Which home theater amp and why?

[Buckchester]

In my opinion you only potentially need amps with extra power for your front three speakers. Let the receiver handle the rest.

I have the Outlaw 2220 for my front left and right Revel f208s and I haven’t had any problems with them. They sound fine. But I’d be lying if I said they made an audible difference vs. my receiver.

 

[peng]

Then many people use it wrong and don't know better.
Active Crossover/ Active system and an Active Speaker isn't the same.

JBL don't even use "Active Speaker" for the M2

Even in the Studio world it is active Nearfield monitor with amps built in.
Passive if there are no amps built in.

And subs in Hifi, Car audio and cinema using the same logic.
Passive subs vs Active subs.

And many Hifi brands using Active Speaker for amps build in.

I tend to agree, but I would also say that active speakers typically refer to self powered speakers so there are amplifier(s) built in, as to crossovers, obviously active speakers will most likely also have dsp or crossover networks on the line side, but in theory, or even in practice, it does not always (though again, may be almost always) have to have crossovers built in at all, anyway that's just for argument (being ocd ee type..) sake.

 

[Chrispy]

Then many people use it wrong and don't know better.
Active Crossover/ Active system and an Active Speaker isn't the same.

JBL don't even use "Active Speaker" for the M2

Even in the Studio world it is active Nearfield monitor with amps built in.
Passive if there are no amps built in.

And subs in Hifi, Car audio and cinema using the same logic.
Passive subs vs Active subs.

And many Hifi brands using Active Speaker for amps build in.

True enough. Powered speaker doesn't always have an active crossover, either.