In my case I use some pricey power treatments (more than $10k), but it improves everything about my system's sound and allows me to consider less expensive gear that others might overlook.
I'm building a system with active 3-ways around some inexpensive amps that sounds ridiculously fantastic for what it is. My digital source (Perfectwave transport/Berkley Audio Alpha V2 DAC) goes to a scratch-built pre (just a zero-gain, 4-channel, distribution amp with a Goldpoint atten.) which feeds the 4 amps - highs, mids, low-left and low-right. They cost from $500 to $1,100 ea retail, but I pick them up used all day long from $400 to $700 ea or even less. Total investment for the 4 amps here was $2,050 delivered. The amps are Crown XTi-2 (1002, 2002 and two 4002). I like that they're class-AB, not D, they sound great and with the power treatments here they are clearly not 'just for sub duty only'!
The thing about these Crowns is the suite of digital pro tools built in. It means an extra AD/DA conversion step, but again with power treatments all that is a non issue, sound wise. The key is the infinitely adjustable controls. Slopes from 1rst to 5th order and all crossover points can be made from 20-20k and the crossover point values can be selected on the order of 1/1,000th of a Hz. IOW, you can correct for the overlap or the underlap of, say, your lows and mids in increments of roughly 1/1,000th of a Hz, should you need to. You might not think you could even hear the difference that small, but I'm here to tell you that there are times when you CAN. I know, I've done it. And it was an easy matter to correct by ear in real time from the lp in order to arrive at just the value needed.
There is just no freaking way that an expert passive crossover designer could give you that kind of dialed-in precision using caps whose values are stated in nice, even numbers like "1 f" or "300 uf"...caps that only have a certain percentage of accuracy and whose true values vary with temp and lifespan...let alone the fact that different gear will behave differently in different systems with different rooms and different ears - all of which can be compensated for by digital crossovers, EQ, gain and delay and that, practically speaking, just can neither be predicted nor be adjusted for after the fact with passives.
There's NO way I would ever go back to passives having heard the difference for myself. It has also made designing my own speakers a no-brainer. I hope more manufacturers can think like Crown and find new affordable solutions for people looking to give 'going active' a try.
Regards
I'm building a system with active 3-ways around some inexpensive amps that sounds ridiculously fantastic for what it is. My digital source (Perfectwave transport/Berkley Audio Alpha V2 DAC) goes to a scratch-built pre (just a zero-gain, 4-channel, distribution amp with a Goldpoint atten.) which feeds the 4 amps - highs, mids, low-left and low-right. They cost from $500 to $1,100 ea retail, but I pick them up used all day long from $400 to $700 ea or even less. Total investment for the 4 amps here was $2,050 delivered. The amps are Crown XTi-2 (1002, 2002 and two 4002). I like that they're class-AB, not D, they sound great and with the power treatments here they are clearly not 'just for sub duty only'!
The thing about these Crowns is the suite of digital pro tools built in. It means an extra AD/DA conversion step, but again with power treatments all that is a non issue, sound wise. The key is the infinitely adjustable controls. Slopes from 1rst to 5th order and all crossover points can be made from 20-20k and the crossover point values can be selected on the order of 1/1,000th of a Hz. IOW, you can correct for the overlap or the underlap of, say, your lows and mids in increments of roughly 1/1,000th of a Hz, should you need to. You might not think you could even hear the difference that small, but I'm here to tell you that there are times when you CAN. I know, I've done it. And it was an easy matter to correct by ear in real time from the lp in order to arrive at just the value needed.
There is just no freaking way that an expert passive crossover designer could give you that kind of dialed-in precision using caps whose values are stated in nice, even numbers like "1 f" or "300 uf"...caps that only have a certain percentage of accuracy and whose true values vary with temp and lifespan...let alone the fact that different gear will behave differently in different systems with different rooms and different ears - all of which can be compensated for by digital crossovers, EQ, gain and delay and that, practically speaking, just can neither be predicted nor be adjusted for after the fact with passives.
There's NO way I would ever go back to passives having heard the difference for myself. It has also made designing my own speakers a no-brainer. I hope more manufacturers can think like Crown and find new affordable solutions for people looking to give 'going active' a try.
Regards