Wayne Parham Messages: 18791 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Well, passive line-level crossovers have some similarities with active crossovers. The idea in both philosophies is to put the crossover ahead of the power amps instead of in the high-current circuit. An active crossover has a buffer amplifier and sometimes it forms part of the filter, like in a Sallen Key circuit. But just as often, it is not anything but another stage, and is then almost the same thing as the amp stages prior to and following a passive line level filter. So that sort of blurs the distinction.