Active vs. passive crossovers

Which is better and why? An active crossover or a passive built-in crossover? And how do each of these two electronic frequency dividing networks actually do their job? Have a question you'd like Paul to answer for you? Go to www.psaudio.com... and post it.

[@keen2461]

I have a fairly old car hi-fi system (from 2008) on which the active crossover is realized on the DSP, so each band is separated even before reaching the preamp. The system outputs 6 channels. I removed the passive crossovers on my 3-way Yamaha speakers (I'm electronic eng, so I know well what I'm doing), and connected the system relying only on the DSP crossover (it's just software), and man, the sound is amazing! Like this, my 700 USD speakers sound closer, if not better than speakers of $3k-10K. The audiophile community is attached to the idea than the pricier a system is, the better it should sound. But, if you know what you're doing and undestand about electronics, you can make a cheap system sound better than a multy thousand dollar system.

[@eaustin2006]

Coming from a sound reinforcement background I spend a lot of time these days questioning where audiophiles are coming from. Passive crossovers? Really? I used to subscribe to Audio magazine in the 70s and we seemed to be making progress then. Distortion was way down, wow and flutter were better with direct drive turntables and cds solved so many issues with vinyl it was like going to heaven. Many systems had the benefit of active crossovers then, including my own modestly priced system. Now we're back to belt drive, vinyl with its RIAA curve nonsense (can't do bass without it), pops, clicks, hum. We're back to passive crossovers, tube amps, my God. What happened? We do have power cables that cost hundreds of dollars now though, we've got that going for us!

[@aaronmathias6739]

Amen brother! Totally agree with your post.

[@ayc868]

@The Chilean Audiophile How do you do it? you modified the speaker?

[@ayc868]

@The Chilean Audiophile yes, I understand that outside the speakers. I have JBL Array 1400. How do I make it happen? - open the speaker and wire direct to the tweeter, mid range, ...?

[@AALavdas]

Active, hands down. I run a multi-amp, multi-way set up, with speakers that i have built myself, and the effortlessness and resolution are simply beyond comparison.Once I fired it up for the first time, many years ago, I got hooked within 5 minutes...

[@ssmith954]

Thanks for your honesty -- acknowledging that passive xovers are dominant in the market because they're easier to sell. My experience with active xovers are extremely positive. I diy'd a simple Linkwitz-Riley 24db active crossover from a kit, using quality (but not 'boutique') parts, and bypassed the custom boutique passive crossover in my scanspeak two-way speakers. The result was better in absolutely everyway -- the amps seemed to have so much more "grip" on the speakers, if that makes any sense. I found the set up remarkably easy to tune -- for example using a low-power tube amp for tweeters and higher power class D for woofers. Big disadvantage is you need more amplifier channels, plus a slightly higher power bill. I terms of complexity, once you enter the DIY audio realm I actually found making an active crossover far easier than the trial and error involved in making a passive circuit.

[@Si1983h]

I’ve had active crossovers in my system for about 15 years now but they are made incredibly simple, Linn sell both active crossover cards that are installed in the amplifiers or active crossover boxes, their speakers can easily be configured for either passive or active use and the difference is easy to demonstrate. It didn’t take long for me to make my mind up... took a little longer to pay for it though!

[@AmazonasBiotop]

Nice to see that there is some sort of consensus (yes, I am from Sweden that like consensus.. : ) ) That active x-over is giving better fidelity than passive. It is a no brainier what to go for, but it needs a lot more effort and knowledge. With a measuring microphone and a "miniDSP" and if you are already in the digital domain you will not only get better sound with active x-over! You will also be able to get better sound with fir-filters and other stuff for room corrections that you are not able to get rid of. AFTER you first tried placement and acoustic treatments..

[@paulsebring6930]

An active crossover with the same filter frequencies and filter order will have better phase coherency because the active crossover phase is not affected by the complex speaker impedance as the passive filter is.

