Do active speakers have high THD amplifiers?

I know this OP if I couldn’t get the specs, I’d really REALLY doubt that I’d be buying their equipment. That being said. I don’t think active speakers or active crossovers are the best without some consideration.

Just like a passive XO requires GREAT parts and more than a little thought.

I use a First Watt Active XO that is chock-a-block full to the top with WiMa caps and Vishay copper resistors.. NO op amps in sight.. Has a switchable step baffle that is pretty cool for OB bass boost..

I also use 2496 actives from Behringer. 300 hz and down.. with 12K Class Ds directly coupled.. That is one of the reasons active speakers have better bass driver cone control..

Directly coupled to the drivers vs going through a passive OX. There is NO DAMPENING with a passive. An inductor or cap in the way. It can’t physically work.. Only the return springs on an active drivers.. Short internal leads and active XOs make for good bedfellows..

Again, parts quality, BUT the size of parts on the active side are MUCH less expensive because of the much smaller values..

Krell actives are 5-10k.. LOL they sound good..

See I pay attention George. I’m not just another pretty face :-)

Regards

It probably doesn't make much sense to give the amplifier specifications for an active speaker since you can't actually hook anything up to the amplifier's outputs. It does make sense to give the speaker specifications, just like you would for a passive speaker.

Right nekoaudio, the distortion of the speaker far exceeds that of any reasonably designed amplifier.

pldhvymec, absolutely, a subwoofer mandates that the amp be hooked up directly to the driver. However, in my experience high power AB amps with extremely low output impedances do a better job of driving subwoofers. But you have to use passive subwoofers as an AB amp driven hard will get hot, they are larger more complicated and require
a larger power supply. Class D amps have become universal in powered subs because they run cool and can pack a lot of power in a small space.
I have tried several plate amps and Crown class D's with rather discouraging results. There are many Class D amps I have not tried so I can not generalize. The QSC PLX 3602 amplifiers I currently use do a wonderful job and they are relatively inexpensive being commercial sound reinforcement amps. Their bass is every bit as good as my old Krell KMA 100s and current JC 1's. They also have individual level controls for each channel which is great to have in a subwoofer amp for matching levels. Their only significant problem is a rather noisy fan but mine are below the floor in the shop so it does not matter. 

No, THD is THD, all amplifiers today have lower THD than the speakers they drive. The biggest improvement comes in the form of intermodulation distortion (IMD) which is virtually non-existent with active speakers. Intermodulation distortion is what your ears dislike the most, some people may call it sterile or mechanical, I call it accurate. I prefer to do it with my own amplifier choices using a DSP or electronic crossover. This gives you so many more choices than an active speaker where the speaker manufacture get to decide what amps, crossover points and slopes to use.  The biggest improvement will come in the way of much more defined midrange and high frequencies. I've been bi-amping and tri-amping for 42 years. Will only go back to passives when I need to downsize to move into a retirement community.