I own a pair of Carbon Specials and they sound fantastic. I've used them with multiple pairs of speakers, fullrange, bookshelf, fullrange drivers, open baffles, and I've never 'heard the passive radiator'!! I don't even know what that means. If you set them up properly you won't hear the subs they disappear and just add a solid foundation to the music.
They are not perfect, however. I find the dials for gain and crossover to be too course and you can't 'feel' the notches when you're changing the dial positions. They could be easier to use, but sound great. I did a video on YouTube with some setup tips and also some pros and cons.