[@danloyd8462]

Like you said, Paul, active AC’s must be better. A friend persuaded me to try active crossovers. On a strict budget for high end audio, I chose a pre-owned (as usual) fully balanced Rane 23B AC. It’s a 3-way stereo active crossover for my front cabinets loaded with all 8 ohm 15’s, SEAS woven 7’s and SEAS Millennium tweeters. The most effort was selecting the matched SEA drivers using factory technical sheets. I focused on matching driver efficiency/sensitivity, ohm stability and the “Fs” (low frequency limits) to prevent driver damage. Madison Sound was helpful with drivers. The SEAS Spec Sheets (known to be quite accurate) allowed me to safely crossover the mid range drivers from 150 to 2500Hz. This allows nearly the entire mid range through single 7” woven drivers (great coherence). The Rane 23B has separate volume controllers for each driver to fine tune the room balance. Two dials per channel adjust the XO points, one between the bass/mid, and one between the mid/tweeter. Whatever, don’t XO the tweeter too low to prevent blow-out. For safety, I tape the tweeter adjustment dial closed once set. Comparing costs of new speakers, my front speakers were only about $5,000 all in, including preowned 2-chamber sealed cabinets ($1000), $300 for short balanced Mogami cables, $1200 for new SEAS mid and tweeter drivers (I had good matching 15’s). The extended range SEA Millennium tweeters, 2500Hz and up, were expensive, and mid range drives about average), $250 for the Rane 23B, and $1800 for a 7-channel amp. I use all affordable Mogomi Gold 2534 analog studio cables as interconnects (except digital signals with special cables) with a 2009 Proceed AVP2+6 and AMP 5, and 7-channel Lexicon sharing similar sound characteristics. I have a OPPO 105D as a source player and to stream online content through a HDMI to RCA digital convertor from a iMac27’s higher voltage Thunderport. The 4th order XO’s clarity and definition sounds like live performances. I admire many speakers, especially the newer Trident and Legacy Aeris type designs with built-in subs and sub amps, only requiring extra amplification for the midrange and tweets. If you have quality cabinets and drivers, you only need a stereo AC, interconnects, cable and a multi-channel amp. Simply find the listed crossover frequency settings on your passive XO’s factory spec sheets, and you’re ready to go.

[@KRyan4u]

9

[@davidtomsett]

PS: I am David from Sussex, you kindly answered my ‘how to rip cds’ question a week or so back!

[@juwbone]

For those of you who are wanting to buy an active crossover but don't have deep pockets, you will find that the pro audio / sound reinforcement industry has much to offer. You can pick up a used XTA DP200 (other brands are also available) for under £200 in the UK, for that you get a top quality, full DSP, 2-way stereo, or 4-way mono crossover that also incorporates multiple equalizers, time delays & limiters. For those with a 3 or 4-way stereo system you would need 2 units, ...still cheap at the price.

[@gerritgovaerts8443]

Biggest difference between active and passive is the location of the crossover : passive sits in front of the drivers (speaker) and as such has to take into account the frequency dependent impedance of those drivers which can make it very hard to design the crossover you want : a theoretical text book crossover will almost certainly fail . An active crossover sits between preamp and power amp. As such it is shielded from the speaker and its impedance . Also , the active components act much less like an energy storage device (electrostatic for caps and electromagnetic for coils) . For this reason ,active crossovers are superior when it comes to reproducing transient signals. If your source is mainly digital , consider a digital crossover

[@dilbyjones]

Gerrit Govaerts I wish someone could expand on this

[@paulsebring6930]

@@dilbyjones The passive crossover is between the amplifier and the speaker elements and divides high frequency and low frequency amplifier power between high frequency and low frequency speaker elements. The amplifier drives the speaker elements through the passive crossover. The frequency and phase response of a passive crossover filter is affected by the impedance of the speaker elements. A speaker element is complex impedance that changes with frequency, not a simple resistance, so designing a passive crossover for a specific frequency and phase response to work with multiple speaker elements is difficult. The active crossover is not connect to the speakers directly. An active crossover is in the signal path before the amplifiers and divides high frequency and low frequency line level signals between separate amplifiers connected directly to individual high and low frequency speaker elements. The active crossover is not affected by the amplifier impedance or the individual speaker element impedance. High current high voltage capacitors and inductors in the passive crossover are low precision and not ideal capacitors and inductors. Large inductors are coils of thin gauge wire. The wire in passive crossover inductors is much longer and much thinner and higher resistance than your short thick speaker wires. I believe the large series inductor in the low pass filter is a source of dynamic compression and distortion. Active multi-amplification improves speaker frequency response, improves dynamics, and lowers distortion.

