Power

[MichaelS]

I was looking around the net for people who used the same monitors I me and found a audio review page whee they discussed my monitors ad nauseum. One of the things they just about all said was "Needs GOOD clean power amp".

The monitors are JBL4311b's...so what's a "good" clean amp? Right now I'm using an AB labs 100watt (I think).

Thanks!

[David Klausner]

Many years ago, I didn't think there was much of a difference between different amplifiers - after all, power is just power, right? Then a friend of mine came to my studio to audition some power amps he was thinking of getting for his audiophile HiFi rig. He wanted to use my studio since I had reference monitors and acoustic treatment. I thought, what the hey, let him have his fun - he won't hear much, if anything, and I can sit on the couch in the back and get some reading done.

I don't recall the two amps he was comparing, but we threw my Hafler in there for grins (I had basically purchased it because everyone I knew with a studio used Hafler). The test material we used was the Sheffield drum CD and a sparse recording of a female vocalist. Well, the differences between the amps was not subtle at all! On drums, one amp delivered incredible impact, really nailing the transients, while the other amp sounded spongy by comparison. The Hafler sounded quite good here. On the female vocalist, the amp that sounded great on the drums sounded harsh, but the amp that was too soft for the drums sounded rich and creamy. The Hafler was great on that program material as well. I walked away with a new appreciation of what power amps can do for your speakers, as well as the satisfaction of knowing I made one of the few purchases of that era that I got right the first time (I always tell my customers that they can profit from my mistakes, and not have to buy the wrong thing a few times before they get the right unit for the job).

Bottom line, the quality of the amplifier you use is very important. My personal opinion is that unless you are going to spend the really big bucks on a high end, boutique amp, it's hard to go wrong with the Haflers if you can afford them.

[MichaelS]

What about powered monitors? Lotsa people I know use them but I've always been scared of them as I really like my JBL 4311-B's but I think my control room is too small for them. Thought maybe I'd get a pair of something else until I can get in a bigger building.

[DAS]

Mr. Klausner is on vacation this week so I'll try to step in and see if I can answer your qauestion.

One of the biggest benefits of powered monitors is that the power amp and speaker(s) can be carefully matched to each other to optimize the performance of the system. Additionally the active (as opposed to passive) crossover makes the system quite a bit more efficient - which means you don't need quite as much power to achieve good results.

Active monitors are extremely popular right now in the low to mid price ranges. They give you a quality of sound that's hard to match for the money by buying separate amps and speakers. In the very high end, however, you don't see active monitors as much, especially near field designs. Part of the reason for this is because it's difficult to build really powerful very high quality amps into the small enclosure required to get them into a monitor cabinet (or hang off the back of one). All design is a series of trade-offs and compromises so pick your poisen.

Hope this helps.