@johnk wrote:
Those fearing passive networks and driver integration issues seem to be a logical choice for a full-range driver system. Since it's active. 1 amp selected to best match transducers 1 driver no network. Maybe that's where you active lovers need to be in the end.
A wideband driver sans cross-over of any kind is a "pure" approach, also with regard to maintaining a single point source per channel, but driver integration actively is really the preferred route to go vs. passive, so it's the latter "camp" that would seek to benefit the most with a pair of full-range drivers, irrespective of the challenges (and limitations) such a solution brings with it. Calling a full-range driver sans cross-over an "active" approach btw. doesn't seem strictly correct, as by definition active involves an electronic/DSP XO prior to amplification to be named such.
And keep in mind many actives still use a passive part to keep drivers from blowing during amp turn-on or amp damage. And is the cabinet really the best place for an amp and an active crossover to reside?
Safety measures with active can be part of the amplifier section as well instead of necessitating of passive component, and even so a single capacitor as a safety means isn't what constitutes a load scenario comparable to that of typical passive cross-over with coils and all.
As I have outlined at numerous occasions active can be configured as a separate (/outward) solution as well, and so "component care" would apply as it pertains to any typical passive setup. Among the many bundled active speakers that are, incl. not least pro sector products, reliability seems pretty solid. Poster @lonemountain mentioned active ATC speakers being extremely reliable even following many years of extensive pro usage, while sounding great, not to mention cables being less of a variable here. Except..
I have to fix so so many subwoofers that have an amp and active all-in-one box they don't have longevity. Is your costly active just a short-term friend that gets binned in a few years when amps fail?
And this is the one exception - with actively configured, bundled subs - where amp durability can be rather dubious and many a (bad) capacitor in particular has blown up fairly early in its life cycle. Plate amps found in many subs may be high power, but component quality is often so-so to pretty shitty.
Again, this is where I would direct the attention towards the fact that an actively configured sub can be such with an outwardly positioned amp (of much better quality). This is what I do myself with my pair of tapped horn subs being driven by a Crown K2 - actively; the digital XO precedes the amp, and the rest of them for the remaining frequency span above sans any passive XO parts, which is to say fully actively.