According to KRK Systems' Vice-President of Marketing Tony Rodrigues, "there is still demand for passive monitors." Now, I would have questioned this assertion before last night, when I was forced to mix the absolute worst emo-band I've ever heard on my powered RP6 Rokits. Never before had I wished for studio monitors that were completely unpowered. I sure could have gone for a pair of KRK R6s.

Of course, the passive R6s do more than just provide respite from terrible music. They can be powered via the amplifier of your choosing (they handle 100 watts RMS); in this scenario, the R6s offer many of the same advantages that the RP6s do, including the newly designed front baffle that virtually eliminates high-frequency diffraction. The R6 is also equipped with KRK's famous yellow-finished Glass Aramid Composite-Cone Woofers, and complementary Neodymium soft-domed tweeter. The cabinet also sports a front-facing bass port that helps combat low-frequency phase cancellation.

Internally, the R6s house a precision crossover and offers 5-way speaker binding posts for connection to your amplifier.

So, why else would you forego a pair of powered monitors for passive ones (other than you've already got an amp lying around, doing nothing)? At $149 a pop, you can't afford NOT to get them!