[@ped-away-g1396]

active : - easier to design to meet your requirements - more flexible they usually have at least volume control for each frequency band - needs power but usually no more than a few watts - due to being in the input stage, if poorly made they tend to pick up noises and add more distortion to the signal - needs multi-amplification - stable throughout the entire frequency range passive: - harder to design to meet one requirement without compromising another - less flexible - doesn't need power - doesn't pick up noises - doesn't need multi-amplification - reactive, their properties change with frequency

[@MrRoberacer]

The current trend in pro audio (audio for hire that is) is digital active crossovers. This is true for both studio and public address (concert sound systems). Right away you have to know that more and more we are converting the signal to digital once and it remains that way until it comes out of the amps so it retains most of its integrity. The advantage to digital is that there are many more variable parameters to adjust and we can make multiple groupings storing them for recall at a moments notice later. In the video, one of the concerns mentioned was phase coherence. In my experience, both passive and analogue crossover commonly do little to nothing to address that. What I mean is that when it comes to driver placement as it relates to the arrival time of that sound at your ear it is very difficult to determine the exact positioning upfront as there are a number of factors that work together to determine that including lag time caused by various components in the system. With digital, we can physically measure that shift and adjust for it without having to physically reposition the drivers. Also to consider in this is the fact that digital eq which is what a crossover actually is can generate very little phase shift when compared to its analogue counterparts as well.

[@irisfailsafe]

The JBL M2 have active electronics, they come with amps that are also crossovers and can control de speaker to change with the room that they are in. As far as I know they are the most advanced audio system out there. It's crazy because it break all the rules of what a quality amp should be (as it is a class D system in a light metal box) but when you hear them, then you understand. There is music, nothing else.

[@james6039]

Gavin - I think you would hear just as much improvement by going by-amp, probably even better because the room for error using the speakers passive crossovers is almost zero. I did it 2 years ago - the improvement was amazing - especially at loud volumes.

[@rabokel]

An important part of the crossover, besides splitting the audio spectrum, is to design the sound of the speaker. That requires lots of experience

[@Torpengpogi]

i have a active 4-way stereo system using 2 cx3400 analog crossover, setup as mono each to have a 4-way, represents each left and right channel, but i have to use pro audio amplifier because of balance input to match balance input/output of cx3400. the negative side of using active system is the never ending tweaking to get the sound right, it takes time!

[@bigcatdairy]

Thanks Paul, you are so generous that share your knowledge with us

[@helthuismartin]

Very simple.Devide the signal first before you amplify it.

[@StormCentre88]

There is no (performance) comparison between a well designed active system and a passive system; as the active system is better in every respect. Active crossover design (provided it is done properly) solves many of the problems that passive design creates and can't deal with. No comparison.

[@frankjansz8176]

Hi I got a all Tube Lucman 3Wsy active crossover to drive my Klipsh Lascala cabinets with a Amcron power line three to drive my Klipsh 15 Inch bass Woofers crossing at 650 Hz Cut Off and my midrange horns I use a zpait of Cary mono block Sixpack all tube mono blocks starting at 650hz and up to 5000 kHz and my JBL 2402 Super Bullet tweeters takes over from 5000khz to infinity and I use a Pair of Mono Block Tube Smps with a single output tube of the 211 Output tube with a 6sn7 input and 6sn7 Driver tube and it gives 15 Watts per channel class A All of my Amps used the Mundorf quality output Caps it's gets great sound. I like to hear your opinion on my gear. RGDS Francis Jansz

[@NichollasDewanto]

Nowadays technology is advance. not only active crossover, there are Digital Loud Speaker Management (DLMS). If designing passive crossover is hard, why don't use DLMS. You can have flat frequency or you can tune the frequency anyway you want. Phase correction, delay correction, eq, you can tune it very easily.

