Best active crossover?

accuphase

Brytson 10B

Pass XVR1

Audio Research EC-22

If you can find one... the best active crossover, hands down, was the old Athena crossover... it was designed by Michael Yee and is a classic. They cost about $1500 new 18 years ago. They have the least effect on system transparency. I owned one, and sold it a few years ago. Wish I didn't.

Bryston 10B, agreed. I have one and it's great. I really like the looks of the Pass XVR1 though, as well. Quite sophisticated. If you want the best 3-way digital Xover (that sounds good, and has a TON of other features) check out www.deqx.com

-Ed

Krell KBX

For what application? It might matter just a little.

Levinson active crossover.

Possibly a heavily modified Acoustic Research EC22; Accuphase always a winner if you can find one at a price you can live with and look at yourself in the morning.

I HAVE A MATRIX 800, CANNOT FIND A KRELL KBX FOR 800 AT RIGHT PRICE, I AM THINK..EITHER A Accuphase F25 or a passlabs

however accuphase do not have a cross over frequncy at 350HZ, but 300 HZ.. do u think it matter much ?

Yeah, Cinematic! Someone might want to ask what the app is. ;-) Does the application require time domain correction or not? From this one can usually decide if they want digital or analog active crossover. My main source is a turntable and I prefer to keep digital out of that path and so I use Marchand analog active crossovers.

Dan Ed beat me to it.
Digital, if your sources are all digital, offers a lot of (theoretical, at least) benefits.

The Marchands have a following, but some of the tubed units can get noisy over time (like the used loaner I tried, briefly, in my system). I currently use an inexpensive NHT X-2 between an ARC LS25 and an ARC VT130SE and, depite the low price tag, it's the least obtrusive unit I've had in there. Since they're now sold direct/in-home trial/money back, you might want to get a hold of one to see how it stacks up against whichever higher cost alternative appeals to you. At the end of that comparison, I wouldn't be surprised if you were surprised by the result.

Obvious disclaimer: I haven't tried the vast majority of the pricier units recommended above, so maybe there is much better performance available at higher cost.

Marty

NHT X-2 is no longer available.