DJ Tech Talk: Speakers

As you all probably know by now, I own a mobile DJ and sound solutions company. After many years of using all different kinds of equipment, I find that powered/active speakers have been the way to go. A lot of the guys and gals in this business swear by the amp to passive speaker combination. I, however, have found that active speakers, though in some cases can be heavier, provide you with an easier set up in some situations. Now, sure, if you're setting up a full system for a wedding or a party, the cord connection amount and set up is basically the same. But, for example, we can look at the rig I recently did for Cruisin Pallooza at the Broome County Fairgrounds. I had 10 speakers out on the grounds in various locations with the input signal (music/announcements) coming in wireless. All the speakers used were powered/active. If they had not been, each speaker's location would've needed a separate amplifier, case, and wires. You'd need two outlets instead of one. That's a lot of equipment to have sitting out in a field location. With the wired systems, if you daisy chained 10 speakers together, you would have serious ohm drop. That can burn an amp out QUICK! Powered speakers can be daisy chained for quite a ways until the input signal drops with no damage done to any equipment. I have noticed as well that powered/active speakers seem to be more reliable. Every use for two years now has come out the same. It just works every time.

My thoughts... What do you think?