all of the above posts are on target. when you start to consider really useful active xovers, you take yourself waaay beyond mid-fi. one of the few i'd consider is made by fm acoustics. read: switzerland. read: expensive.
Biamplification in Mid-Fi?
I'm looking at upgrading my home system. It's likely going to end up being mid-fi. (Paradigm Reference Studio or B&W CDM Speakers) and I'd like to bi-amplify.
Ideally, what I'd like to do is use a quality integrated amp (Audio Refinement, Audiolab, Arcam, etc.) with a second (matched, but more powerful) power amp for the lower frequencies, and also be able to use the system as the front end of a Home-Theater system.
What I'm wondering is whether or not I'm better off to use an active crossover (brands, anyone?) and bypass the speaker crossovers altogether (which would require some rewiring, but I'm going to do anyway, to upgrade the internal speaker wiring), or save on the signal path, and just split the pre-out to the two amps?
Any opinions?