So I'm playing with the Presonus Sceptre monitors and I just dunno man.

These are my first impressions. They are up against some highish end home theater speakers, SVS MTS-01s.
 
I want to like these things, but so far, they are failing to amaze me. Their imaging in fine, but I'd say only on par with what the SVS speakers have. Maybe a touch better, but I dunno, really doesn't seem like it. Given all the ranting n' raving about imaging and the coax advantage with that regard, I was expecting something better.
 
Sound quality is very good, I don't hear any honk from the horn or anything like that, but again, I'm not really hearing any improvement against my SVS speakers that I can detect. Is there less distortion? I dunno, maybe, if there is it is really hard to tell (the SVS are supposedly very low distortion).
 
They sound a bit more linear, maybe. I can't really hear much voicing difference in music. In a frequency sweep it seems like they are a little more linear, but it isn't much if it is.
 
Bass is hard to accurately compare since the SVS speakers are so much larger and hit lower. In general the Sceptres seem to do ok for their size, and the bass seems clean. I don't know that it is any more clean than the SVS speakers though. Like I said, hard to tell what with the difference in response.
 
Then the final issue: They hiss. They have an audible hiss in my room, even with their input gain set at minimum, and the soundcard disconnected. It's not super loud or anything, but it is audible and I likes me a nice and silent room. I stuck a better amp on my SVS speakers just for that reason.
 
So if you are thinking about these...... I dunno, try and listen to them first. They really don't seem to live up to the hype. They aren't bad, by any stretch of the imagination, but they don't seem to be any better than other good speakers.

I recently upgraded Samson Resolv 6.5a studio monitors to JBL LSR308's.  Very happy with these.

Well speaking of ARC that is a spoiler I wasn't thinking about: The SVS speakers have digital room correction being applied. Specifically Audyssey MultEQ, which is a low resolution versions of ARC (basically ARC has a 64x larger filter). So they did have that benefit that the Sceptres did not. I suppose I could jury rig something to do correction on the Sceptres but it would be a pain (since they can't do unbalanced connections and the receiver that does MultEQ is unbalanced only).
 
However that aside, the hiss just bothers me too much. Stupid maybe, since it is pretty low level, but I value having speakers that are perceptibly silent at idle, so back they go.
 
You are right about the room being a problem, this much I know. That is part of the reason I decided to look at different speakers, see if they worked a little better in it. Given my failure there, I think I'm going to throw another grand or two at acoustic treatment of the room, then go from there.
 
I might revisit active speakers, but not the Sceptres :P.
 
In terms of domestic assembly I hear that, but it is hard to find. Hell my Rotel amp that powers the SVS speakers was made in China (though I've no complaints, it is silent as can be). Heck Event Opal speakers are made in Australia, not the US.

I didn't send them back yet but yes, I was pretty careful. I had their inputs set to minimum and my Focusrite turned up about 35-40% of the way (which was what was required to level match with my existing speakers).
 
The thing is, the noise persisted even with the Focusrite off, and even with the cables disconnected. It was worse at higher level settings on the Sceptres. It was for sure something in the speakers themselves. Also from doing a bit of research, it seems this is not a defective pair, but rather just what they do. A few people have noted it.
 
It isn't loud, but I have a pretty quiet room, so it is audible and I'm fussy about such things :/.

SycraftI didn't send them back yet but yes, I was pretty careful. I had their inputs set to minimum and my Focusrite turned up about 35-40% of the way (which was what was required to level match with my existing speakers).

 
Well that's certainly the standard starting point.
 

SycraftThe thing is, the noise persisted even with the Focusrite off, and even with the cables disconnected. It was worse at higher level settings on the Sceptres. It was for sure something in the speakers themselves. Also from doing a bit of research, it seems this is not a defective pair, but rather just what they do. A few people have noted it.

 
That's a bit more telling, and a bit unsettling. I will certainly be listening for that when I get my pair.
 

SycraftIt isn't loud, but I have a pretty quiet room, so it is audible and I'm fussy about such things :/.

That is why you get the big bucks, as they say. We have to be picky!

Also with regards to your gain question I realized I didn't fully answer it. The signal chain was Sony Sound Forge, playing FLAC or MP3 files with no additional processing out via ASIO to the Scarlett Mixcontrol. All digital levels were set to unity, output was set to DAW1 and DAW2, bypassing the mixer. Scepters were plugged in to line outs 1 and 2 and level controlled using the analogue control on the front, input gain on the Sceptres was at the lowest setting. The S/PDIF out of the Scarlett is wired to my Denon receiver, its internal preamplifer controlled the line outputs to a Rotel amp, which hooks to the SVS speakers. I balanced the levels at 80dBSPL for the first tests and then 75dBSPL later (I don't like loud music) using pink noise measured with a Checkmate CM-140, verified against the set level on the receiver which is reference calibrated (0dB = 105dB SPL at the listening position). I switched back and forth by muting the monitor outs in mix control, and muting the receiver outs.
 
As I said, hiss was present in the Sceptres whenever they had power. Not loud, but audible. There was no hiss (well no audible hiss, if you press your ear near the tweeter you can hear some) in the SVS speakers at any time.
 
I don't think I screwed any part of my testing up.
 
Also with regards to processing/room correction the SVS speakers are corrected with Audyssey MultEQ, a low resolution version of the algorithm in ARC. I tested the Sceptres at different settings on their internal controls, finding I liked them better with the highs tamed a bit, as I do with the SVS speakers (I run them with the Audyessy curve in this room normally, which lowers the highs, in my old room I left them on the flat curve) the room has too much HF reflection I think.