Marknoir,
Just wondering if you were using the active crossover AND the passive crossovers at the same time?
Wouldn't it be best to compare active without the passive crossovers vs. just the passives? Maybe that's exactly what you did.
Just trying to understand what's going on. I have never used an active before but I don't see any reason why a properly set-up, quality active - that allows for the complete removal of the passive crossover - would necessarily be inferior to the passive alone.
Thanks
-Mike
No, to use passive and active together would be rather stupid. There's a huge toggle switch on my speakers that disconnects passive when used with active.
I trust my ears, and my ears tell me in this case, that inserting a multitude of resistors, capacitors and active components (active crossover) in the signal path does deprive the signal of it's purity more, than a few caps and coils (passive). My speakers go down to 23 cycles, so I have no issues there, be it in passive or active mode. Lack of phase correction is easily heard at the crossover frequency point, manifesting itself either in suck-out or boom. The worst active crossover that I have had was actually the one that came with speakers originally from Infinity. In 1978 review of it was not favorable.
I support the minimalistic/pure approach, when less is more. That includes people who use drivers with NATURAL roll-off to do away with crossovers completely, if possible. I also support people who use single driver speakers, losing bass extention, and some treble as well, but get that magical pure music. I believe that in multi-channel, multi-driver installations, like concert halls, stadiums, movie theaters AND CARS! - you can not do without an active, but then you really don't expect a very clean, accurate, and musical presentation there. It is always a compromise.
As to my opinion that 10B is overpriced - perhaps I forgot that a gallon of gas today is 4 bucks (more in Canada), so may be I should adjust my view on pricing!
Anybody and everybody is welcome to come to my lowly Brooklyn home and hear what I'm talking about.
Last note on reviews, and I'm not trying to put down the review in question, this was just my personal experience. I have once heard a multi-thousand dollar tri-amp set-up, used to review VERY expensive equipment. Within a minute I told the reviewer that his sytem was out of phase. After arguing for a few minutes, it was checked-out, and, indeed, it was... So it's been a while since I took any review without a grain of salt. Perhaps I should mention that I used to work in a very prominent recording studio, when I was young, famous and rich, and I left, because I could not tolerate the way music was recorded there, with all their super-duper equipment, that is to say, with all it's life sucked out of it. Analog was the way then, and the worst killer of sound? - Dolby noise reduction, professional version as used in that studio.
As to me, preferring passive to active: last night I came across a post on Audio Asylum, dating back a few years, on 10B again. That individual also went back to his passives, and he most likely is not alone, I just did not search more.
Which brings me to another point: why spend many-many thousands of dollars on expensive equipment, which (supposedly) preserves PURITY and ACCURACY of original signal, just to degrade it by inserting another PROCESSOR (analog OR digital) into signal path? UNLESS absolutely necessary???
Rgds, M
