Gear & technology
Active speaker
Also called powered speaker, active monitor, self-powered speaker
An active speaker has its amplifiers built into the cabinet, usually one per driver, with the crossover working on the signal before amplification. Studio monitors have been active for decades; hi-fi has followed as streaming made the all-in-one system appealing.
Strictly, "active" means the crossover is electronic and sits before separate amplifiers for each driver, while "powered" means a single amplifier drives a conventional passive crossover inside the box. Makers use the words loosely, and the catalog does not distinguish them.
Designing the Amplifier for a known driver lets the maker apply precise equalization and protection, which is why active monitors from Genelec, Neumann and KEF measure so consistently. Most use Class D modules, and many add a DAC, Bluetooth or streaming so no other box is needed. The trade-off is that the electronics cannot be upgraded separately.