Are active speakers the best upgrade


I have recently heard Brentworth (single driver, no crossover) and ATC active 100's. They were both vey revealing speakers and it occurred to me that we're chasing better electronics while maybe the speaker crossover is putting all this distortion back into the system.
Is the fact that these speakers are active what makes them so clear? Has anyone compared the active vs. passsive versions of ATC?
It's interesting that ATC focuses on accuracy in the drivers by eliminating hysteresis effects and 1st and 3rd order harmonics while B&W focuses more on the enclosure. I wonder how good B&W could sound if they made their Nautilus speakers active. Maybe they use such good crossovers that its as good as ATC's external crossover. Any thoughts?
cdc

Showing 3 responses by neubilder

Have a listen to a Linn Aktiv system. 'Going aktiv', once you've got a good source, is the big upgrade that Linn advocates, and that Linn freaks swear by. Meridian takes it even further - straight from the digital source to the active speaker with built-in dac.

I suspect that the fetish factor of amps, cables, crossovers made with air core inductors blah blah...etc. is just too great. An active system makes everything just too plain and simple for the obsessive compulsive audiophile.
How are Meridian active speakers? I've never heard the DSP 5000's (or any of their speakers for that matter), nor have I heard many audiophiles talk about them. Are they good? How do they compare to Linn's active speakers or other makers passive designs.