Behringer Crossover for Maggies vs Bryston


There is a 3-way stereo crossover from Behringer

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/CX3400.aspx

To get 3-way stereo crossover from Bryston B10sub is 6.4k or so (you need 2). The Behringer is $130.

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Super-X-Pro-CX3400-Crossover/dp/B000CCN15C

Has anyone tried this? Does it really sound that bad? 6.4k is a lot of cash that could go into 4 mono amps... I know Magnepan uses Bryston at the factory and it perfectly meshes with the Magnepans, but still. $130?

I know I don't need the 2nd, but it would be so nice to run sub in full range mode and use the active out, also maybe lift the Maggie low end to 60 HZ or something, releive the panel of a bit of the super low end.

I have 3.6s.

One thing I was thinking is use it as a stepping stone. Get it, focus on the amps for now, wait a year or two, then put the Bryston in.

I'm familiar with the Marchand route, and maybe that is a better stepping stone, but just curious if anyone is familiar with the Berhringer.
lightminer

Showing 1 response by hifigeezer

I have MG3A speakers; I am using 2 Bryston 10B sub crossovers and VMPS larger subwoofers (triamplified system). Biamping the MG3A speakers is the single biggest improvement I have made in more than 15 years of owning the Magnepans. The Bryston crossovers sound very good, quite transparent. I have only used the factory-recommended Magnepan crossover settings from the MG3A manual. Some advantages I could see with a digital crossover are adding delays for speaker phasing and parametric equalization for the subwoofer. If you just want to biamp your Magnepans, a single Bryston will do the job. Make sure you understand the different frequencies available on the 10B vs 10B sub models. Having an amp for the bass panels frees up the power they need and keeps the high-frequency clipping products out of the tweeters where you could hear them. Highly recommended - you can't go wrong with the Bryston! I have used a bunch of power amps over the years and could still hear differences, but they are after the Brystons in the signal chain so that does not surprise me. The midrange/tweeter amp is the more critical; the bass amps matter less when biamping.