Is Speaker design evolution stagnant


Based on what I read from speaker manufacturers, many use the same drivers but apply different crossover philosophies to achieve a particular sound.

My simplistic understanding is that while limiting the range of high or low signals , the remaining signal is corrupted ( phase inversions, roll off, etc.. ).

With today’s technology, why aren’t more speaker manufacturers using active crossovers to be connected after the preamp and sending exact spectrum signals separately to be amplified to each driver.  That would Eliminate all electronics inside the speaker cabinet except the drivers. Each driver gets fed only the signal that it works best at. No out of phase, half phase, quarter phase issues, no phase angle issues. 100% of the power goes to each driver without limiters to scale it back.  I think Bryston Model T Actives is designed this way ( don’t work for them and not pushing any product). Am I looking at it too simply? Do electronic crossover play havoc on signals the way inductors and capacitors do?

Some speaker manufacturers have gone half way with built in woofer amps ( Vaughn?)

Of course you would need a 3 channel amp for each side ( based on W/M/T config) or some variable of mono amps, whatever.



jacksky
Well, I'd say a big reason is cost. Most systems are 3 way and you're talking about needing 3 stereo amps to do the job. Most folks don't want to spend even the cost of their speakers on amps. I doubt too many folks with $100,000 speakers have much more than $50,000 in amps behind them. Nobody is powering $100k speakers with $200k of amplifier. And that's basically what you'd be asking the customer to do. 
The other problem is that crossovers get a much worse rap than they probably deserve. Sure, they have failings, but all the snack people talk about them doesn't seem to materialize in measurements or listening given that the crossover is well thought out. Cost-no-object speakers like the Wilson Master Chronosonic don't even do away with crossovers, and that leads one to presume crossovers have underappreciate virtues that don't get much attention. 
Waveform used this method successfully with three stereo amps and a 3-way Bryston x-over.