Audiophilia is truly bifurcated, and that's a very good thing, as there is a path for the purist and the technologist.
My review of the Legacy Audio Whisper DSW was a lesson in appreciation of both approaches. With the speaker I can run either outboard processor (Wavelet DAC/Room Correction/Pre), OR I can switch to hybrid with active x-over (Wavelet) for bass and passive for Mid/Teb, OR I can go fully� passive X-over. I can go as simple as one amp try-wired to the speakers, or as complex as six discrete channels with outboard amplification!
For some that might sound like a headache, but for me it's a playground! My conclusion was, apples to apples the active system is superior, but when it's apples to oranges in terms of amps and cables I can make the passive superior. Then again, if I keep switching things I can make the active better... It simply isn't cut and dried one way or the other, in my experience. So much depends on how well each on is executed.
There are a lot of ways to run a rig, and blessed is the audiophile who figures out their preference and can pursue it to satisfaction.
My review of the Legacy Audio Whisper DSW was a lesson in appreciation of both approaches. With the speaker I can run either outboard processor (Wavelet DAC/Room Correction/Pre), OR I can switch to hybrid with active x-over (Wavelet) for bass and passive for Mid/Teb, OR I can go fully� passive X-over. I can go as simple as one amp try-wired to the speakers, or as complex as six discrete channels with outboard amplification!
For some that might sound like a headache, but for me it's a playground! My conclusion was, apples to apples the active system is superior, but when it's apples to oranges in terms of amps and cables I can make the passive superior. Then again, if I keep switching things I can make the active better... It simply isn't cut and dried one way or the other, in my experience. So much depends on how well each on is executed.
There are a lot of ways to run a rig, and blessed is the audiophile who figures out their preference and can pursue it to satisfaction.