A question about my external crossover

I have a set of Snell Type A Reference which consists of two
tower units and two Model # 1800 sub woofers (Big!). This came with several outboard "active" crossover units set at 80 htz.
I wanted to upgrade the crossover so I bought a Marchand unit
which is sonically better. I had a problem connecting the XLR cables to this unit. When I bought this system, (used), the man gave me two sets of "Y" XLR cables that he used to illuminate the crossover altogether. He said he belived the system sounded much better this way. I tried it and I can't hear a significant difference. I asked Keven Voecks (?) his opinion. (He designed these speakers). He said NOT to run the speakers without a crossover.
Will I damage the speakers or amps if I keep running like this? Don't the speakers have what is a crossover at each speaker anyway? Thanks in advance for any input. Joe