[Black Stuart]

vermillions,
you've got it all wrong - active x/overs are introduced after the pre-amp, so that the amp drives the speakers, for a complete understanding of actives v passive x/overs take a look at Rod Elliot's ESP site - you won't find a better explanation - all sound science and no mumbo jumbo.

 

[Shaffer]

Because, these speakers were not available in an active configuration, nor would the market have accepted the idea.

(not my pic, but same speakers as mine)

 

[450]

^^
 
I don't know what those are... But I'm quite jealous.

 

[goodolcheez]

Passive systems are inferior because amp in the receiver is infested with more noise, plus you have long wiring to get to the speakers which carry even more noise along the way.  This is why passive audio systems tend to sound muddy and flat.
 
Active system is superior because the amp in the left and right channel speakers are isolated and are directly connected to the speakers.  Meaning less noise driven.  That's why they sound cleaner and more transparent.
 
 
Active wins.

 

[Shaffer]

^^

I don't know what those are... But I'm quite jealous.

Dunlavy SCIV. As a point of interest relevant to this board, they're almost completely objectively designed.

 

[cel4145]

Passive systems are inferior because amp in the receiver is infested with more noise, plus you have long wiring to get to the speakers which carry even more noise along the way.  This is why passive audio systems tend to sound muddy and flat.

I do believe that amps can be sound subjectively different, but "noise" is one of those things that is easily measured. For the person listening to redman cd recordings, the signal to noise ratio of the media is, at best, around 96db. It's not hard to find an amplifier for passive speakers with better signal to noise ratio than that. For example, the Marantz NR1403 home theater receiver is rated 98db. So the slight edge that say the Genelec 8040Bs have with rated SNR of 100db, which is not that much of a difference that the Marantz would sound "muddy and flat" in comparison anyway, would not matter with listening to CD quality music because the noise from the recorded media would act as the noise floor.