“What is the difference between an active and a passive speaker”
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Active speakers have a built in amplifier and need a power source. A good example would be computer speakers. Passive speakers need an amplifier connected to it. A good example would be a home theater surround sound where you have a receiver that supplies power to multiple passive speakers.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.An active speaker has a built-in amplifier, such as a powered subwoofer. A passive speaker must be connected to the speaker outputs of a receiver or power amplifier. Typical examples are left, right, center and surround speakers.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.A passive speaker requires an external amplifier. This is the common configuration most people are used to. An active speaker has a built-in amplifier and these are usually subwoofers such as the Klipsch or Polk available at Best Buy. They connect to line level outputs from your preamp or a single LFE output. Since bass frequencies require far more amplifier power than mid-range and highs, the powered (active) subwoofer relieves a burden from your amp. They offer a crossover to send low frequencies to the subwoofer and higher frequencies to the main speakers. An active subwoofer also reduces Doppler distortion of the higher frequencies because cone travel of low frequencies is greater. Yes, this is the Doppler effect that makes train whistles rise then fall in pitch as they go by. The same thing happens to your mid frequencies if a single speaker cone handles all the range.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.Passive is not powered , active is powered . A subwoofer is a perfect example of this .
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