[@marklong8608]

I'll go one step further. I want the dac in there as well. Most don't buy a car body, then choose your own engine from another manufacturer, then the suspension from a third. These things should be engineered as complete systems. We are starting to see a few. Kef LS50, Elac AM200 & AIR-X, JBL 708P. Still no inwall/inceiling w/ digital inputs that I've seen yet.

[@liquidamber]

Thanks.P. McGowan and the mega team .... PS audio......

[@savvassidiropoulos5952]

To me, that sounds like a market waiting to be made and exploited. An active circuit can create the filter curves with much better accuracy and feeding limited bandwidth into discreet amplifiers reduces IMD and also avoids (almost unavoidable) low frequency distortion being fed to mid and high drivers. Indeed it requires multiple amplifiers but it is much more economical to use or produce lower powered amplifiers needed in an active system compared to on with a passive crossover. Many have or want to use a nice class A solid state or tube amplifier for mids and 10W are plenty for the tweeters. Considering that most hifi enthusiasts like to mix and match and tweak their system, an active design creates opportunities for more involvement, which is a driver for purchasing. I have deliberately not made a list of the technical benefits as they are well known. My aim was to give a counter argument for the "well established" argument that active systems are complicated and not well taken.

[@Torpengpogi]

if i have enough budget in the future, i will get 2 DCX2496 as the crossover to my active system, i'd like to tweak the 24db l/r crossover to a lesser degree esp on low-low/mid, i think best is 12db/octave instead of 24db, just a thought!

[@callmebigpapa]

Great video as always, audio collector/hobbyist here both passive and active have their uses. Have 50+ pair of speakers but favs are JBL 4345 copies triamped with active...but complex and costly.

[@volpedo2000]

Hi Paul, what about pushing things even further up the chain and splitting frequency in the digital domain? Wouldn't that avoid roll-offs and surgical precision in tuning the crossover points?

[@petersouthernboy6327]

Will Giani - there are some very good high end DSP solutions like Xilica that are finding their way into really high end home systems. There are about a dozen guys on the Klipsch forums who run Xilica XP 4080 and 8080’s with Klipsch Jubilee Cinema Horn systems and really high end Beryllium diaphragm CD’s. Running 3 or 4 amplifiers. I’ve heard a couple of these systems and there is nothing else like it.

[@lanx0003]

In term of the cost and simplificity of the architecture, I respectively disagree with the passive crossover system is the lesser of the dual when it is applied in the industry. Think about it, the active crossover/DSP/EQ unit has been multi-channel ready and could house, say, 3-way (6 channels) plus subwoofer, in one-box IF the internal DAC is in Hi-Fi quality. This will eliminate the need for the multi-channel DAC module. Also, as an additional benefit, the DSP/EQ module enables one to perform room acoustic correction. You would need purchase and add that into the passive system. When it comes to amplification, the multi-channel PAs can be customized based on the customer’s need just like Emotiva does. Even you have preferences in terms of selecting different PA for each signal frequency spectrum, the power requirement of each P.A. would no longer necessarily be as needy and costly as a single PA serving the full-range frequency. For example, a good 20-30 watts PA should suffice to drive tweeters (2/5kHz - 20 kHz) to sing sweetly. A good 50 wpc and >100 wpc class A/B or D should be prenty to drive midranges (200Hz-2/5kHz) and woofers (40Hz-200Hz). The amplication modules do not need to be manufactured by the venders and, instead, purchased by the individuals to their satisfaction as long as they meet the specification. Note that, in today’s high-end Hi-Fi world, it is quite common that audiphiles purchase expensive monos or multiple stereo amp of enormous power to support their full-range speakers already. Finally, when it comes speakers, as you know, they just need to be wired directly from the PA at the multiple terminals. If you are concerned about lack of protection then adding in-line quality fuses to the wires or terminals should resolve the issue. Therefore, overall, I really do not think the active crossover system will necessarily be more costly or complex than the passive couterpart. It is just the matter of taking paradigm shifts in concept, implemention and business models to make it reality. I am confident that, if you build it, "they" will come.

[@timburton1080]

Good video. This would explain why most professional monitors are active, as it's less of a hobby purchase where people swap and change and climb the ladder.

