So... I were recently at a Sonos reseller trying to decide between the Sonos amp and the new bluesound powernode (2021 model)) to power my triangle comete 40th anniversary edition speakers (sensitivity at 90).
According to the salesman I should go for the new powernode (80W rms) as it's more powerful than the Sonos amp.
I wonder if it's true. I thought that the amp is 125w rms but this isn't stated clearly in the product page. How does Sonos measure the amp's power?
Who should I trust?
Making it even more fun
Which is why I think active speakers, with dedicated amps per driver make much more sense. The manufacturer is better equipped technically to install the right amps than over 99% of users can left to their own devices. All the user then has to do is to see if the sound is to one’s liking and can go loud enough for the room with some headroom on the volume control knob - something that all users can do.
I recently bought a Pioneer DJ monitor pair to serve an Echo Dot/Bedroom TV for about USD 135. It has the vital auto standby and wake functions, and took me less than five minutes to wire up. Pioneer has the amp power quoted in the spec somewhere, but that is not an essential thing to know. Brilliant bit of kit for sound quality, form factor and value for money.
For the audiophile, powered speakers are no fun. The fun is chasing the ultimate speaker and the ultimate amplifier. Even though passive crossovers take a toll on the sound, audiophiles seem to prefer separate amplifiers.
A problem with the whole concept of passive speakers is that they must be designed to deliver balanced sound, ‘flat’ if you like, when driven by a ‘flat’ (frequency response) amplifier. Drivers and boxes are not particularly ‘flat’. From a system standpoint a complimentary amplifier-driver-box approach yields better results.
I can recall a speaker that was sold in two versions. A passive version and an active version intended for autos. The amplifiers used in the bi-amped active version were not notable, but the active version sounded much better than the passive version -- regardless of the amplifier used to drive the speaker.
And there is the audiophile speaker wire chase. Active speakers eliminate the speaker wire.
For the audiophile, powered speakers are no fun.
The amplifiers used in the bi-amped active version were not notable, but the active version sounded much better than the passive version -- regardless of the amplifier used to drive the speaker.
It may even have been that the same amp modules were used in amps used to drive said passive version, but once they are surrounded by all the eye candy of cabinets and dials, who is the wiser?
Which is another reason why actives can also be a lot cheaper - all that expensive, usually heavy cabinetry isn't needed. Ditto for speaker cables.
As to audiophiles, that is also exactly why Sonos is a turn off. Nothing to play with and cheap enough for the Joneses to own as well. Although the tech inside Sonos speakers - and I am not referring to the wireless multiroom tech but the core audio tech - is at least a couple of decades ahead of that of tech in passive kit.
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