Why HiFi manufacturers don't make active crossovers anymore?


Hello to all,

On the recent days, I noticed that a lot of manufacturers of Hifi 2 channel systems, had plenty of options in a not so long past, of active crossovers, like Luxman, Accuphase, higher end Sony stuff, and many more, why do you think HiFi manufacturers abandoned the inclusion of active cross overs, channel dividers, in their lineup?

Accuphase still makes a digital one.

Appears that this devices are only still relevant in the Pro Audio world, why Home HifI abandoned the active cross over route? It's correct to assume that?

I think that can be very interesting tri-amp a three way loudspeakers with active cross overs, would like to know more about it too...

Share your thoughts about the subject, experiences in bi-amp and tri-amp with active crossovers and etc....

Thanks!
cosmicjazz
That Xilica is awesome and all I use now are pro amps and DSP's and the huge improvement over passives and consumer gear is large. I figure most people who want great sound have not heard a system set up with something like multiple amps and a Xilica and in truth avoid that because they want plug and play and don't want to have to learn to do things other than spend money.
  Active crossovers weren't  a popular thing until buyers started demanding more with home theaters for sure. In the pro world they have been recognized as the essential tool that makes great sound for a long time. A crossover has severely limited purposes and wont control gain nor do EQ or time delay and introduces it's own set of components that have no way of being balanced against the other speaker(s) and crossover(s)
  Find someone close by who has done this and investigate it in real life and if someone tells you passives are the way to go for best sound I would run the other way.
" Myself I still only use the Xilica + amp-direct-to-driver for subs duties, but my main speakers with passive cross-overs are also run through the Xilica implementing a high-pass filter only (no delay or PEQ is used as-of-yet). I am considering by-passing the passive XO in the bass horn of my main speakers to run them fully active - this would be interesting for a variety of reasons. Going full-active with the mids and tweeter compression drivers is something I’ll likely avoid for the time being. "
 That 3060 is what I run too. What do you have for a system? You are right about DIY and pro usage.
" There is just no freaking way that an expert passive crossover designer could give you that kind of dialed-in precision using caps whose values are stated in nice, even numbers like "1 f" or "300 uf"...caps that only have a certain percentage of accuracy and whose true values vary with temp and lifespan...let alone the fact that different gear will behave differently in different systems with different rooms and different ears - all of which can be compensated for by digital crossovers, EQ, gain and delay and that, practically speaking, just can neither be predicted nor be adjusted for after the fact with passives. "
 100% correct.
Thinking about that can be interest we make a list about HiFi manufacturers that offered active crossovers aka channel dividers (as is described by some HiFi manufacturers from Japan), it can be current models or vintage.

Let’s stay with HiFi manufacturers only, no Pro Audio.

I will start with:

Accuphase
Sony
Pioneer
Luxman
Threshold
Mark Levinson
Cello
Technics? produced any in the past? can’t find..


You can add the Beveridge RM-3 to the list. Designed by Roger Modjeski of Music Reference when he worked at Beveridge Audio. The active crossover was part of the RM-1, RM2, RM-3 system that linked with the built in OTL amps of the Beveridge 2SW speaker system. I have been using the RM-3 in my system for a few years now. Two way with input cards for high and low pass, bass, and treble controls.