[@user-pc8sd4ck3g]

Thanks a lot Paul! For answering my question. Seeing this video, I guess lots of my friends gonna try active crossover!

[@Proleca]

What crossover did you use? Using DBX PA2 and having issues with signal to noise ratio...

[@bc527c]

During the development of my speaker project I used voicemeeter Potato and multiple soundcards on my computer and did an active xover for the woofer to mid... by far the best bass I've every gotten outta these beasts, it was stellar, and having it computer based I could find the right xover point in rather rapid fashion, as in like 30 seconds, a genuine time saver in the development process.

[@melangkoh4184]

so thats why most studiomonitors are active with dual-channel amps build inside.

[@willable5922]

I love my Emotiva Active monitors. Not having to "match" drivers to amps and having several components and all that. With an active system all you need is a DAC with digital volume control. And you can DSP a system much easier and add mulitple active speakers much easier. A 2.1 system can be transformed into a 5.2 system much simpler. Less cables and less potential failure points and interference.

[@bigbirdwpg]

My DIY speakers (the 2 front channel speakers) were designed by Lynn Olsen, a long time member of the hifi community. The design is an MTM. When designing the crossover, Lynn found that this design had an annoying tendency in the midrange to be too forward and somewhat annoying. He added some resistance in the circuit which tamed the forwardness. How would an active crossover deal with something like this?

[@manamimnm]

What do you mean by forwardness? How it's measured? What's its unit of measurement?

[@HomeStudioBasics]

Awesome and inspiring video. Very informative and I really enjoy your concise presentation and easy-going nature. God Bless! P.S. (no pun intended lol) I was wondering if you could maybe do a video on Capacitors, Inductors, resistors (Passive) vs. Op-Amps, and transistors (Active) for noobs. Like really break down what these components are at their most basic level for people like me who want to learn, but don't like to sift through the pages and pages of internet jargon. In other words, in a noob-friendly way.

[@SpeakerBuilder]

Good explanation, but I disagree that building an active system is overly complex for those of us who have played around with electronics. The ONLY difference in how a speaker works re these two designs is what occurs within the narrow crossover region. So we should not be so afraid to build our own, as I have done for many years now. But I would caution against converting a passive speaker into an active one. You really have to start from scratch, carefully select drivers for your design, and determine a proper crossover point based on the drivers' parameters.

[@mungiesilvers5544]

Holy cow so glad I stumbled across this channel!

[@eugenepohjola258]

Howdy. Two things that make active better. First. The coil resistance may add several hundred milliohms to the "virtual" output impdedance of the amplifier. This reduces the damping capability of the amplifier. Second. Some passive crossovers use bipolar el.cap.s. This is to be considered a crime against High Fidelity and High End. Always use plastic cap.s in crossovers. Large capacitances should be done using several cap.s in parallel to reduce the cap. lead currents. I do not advocate using prefabricated coils. They use thin copper wire. Use at least a wire gauge of 1,5 mm diameter equivalent. There are several coil calculators in the net. Regards.

[@SpeakerBuilder]

I've built a number of active speaker systems over the past 5-10 years and learned a great deal about what works and what doesn't work. One thing I have learned having tried it a few times is that passive designed speakers do not lend themselves very well to conversion into an active system. This applies even to a passive speaker system that I designed and built myself. Every component in an active system must be selected carefully to work together as a whole. The key to the system is the active crossover, a component that very few companies are making. There are a couple of inexpensive ones I have found and tried that were in the $100 to $300 range, one had poor performance, the other a car audio device that actually sounds quite good. There are one or two extremely expensive options, but I would recommend Phil Marchand's devices, prices in $1300 range, exceptionally well designed and very flexible. For more on active speakers, visit my youtube channel "Speaker Builder".

[@dublininnis9695]

I would agree Speaker Builder, that Car Audio was a good place for me to learn things about the sound difference between passive and active crossovers and how much it "frees up" and amp to be specific in the frequencies it amplifies; Instead of filtering it once it is amplified. Its cheaper to start small in a car to learn also. for me at least back in the early 90's

[@petersouthernboy6327]

Very good explanation, Paul.

