive unit. These benefits would seem to give active speakers a generous edge, but there are also downsides. Pound for pound, no other similarly sized composite box comes close.

You also have to make sure you have the proper combination of power amplifier and speakers so that the setup runs correctly. As a general rule of thumb, your power amplifier should have twice the amount of necessary wattage to power your unpowered speakers in order to give you a good amount of room to deliver a clean, undistorted sound. For example, if you have speakers rated at watts with a nominal impedance of 8 ohms, it is recommended that your power amp is rated at watts per channel into 8 ohms.

This is only a general example and you should definitely check out the specifics of the equipment when trying to match a set of unpowered speakers and a power amp. It seems as though powered speakers would be the best choice for typical players and, personally, I feel they are. Just like with anything else, there are those out there who like choice. With a setup that features unpowered speakers and an external power amp, you have the ability to choose exactly what you want and are not stuck with the speaker-power amp combination of powered loudspeakers.

Of course, it should be said that any place that requires a large sound installation, such as for large as for a club, concert hall, church or any other place that requires numerous speakers, unpowered speakers are nearly always used. When it comes to the huge amount of power required for large systems, keeping the amplifiers separate from the speakers prevents them from overheating, and maintaining this type of setup is much easier in the long run as you only have to replace a single component instead of the entire speaker.

In the end, it comes down to what your needs are and what you're looking for.