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July 31, 2014 - 5:49pm
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Unusual system set-up for music & movies
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So I’ll start off by saying that active speakers don’t get the respect they deserve in this business. I was at a hi-fi shop recently that had some of Adam’s middle tier active speakers hooked up to an oppo (much like you describe) and the combination was un-real. Literally one of the best systems I have heard. Total setup was about 25k or so for 2 active speakers and the Oppo. While Adams doesn’t get a lot of attention in the home systems, I can tell you they have a very good reputation in the pro audio world
So given the above there is nothing in my mind that says you will not get great audio with the setup you are envisioning, but I would be very hesitant to mix active and passive speakers. Here is why, not only do you have different speakers but now you also have different amps. I could easily see a situation where you have problems getting things to run smoothly. Also for HT the center channel is the most important speaker and for me the same timber across the front soundstage is key for home theater.
We are discussing HT and stereo in the linked forum below that you may want to read. Might give you a new direction and save you some money. (this is personally the way I went with my setup).
http://www.stereophile.com/content/upgrading-whats-good-next-step
As a little historical aside:
Back in around 1968 I was looking to upgrade from the 2-way University speakers I had, and went to a place in Long Beach, CA operated by a guy named L. M Barcus.
He ran a small audio store combined with an innovative recording studio.
One of the products he was selling were these Pioneer speakers that were 3-way speakers with 3 power amplifiers and crossovers built in. I had never heard of such a thing before. They were very good, and very expensive.
I ended buying some Wharfedale W70D speakers from him, for around $300. I think the Pioneer speakers were closer to $2000, which was like $20K today.