Passive vs Active?!?!
 

could someone explain to me the difference between a Passive and active component set-up (lamens terms please)? which is better?:dunno:

Active modifies the signal before the amp and passive modifies the signal after the amp.

Active to me can sound better for a few reasons.
1)It is more flexible and offers more tuning potential
2)Active is not prone to work differently during use and in different heat conditions like one could see in a passive set up.

Of course going active requires more amplifier channels and often times less overall power going to individual speakers.

It has been my experience that active has always sounded better.

that and if you do not know what you are doing with it you and make it sound like crap fast

i'm going active this yr but i mite let someone set it for me until i know how to set it up

Actually, unlike an EQ, it is pretty easy to set up IMO. start up by looking into what your component set's passive xover is at and go from there.

In my case I am using an PG mx3i, its not very precise like a digital unit, so I really cant know exactly at what frequency the slope begins but I still get good results.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...17_46_full.jpg

I can't live without active x-over!:D

i did the A/C DQXS

so the Focal 165V2's are passive and in order for me to go active i would need a cross-over (such as the A/C DQXS) running before the RCA's go into the amp?!?!

could any/all speakers be active and passive (if set up correctly)?

could i get my Focal 690 CA's and Focal 100CV's to be active if i get an active cross over?

thanks
mt

To run active you need one amplifier channel for each speaker. You then use whatever kind of processor you want to crossover/filter what the speakers are playing instead of using passive crossovers.

You also lose nice features like tweeter protection, impedance correction, aka whatever is in your passive crossovers.

I went active because i didn't like the crossovers that came with my speakers. The tweeter protection was kicking in too soon, making them sound muddy and i needed them louder. I realize i could kill my tweeters very easily, but i'm willing to take the chance. Then i'll have a good excuse to upgrade. :)

with active set ups, you don't need impedance correction as that's one of the main benefits of going active. As far as tweeter protection, depending on your active cross over point, you can always put a cap that crosses the tweeter at a much lower point as a back up precaution. I've never lost a tweeter actively (or passively for that matter), and you can usually have a steeper slope for your cross overs which protect your tweets better...mine are at least 18db, sometimes as high as 30 db. See below for a link that compares them, scroll down to #84 on the right side.

http://www.bcae1.com/