[@Fergutor]

5:22 So Edifier choose well starting years ago making active crossovers speakers with an amp per driver, as they sell very well and have very good reviews. What I mean is that if that's the best way, and they are making that, and being that they mostly make multimedia speakers that way, that sell and sound very very good, then they did hit the nail achieving more quality than they needed, making thew brand even more valuable through better products (or overkill products?). At first I thought it was only more of a marketing question.

[@rufo4004]

Hi. In my personal opinion that territory of switching to the active crossover is not difficult. It does not take years to learn. Passive crossovers are not a rocket science and duplicate what is inside the loudspeaker box with an active crossover is easy. The results are amazing since the frequencies separation are much better and the power lost and distortion (are not linear) created by passive crossovers are eliminated. Once you find the adequate position of the frequency cut of low, mid and high filters for your specific set of loudspeakers you only need to relax and enjoy the new sound.

[@cesaresaladandthespicycrou4080]

I'm a pro audio guy and generally we laugh at people who dont get active speakers now days just because passive speakers are more work to set up (which I understand doesnt matter in high end audio) but the other big thing is the amp is designed for the speaker. So it surprises me that active speakers wont sell.

[@SG-gc7mn]

I have a Sumo Delilah model 0110 how can I tell if it’s a passive or active crossover?

[@astra004]

Honest words concerning active speakers and audiophile believes and habits of system building. It matches your opinion about subwoofers. Goodbye and farewell speaker cables, hello expensive interconnects.

[@theoracleprodigy]

I can see where active would be better but; How does active take care of baffle step correction, eq peaks and valleys? Having it before amplification means you don't need as good of components or having it inline of the power. So I could see that as a plus. Still not sold though.

[@gerritgovaerts8443]

active crossovers can emulate any possible passive crossover , including eq and baffle step . If you do it in the digital domain it becomes extremely easy

[@BastianUllr]

What's the active used on the image for this video?

[@astra004]

Honest words concerning active speakers and audiophile believes and habits of system building. It matches your opinion about subwoofers. Goodbye and farewell speaker cables, hello expensive interconnects.(the audiophile agenda, not that of PS Audio)

[@IsaacChew]

Great answer. Thanks Paul!

[@joseeduardomendoza3565]

As always great explanation!

[@edgar9651]

It seems in theory active crossovers could be better than passive crossovers. But they are difficult to build and it's easy to make lots of mistakes. It seems that is one reason that also top speaker specialists (i.e. Danny from GR-Research) prefer passive crossovers.

[@melvinturner2461]

Ask paul is great,keep up the good work.

[@superchickensuperchicken7939]

PS Audio, does an active crossover like DBX or Ashley impede the signal going to the speakers from the amps. what do they normally use on the big concert tours active or special designed passive crossovers? I need to know, some say powered speakers today have built in crossovers is that true? and what active crossover do you recommend for professional use?

[@oysteinsoreide4323]

You also have active crossovers in many active monitors.

[@Relayer6a]

What happened to the Cello Audio Palette that shows on the thumbnail for the vid?

[@addonisryan]

Active speakers do sell but mainly in professional and extremely critical applications. Mainly in studio and live sound applications as well as certain high end home applications where the person may not want a lot of wiring or may just like having matched components.

[@punknpunt352]

Hi Paul, I really enjoy your Videos and have learnt a lot of the do's and dont's. I have recently got back on the audio bandwagon and the landscape has changed so much with the digital scope of things since I enjoyed the hobby "Back in the Day" Any how, I have purchased a pretty decent (Spec Wise) entry level system that doubles as my home theater. I am running it in a 7.1 setup with dual F12 subs. The speakers are a mix of Klipsch, Pioneer and Elacs. My question is this.... The speakers have an internal crossover that varies (pretty close) and are not identical between the different models. There is also a 9 band EQ on the receiver, another EQ in software (ITUNES) and a crossover setting on the Subs. What should I tune in first on the EQ side? If the lowest frequency generated by my LCR speakers is 34Hz where should I set the Sub in relation to roll off of the mains. add 20Hz? And to confuse matters worse I have a crossover setting in the AVR setup itself 50,80,100 and 1000 Hz I have placed the speakers in many locations and finally have them where they sound best, in the end what I think sounds good is whats right I know, But I am so curious to get other opinions on how to go about tuning everything in. Thank You From Yulee FL.

