A loudspeaker that features built-in active electronics, such as filtering, EQ, amplification, and crossover. Active speakers afford the manufacturer the advantage of being able to optimize all of the system’s components for best performance and to match the components to one another. The big advantage of active speakers for users is the convenience; one power cable and one audio cable are usually all that are required to use all the components contained in the monitor (as opposed to a system where the amps, crossovers, EQs, etc., are all in separate boxes and must be cabled together).