passive vs. electronic passover

LOL...ski6132

The biggest benefits of bi-amping will indeed come if you remove the passive crossover. The article neglects to mention that an active crossover can also be designed to match the drivers so that phase linearity is maintained across the crossover for the sound from the drivers. (This is not the same as a phase coherent active crossover - it means fine tuning the active crossover precisely to each driver)

The article also does not mention the advantage of a steep active crossover....you can rapidly reduce out of band unwanted driver behavior (such as beaming or breakup) to extremely low inaudible levels whilst still getting the most out of each drivers linear operating range.

A digital processor may one day allow voice coil temperature and/or driver output to be monitored so that it can be controlled to precisely match the input (making the driver sonic signal match the input drive signal and even further reducing distortion). Meyer seems to be working on this but it is not easy because drivers (unlike electrical circuits) have inertia and take time to respond to feedback. Nevertheless, in future some form of correction may be expected to improve accuracy.

It is a no brainer really (from a technical performance perspective)...

Do the guys who bi-amp do this? I will be bi amping my rig! Just want to get the most out of everything! I am getting a pair of Tyler Acoustic PD80 and he is going to rig it active and passive.
Thanks fo the info!!!

There is no doubt that removing the passive crossover will improve control over your woofers. Nobody argues against this. It is theoretically better. It is measurably better. And it is certainly audibly better.

In my own car audio setup, converting to an active crossover noticably improved the midbass and bass, but the tradeoff was a harsher midrange and top end.

I think that semi-active is the answer. In my experience, the low frequencies benefit most from going active. The midrange and top end, less so.

I am currently trying out biamping my Magnepan 20R's using a Bryston 10B "Standard" (not the "sub" model- although I can get a L+R combined sub out from this unit) active crossover using crossover frequency points and db slope recommendations recommended by Magenpan, with good results. Much improved dynamics in particular.