Best Active Crossovers?

Thank you!

I am reading the Loudspeaker Design cookbook.

For all I have read, considering the 4-way crossover of the Dunlavy SC-VI has 34 components doing a lot of equalization, it believe I will go with the path of just upgrading the components of the crossover for now and listen to the effect of each component upgrade, starting with the most critical ones.

Sometime in the future I may try the active crossover path, but in a way that I can compare with the upgraded passive crossover. Perhaps with the Holm or DEQX.

Given that the crossover of the SC-VI does have a lot of driver compensation, perhaps best is just to:

1) upgrade the critical components of the 4 way passive crossover.

2) bi-amp using one amp for the tweeter and 5"mid, and one amp for the 8" and 15" woofers. I would have the added control of having two amps per speaker. Should I feed the whole signal to the amps, or put a Pass XVR-1 between the preamp and the four mono-amps? If I feed the whole signal to each amp, the four way crossovers in the speakers would be able to deal with it, as they already do now. There are to pairs of binding post, the to goes to tweeter and 5", the bottom goes to 8" and 15" portion of the crossover.

3) I could possibly use the DEQX HDP-4 in-line Digital to Digital, before the Playback Designs MPS-5 and Krell Phantom, so I would not be using the DAC and PRE stages of the DEQX. I stopped using the TACT 2.2X Digital to Digital because it decreased substantially the level of detail. How good is a DEQX HDP-4 D to D? Much more transparent than the TACT?

What do you think?

Thanks.

Another idea is to put your crossover external to the speakers. That way one can make changes to capacitors, resistors and wireing to dial in the speaker. It also elimates a source of distorition as the crossover in the speaker is under a lot of pressure from the woofers.

Correct. The new passive crossovers will be external. I will keep the original crossovers intact for comparison or if one day I decide to sell. It will be a long multi step process. The first step will use original solen caps and inductors, replacing all resistors with duelund. The second step will be to replace the most critical caps in the circuits of the tweeter and 5" mids. Then the most important components, mostly inductors, in the 8" and 15" path. Then possibly the less critical components. I am thinking about using dh labs Q-10 wire and Mundorf supreme solder. I am wondering what would be the best connectors for the 14 driver wires, since I don't think soldering and desoldering repeatedly is the best way. Any suggestions?

Okay just jumping in on this thread and sorry.....I am thinking of adding a sub woofer or two to my current system....the best way to do this is WITH a crossover .....so any ideas or suggestions ???