I have used active electronic crossovers for the last 30 years on my Magneplanars, first on my MG2's and later on my 3's, and now on my MG20.1's. I used the Bryston 10b and 10b sub to drive my system in the triamped mode for the last several years on my MG20 + subwoofers system. Two years ago I replaced my Bryston 10b's with 2 of the Pass Labs XVR1 crossovers to run my MG20,s and subwoofers. Today after a year of trial and error listening I have settled on settings that are very satisfying. I ended up using crossover points and slopes that were close to, but not the same as the settings Magneplanar recommended as a starting point. The Pass Labs crossovers are very complex, but they also allow extremely accurate settings for the crossovers. The Pass XVR1s can set the crossover frequencies, slopes, high pass and low pass frequencies, Q factor at the crossover, and also allow independent settings for volume on all crossover sections. Pass Labs created these crossovers to use in testing their equipment during the engineering process.
I knew that I could use the manufacturers crossover setting recommendations to begin with so a lot of trial and error was eliminated this way. Some things I learned along the way, at least on my system: 6db/octave crossover slopes sound best. The Q factor settings did not affect the 6db/octave crossover slopes, per the included manual for the crossovers. The sound was better (in my system) with the MG20's and subwoofers running in parallel, not in series. i.e. the bass panel of the MG20's is not cut off on it's low frequencies, but allowed to run down to its natural cutoff. The subs and main speakers sounded best with the highest slope setting in the sub crossovers, 24 db/octave. Low frequency cutoff on the subwoofers was 48Hz, which eliminated a room mode at 60hz in my system. I found that using low frequency settings on the subwoofers sounded best with steep slopes.
I think that Pass Labs website has an electronic copy of their XVR1 crossover manual. This does a very good job of explaining the multitude of settings available on the XVR1 crossovers. I Highly recommend downloading and reading this for a reference manual for anyone contemplating Bi or Tri amping their speakers. The Pass Labs XVR1 crossovers have over 1 million crosssover setting combinations, so the process is daunting, especially if you don't have a starting point in the beginning.
As a suggestion: Use the lowest frequency you can for your subwoofer low pass setting that allows the subs to "fill in" the main speakers low end response. The subs will sound best with steep cutoffs like 24db/octave.
6db/octave slopes sound best on the main speakers, and give the best phase response for the speaker's cutoff sections. Calculate your room resonance modes (based on the LxWxH dimensions) and avoid sub settings that will excite these modes. The room resonance modes are the cause of "boominess" in your sound room. For example, my room is 18 feet wide and the room mode for the width was approx. 60Hz. I first used a sub crossover frequency of 60hz, and struggled to reduce the "boom in the room" until I lowered the sub crossover to 48hz. This lowered the sub output enough at 60 Hz to eliminate their contribution to that mode. Then I was able to move the main speakers around to minimize their contribution to the boom.
FYI - I still own the Bryston 10b and 10b sub crossovers and would like to sell them to another person wanting to biamp or triamp their system. I don't use them now, and it is a shame to leave them unused on the shelf. These crossovers analog, not digital, and are excellent sounding, and easier to set up than the Pass Labs XVR1's are. The Pass XVR1 do sound better, though.
This post is long, but I hope helpful to you in the use of electronic crossovers in your system.
