Quote Originally Posted by alancohen View Post
Thanks! I'm in deep!
The phono preamp looks great! I'm glad to hear that you've got your Altecs/stereo system sounding phenomenal.

Of course, many audiophiles prefer bi-amped systems, but some still swear by their passive crossovers. For example, my Altec Model 19's (and Model 14's) have crossovers that have h.f. compensation etc. built in. The passive crossover in these systems is very much an important part of the Model 19 and Model 14 sound and many users of these (and other similar) speaker systems are still using the stock passive crossovers to achieve (what they perceive to be) the "best" results. That Heathkit AS 101 crossover is an excellent crossover--it achieves a very smooth transition from woofer to h.f. driver and I prefer it over several (stock) Altec passive crossovers that I've used in the past. It doesn't have any h.f. compensation etc. so even though I never tried my AS 101's without it, I don't consider it to necessarily be an indispensable part of the AS-101 sound. If I was going to bet, I think you will be able to get better results (possibly by a wide margin) in that system with an active crossover/biamp setup--but it will of course take some work/tinkering to "beat out" the sound of that great AS-101 passive crossover. I'll be very interested in hearing if you end up preferring the bi-amped (Behringer) setup over your Heathkit "stock" crossover.