Reverse-engineering my speakers' API to get reasonable volume control

Post by dsr_ » Sat, Jul 27, 2024, 2:15 PM UTC

iamacyborg wrote: post #66

radicality wrote: post #44

Seems like the author moved from a “speakers + networked amp” setup, to a one where with active speakers where everything is built-in. When I was buying speakers for my apartment some time ago, I was similarly considering going for the all-in-one options like this, but I’m glad I didn’t. I prefer the “dumb passive speaker + networked amp”, as it allows you to pick / replace / upgrade the separate components. Went for…

I have the “wireless” powered kef ls50 and the regular ones. The wireless model has significantly better bass response and sounds much better to my ear. I actually had a fault with them recently and they stopped working, I’d bought the speakers used on ebay and even had I had a warranty they were past 5 years old by the point the fault developed. Regardless, kef repaired them entirely for free. 10/10 would buy again.

Post by cobbaut » Sat, Jul 27, 2024, 2:36 PM UTC

atoav wrote: post #97

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody is arguing their quality is bad, but that amps die long before speakers die. Do passive speakers even die? Also, online services built into these will die before the speakers do.

Sure from a longevity perspective, you are 100% correct and for HIfi/Home use I'd recommend the same. I am not sure however if your estimation is correct for all cases. The amount of killed tweeters I have seen would not have happened with an active speaker..

Post by recursive » Sat, Jul 27, 2024, 4:31 PM UTC

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #96

Endurancee wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quality of active speakers are really good these days, they have matched amps and speakers from neumann, genelec etc also has active crossover which is superior than any passive setup. Mature market sure, but even companies like KEF who didn't offered or focussed much on active systems, have growing range of options now.

Nobody is arguing their quality is bad, but that amps die long before speakers die. Do passive speakers even die? Also, online services built into these will die before the speakers do.

Post by jamesbvaughan » Sat, Jul 27, 2024, 4:42 PM UTC

tgtweak wrote: post #106

Can anyone recommend a good open source software that allows you to cast using all the popular protocols to an rpi? Feels like the "smart" part of these smart speakers and devices seems to be what dies first. I've got a 4 year old pioneer receiver that has built in Chromecast and it simply stopped working (likely deprecated API/sdk) with no updates to fix it. Likewise there's tons of great amplifiers and receivers/sp…

Post by tomaskafka » Sat, Jul 27, 2024, 4:57 PM UTC

christina97 wrote: post #76

For those considering buying speakers: (1) do it, (2) get passive ones and a separate amp. Honestly it’s such a mature market that buying these active speakers just creates e-waste. Keep the e-waste to the amp. You can get really solid speakers for $300 and a cheap amp with BT for $50-100, replacing them basically independently depending on your needs.