What does running "active" mean?

i kind of know, but i'd rather not tell you information if i'm not 100% correct lol, but LOTS of people do know so i'll let one of them chime in...

Each speaker has its own amp channel, and the frequencies they receive are filtered with an electronic active crossover, either external, or in the head unit. There are no passive crossovers involved.

Hell, I think its something to do with running each component on their own crossover or something, like instead of using the crossover that comes with component sets, you have each thing on a different channel crossover-ed separately.... something like that? lol

edit: i was kinda close lol..

yeah that sounds right...but im not too sure with these 2

Active crossover is done digitally//signal is processed then sent to amps, passive crossover is done after amplified.

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There is TONS of information on this site about what active is.

LOL, I don't feel so bad now Thanks for the replies. I am picking up my car tomorrow and found out that the stock HU crosses the output's directly from the HU itself, so I am kind of stuck I guess...not sure really how my installer handled this, but I am def gonna find out. Kind of ***** to buy a set of speakers with an expensive crossover only to have it not be used. I am sure there is some reason alot of people are doing this though.

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People do it because it allows you to tailor the sound to how YOU want it. i can set the crossover frequency for the tweeters at what i want, then the mids at the frequency I want, then the sub at the frequency I want. The crossover lso has output gain for each amplifier which allows more control.

Correct me someone if I am wrong, but setting the crossover frequency BEFORE the signal is amplified results in a cleaner sound.

You would need 3 amps(Im assuming each amp is a 2 channel amplifier) to run this setup. One dedicated amplifier for your tweeters, 1 for your mids, and one for your subs.

I am amazed people are still running passive systems.

People do it because it allows you to tailor the sound to how YOU want it. i can set the crossover frequency for the tweeters at what i want, then the mids at the frequency I want, then the sub at the frequency I want. The crossover lso has output gain for each amplifier which allows more control.
Correct me someone if I am wrong, but setting the crossover frequency BEFORE the signal is amplified results in a cleaner sound.

You would need 3 amps to run this setup. One dedicated amplifier for your tweeters, 1 for your mids, and one for your subs.

I am amazed people are still running passive systems.

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You don't NEED 3 amps

You don't NEED 3 amps

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If you have a 4 channel amp, but you need a separate channel for each speaker.

6 speakers...... you need 6 channels of amplification.

Had to fix that. sorry

I knew what active meant. Then this thread came along.

If you have a 4 channel amp, but you need a separate channel for each speaker.
6 speakers...... you need 5 channels of amplification.

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I know this,but the o.p doesn't and you might have had him purchase 3 amps