[@eggshellskullrule7971]

After using my Pioneer D-23 active xover, I can never go back to just factory speakers whatever the price.

[@nixter1nixter1]

It looks like anyone who has heard the difference between a well designed active vs passive system chooses an active system for the massive and instantly audible jump in sound quality.

[@gustavopena1096]

What is the crossover in the thumb pic of this video?

[@Baerchenization]

So surely, the IRS Killer will come with three built in amps, seeing how it will be 20K bucks? :)

[@bc527c]

The current Genesis 1 costs $360,000. I don't think the top of the PS Audio line is projected to come in at 20k... and yes, it does come with amps and all kinds a of stuff....

[@Davidkxf]

Can I fit an active crossover to my system but leave the passive crossover in the speakers?

[@YuengsNwings]

You cannot bypass the crossover in the speaker without removing it. An active external crossover will need to be set at the same frequency as the internal passive crossover to get the benefits of optimizing the individual amplification streams. This information may not be available so you really need to be good at fine tuning the active crossover by ear, and if it’s not perfect then you are going to be missing some information. In other words, not worth the hassle. Like Paul said, you really need to know what you are doing to successfully implement an active crossover. The proper way to do it is to remove the speaker’s internal crossover and then do it yourself actively. You won’t lose any information that way, but you also will almost certainly send some frequencies to either the tweeter or the woofer that aren’t intended to be sent there by design.

[@davidtomsett]

Paul, I understand the benefit of an active crossover but isn’t there a train of thought that says the less circuitry your musical signal has to pass through the purer that signal will be, and hopefully will sound better?

[@44AudioLab]

Same question here !!

[@Audfile]

David Tomsett it's not more circuitry, its better, smarter circuitry with dedicated amplification per channel. One is wire, caps, and resistors, the other is a high speed, regulated computer.

[@JohnAudioTech]

That belief is audio bunk. Modern high performance OP amps are transparent and competent engineers use them widely. Even the 40 year old NE5532 is still in wide use. In the recording and mastering process, the signal is passed through a huge amount of OP amps and transistors before it ends up on the media you listen to. Now days it's mainly a digital process.

[@richardsoffice9176]

I agree! It's nice of Paul to mention the components! I went to Navy Electronics where, in addition to the ribald resistor color code limerick, "ELI the ICE man" was repeated, ad nauseam. This means, in an inductor, the 'L' here, voltage leads current by 90 degrees, and in a capacitor, current leads voltage by 90 degrees. Right here, you're interfering with phasing, phase coherancy, clarity, signal integrity, resolution & so on. But, it can be done! Years ago, I had 4 way Wharfedale speakers, with a better, more excellent midrange than their 3 way. Like a frog, someday, before I 'croak' I want to make another multitrack recording, with each instrument on a separate channel. Then, the bass guitar, or stand up bass and big drum will have its own amp into the woofer, the cymbals will have a smaller, quality amp into the tweeters, & horns and basic drums have their amp, into the midranges. No crossovers, at all! How do you like this!

[@ronshaw80]

David Tomsett, The passive crossover has many problems of its own. By eliminating it, and replacing it with active circuitry, you will clean up the signal, and by using separate power amps, clean it up even more. I have been biamping for over 30 years, and have built many biamped systems for friends. No one ever wants to go back to passive after hearing a good biamped system.

[@johncribbs8382]

I feel they will be the next trend. People will not stick with bluetooth portable stuff forever. integrated stuff is mostly home theatre based. The exitment of high db is what they crave rightÉ battery powered crap aint gonna cut it imo..

[@llee5790]

With digital crossover you can have near infinite roll off, that is what Dynaudio XD and Kii Three have. The best crossover is crossover at source and you can only do it digitally.

