Loudspeakers

Marrying what is essentially a large passive standmount with its own active (sub) bass section, and housing it in a taller floorstanding cabinet has many benefits – not least a 'tower' with the same compact footprint but offering 'better than passive' bass extension and lower distortion. The gains in performance offered by an active bass – not simply a 'powered bass' – begin with the design of a line-level crossover more intimately attuned to the foibles of the bass driver. User-adjustable bass level is also realised in the T66 – an aid to speaker positioning and low frequency tuning that's vastly more accommodating than the rear-firing reflex ports and foam bungs of even the best passive floorstanders.

Furthermore, the direct amplifier-to-driver connection improves damping while all the drawbacks of a passive low-pass filter, with its reactive components, are eliminated. Hybrids like the T66 are a half-way house to full active operation, offering benefits across the frequency range while relieving your stereo amp of all the 'heavy lifting'. Downsides? Few, aside from the extra design complexity and, of course, a trailing AC mains cable... PM