I'm with Widget on this one. If you are messing with really nice gear and sources, and you have a speaker like a 4345 that demands biamping for anything like its intended performance level, go active and be prepared to spend big bucks. If loud is your thing, not padding down the top of a multi way design can mean less power and better quality amps (and sound).
But movies and DVD players are hardly ever really nice sources sound quality wise, and AVR gear will hardly ever yield sound worth the price of buying a good active crossover.
Likewise, unless your two channel preamp is better than almost anything I read about being used here, and the power amps have much better fidelity than the typical Crowns talked about here, the price of admission is again going to be wasted.
On the other hand, if neither the sources nor the amps are of very high quality, then a cheap active will match up nicely. But why bother if the sound is going to be just OK anyway? I could see going with the option if you already have the gear lying around and like to tinker, but don't expect much.
Complexity cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Tri amping (and biamping as far as I can see) is sufficiently complex and expensive if good gear is used, that it should not be encouraged except in the case of the best quality everything. Sources, preamps, actives, power amps and speakers. Lowball one thing and you have the ignorant acronym for JBL - junk but loud. Expensive junk but loud.
Ultimately, you have to decide if your hobby is listening to great sound or building stuff. I could see this website existing to serve both, but you might have to decide which is more important to you to figure out how to proceed with this issue.
Clark
Information is not Knowledge; Knowledge is not Wisdom
Too many audiophiles listen with their eyes instead of their ears
I like the discussion.
Loren, makes the most pertinent point, wrt this thread: 'zactly, Clark. These options must be done carefully supported by good measurements - including time-delay, acoustic phase, and relative gain - and the ability/experience to interpret those measurements correctly. It is not trivial, and the results matter.
My hearing is damaged from years of motorcycling and firearm hobbying, and I am presently putting together what may come close to an audiophile stereo.....they really are toys, aren't they*
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