[@paulsebring6930]

I'm not convinced I would want near-infinite roll off. What happens to the phase response? Is the sum of high and low pass sections closer to or farther from unity? One thing that can be said about a first order crossover is the high and low pass sections functions sum to one. Music signals are complex waveforms, not simple continuous sine waves. I like digital audio, but I am leery about passing an analog audio signal through an additional analog to digital converter and digital to analog convertors for the digital crossover. I don't like the idea of having a custom multi-channel home pre-amp to accommodate the outputs of a digital crossover before the pre-amp. Give me a nice analog active crossover with fourth order Linkwitz-Riley filters frequency selected for my speakers. Maybe a capacitor in the high frequency speaker circuit or a relay to protect high frequency speakers from low frequency amplifier power during turn-on thumps.

[@llee5790]

Theoretically it should sound perfect. But fact is best crossover I heard are all acoustic crossover i.e. crossover made up of box dimensions and slots. So theoretically best sound the worst and theoretically worst sound the best. I don't know.

[@lwwells]

Ahhh. I see emotivas! Lovvvvveee

[@rd6475]

Can I use an active Crossover with just a Single Integrated amplifier( Leben) connected to the speaker ( Altec) ? If so how should I connect it. Thanks in advance.

[@frankcollins4743]

No

[@AALavdas]

No, by definition you need separate pre-and power amps, and one power amp per way.

[@scottygdaman]

now i have very often heard active is not as good as passive in speaker tech, mainly due to DSP obsolescence,, stuck with that hardware vs. a new amp . i have seen lately some real cool stuff with active speakers,, the big kef ones,, basically they are a music system. active amp's 9 speakers each amped based on that speakers design and function.,, net work streaming, wifi bluetooth,, .

[@ryanhelmer9369]

Top Martin Logan's have a powered bass driver.

[@eldonnparks8059]

So an active crossover is better because "it's a better acting crossover". Could you possibly come up with a more useful and informative comment? How about a discussion of the increased distortion from the active crossover utilizing op-amps, discreet transistors or tubes.

[@frankcollins4743]

No need because it is audiofoolery. Passive crossovers cause more distortion through phase issues that actives ever could. No contest.

[@_klent]

Try active, you' ll never go back to passive again.

[@randomtube8226]

I actually prefer using a combination of both passive and active crossovers. As long as they are quality crossovers. You can do no harm.

[@randomsomeone1617]

Random Tube Random comment

[@rich1051414]

It's how many of my speakers are built. My three ways have 2 sets of connections. One goes to a passively low pass filtered woofer, and the other goes to the mid and high range, which has passive crossover components. They are separated so you can power them from separate amps if you want, or you can bridge them together if you want to use one amp.

[@spvlinn9009]

I ha been enjoying my Linn/Naim active systems since early 90s. Once you taste it, it's very difficult to come to passive unless you are looking for different sound. I also learned hard way that unless you are very very good technically, don't try to piece meal an active system yourself. Stay with one co. for an active turn key solution.

[@tomfreeman9521]

A tech said to me that crossovers have at least 2kilograms the good ones.

[@SJMessinwithBoats]

One amp channel for every driver on the IRS All electronicly crossed. Whew!

[@frankcollins4743]

If you try it, you'll be glad you did and won't ever go back to primitive passives.

[@balazsbukovics3569]

2021 between high end and hifi, the difference not much.

[@finscreenname]

Active and passive crossovers and yet no tone control or equalizer is the norm for audiophiles. Again imho you all are doing the same thing just more limited and with more money.

[@balazsbukovics3569]

im so happy with some music, so the real problem >you are listening crapy recordings.

[@byronbae8606]

It's ya boi

[@balazsbukovics3569]

after you find the real problems in your system,dont think about active or passive.

[@GertSterner]

Active speakers you stream to directly, is what the kids wants these days

[@kavajamusic5411]

Passive crossovers sucks.

[@JohnFnLopez]

Wait. Audiophiles think active crossovers are too much money? Lol seriously. That's got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Audiophiles spend how much on wires? On stand, on power conditioners, etc? Give me a break!

[@astra004]

Honest words concerning active speakers and audiophile believes and habits of system building. It matches your opinion about subwoofers. Goodbye and farewell speaker cables, hello expensive interconnects.