Which balanced crossover fits with Apogee FR's?

I have played several weeks with the Apogee active crossover. The bass was blurry and the overall sound flat and boring. I have replaced it for the passive crossover. After changing the resistances (is that correct in English?) with ones with the values for the Pass, the sound improved dramaticly. There is harmony, stage and life in the music. Astonishing how some small (and cheap) parts can make the difference. I still use the Neutrik adapters. A friend of mine is gonna make a passive crossover with balanced inlets.

I have just tried the Neutrik adapters. I've put them on the Siltechs and Pure Note. There is not enough room to install them also on the input connection of the passive crossover, because the Neutriks are to big. It's a great improvement in sound and in soundstage, but the disbalance between the Pass and the HD 220 seems to be more. I can't use the active crossover, because it is a 3-way system, unless I buy a third amp. I think the only logical solution will be searching for a Pass XVR1.

As far as turning the bass down a bit you might try a simpler solution first, just to see how it works... I'm referring to something along the lines of the Ultimate Attenuators... (Google it) They are available in both single ended and xlr and might be just what you need.
http://www.tweakaudio.com/Ultimate%20Attenuators.html
Check it out. Good luck.

Thank you Ngjockey and Lissnr for your response. At the moment I am using the passive Apogee crossovers with some older SE interconnects (Ixox and Cardas Golden Cross). It sounds supprisingly well, but in a lot of music the bass (Pass) is very dominant. I wish I could turn down the bass a bit. That is one of the reasons why I am looking for an active crossover. I have ordered some Neutrik XLR/RCA adapters. As soon as they arrive I will try them out with my XLR ic's (Siltech Compass Lake/Pure Note DE). I also have the active Apogee crossover. It's SE and I don't know how and if it controlls the bass in a proper way. The first thing I am gonna do is try them out with the Neutriks. I don't know if there is any quality loss by using adapters. Buying a Pass XRV seems to be the solution, but I like to know more about crossovers/the alternatives before I spend a firm amount of money on a gear which is only standing in my rack. I've found out that the XO frequencie is 400 and slope is 6Db. I'll keep you informed about my searching.

Hello, This is also not my area of expertise but I also use the NHT X-2 but also only as a sub crossover. You can choose up to 50hz, 80 or 120hz into the sub, the rest goes up into your speakers. It is either balanced or rca into and out of it and you can mix/match the xlr's or RCA's OUT of it (not In to it). FWIW I also use a fully upgraded Apogee Dax 1 into my Duetta Sigs but this is also N/A for your full ranges. I hate to tell you but the Pass XVR really IS supposed to be the best if you can swing the $$$. Good luck.

The only OTHER active crossover made specifically for magnetic planar drivers was the Wisdom DAB-1 (Digital Active Brain), which was incredibly complex and powerful. Good luck finding one of those.

Of all the analog xovers I've seen, only the Pass and Krell seem to be internally balanced, and I'm not 100% sure about even those. Most that do offer XLR input/outputs are "servo" or transformer balanced, including Bryston, Marchand and all the pro gear. For my purposes, the servo-balanced NHT X2 was fine, but it's more for subs.

Didn't find any direct info on the FR's and the only crossover number I found for any Apogee was 700 Hz, with no clue of the slope. Maybe you can test them with a calibrated microphone and a RTA, like HolmImpulse, to find out. Caution: With wide-range planar/ribbon drivers, there's also a good chance of notch filters far beyond the crossover point.

Unrelated but did stumble across some opinion you might find interesting...
http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-Amplifiers.html#Mark