A speaker using drivers powered by their own internal amplifiers. An active speaker differs from a traditional speaker in that it does not need an outside source of amplification. Instead, the speaker has amplifiers built in which directly power the drivers.

A common example of an active speaker is a powered subwoofer. While full-range active speakers are far less common than powered subwoofers, they are appearing more and more.

When using an active speaker, a patch cord (interconnect cable) is connected to an input terminal on the speaker which feeds a low level signal directly from the preamplifier to the speaker’s built in amplifier(s) instead of using speaker wire and the associated high level, amplified signal. Active speakers eliminate one or more “black boxes” from an audio system by incorporating them (the amplifiers) inside the speaker cabinet.

When properly designed, an active speaker benefits from amplifiers designed to work specifically with its drivers and their specific characteristics. This may allow higher quality output or more efficient powering of the speakers if the built-in amplifiers are of high quality and are properly matched to the speakers. However, active speakers take away some degree of choice, as one cannot choose an amplifier separate of the speakers or upgrade the amplifier at a later time.