Rane MX 23
A stereo three-way crossover with a mono sub out, built on Rane's 24 dB-per-octave filter topology. It was the Mojo-series Divider that promised triamp capability without the boutique price.
Overview
The MX 23 is the three-way half of Rane's Mojo Divider pair. It's a stereo crossover with an extra mono subwoofer output, and per Rane's own advertising copy it uses the company's "popular 24dB per octave technology" to keep a triamped system in phase. That 24 dB/octave slope is the headline claim. It's steep enough to keep drivers from stepping on each other at the handoff points. The Linkwitz-Riley alignment noted in the period coverage keeps the summed response flat through the crossover region, so there's no notch or bump where the bands meet. Rane's ad copy was blunt about the pitch: a stereo three-way crossover that no other brand could outperform. That reads as marketing, but it sits alongside a well-regarded filter design.
The feature set, as described in contemporary product coverage, is workmanlike: balanced XLR connectors, LED metering, the 24 dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley filters, that extra mono subwoofer output, and an internal power supply. No wall wart, no external brick. It's a standard rack unit that plugs straight into mains. A lot of budget crossovers of the period shipped with outboard supplies that hummed, drifted, or got lost, and Rane built the transformer in. The mono sub output is what separates the Divider from a plain three-way. It lets a system feed a dedicated subwoofer channel without stealing one of the stereo bands, which is what a working sound reinforcement rig or a triamped playback system wants.
Pricing put the MX 23 at $399 when the Mojo Series launched, with its two-way sibling the MX 22 at $299. Rane spent the mid-1990s shipping what its advertising called "brand new technology at brand new prices," and the Mojo Series was explicitly pitched as American-made gear built to outperform "bargain" brands in every respect. The MX 23 was the more expensive, more capable member of the crossover pair, and the $399 figure sat well below what a lot of competing three-way crossovers commanded at the time. EQ-Magazine (March 1997, p.53) ran the Divider pair under the line "You do the math." It framed the MX 22 and MX 23 as the finest crossovers Rane made, offered at a fraction of the cost of many others, and called the pair the simplest and smartest way to biamp or triamp a system. That's advertising-adjacent copy, but the positioning is clear: the MX 23 was the affordable route into proper three-way active operation.
Reception in the trade press was warm. Pro Audio Review, quoted in Rane's own Mojo Series promotional material, called the MX 22 and MX 23 crossovers a winning combination of great sound quality, functional controls, and nice perks, and singled out the subwoofer out as the perk worth mentioning. It's a short verdict. The Mojo Series as a whole got the "no frills, no fluff, just good sound" treatment from Recording magazine in the same promotional roundup. That line was written about the series broadly rather than the MX 23 specifically, but it fits the design: the Divider is not a feature-stuffed box, it's a filter network with the controls you actually need.
On the available record, the MX 23 is not a collector's piece. Crossovers sell for working-gear money rather than audiophile money, and nothing in the period coverage suggests the MX 23 commanded a premium then or now. The Mojo Series was explicitly the affordable line, and Rane's own advertising leaned on the word "inexpensive" without apology. Buyers looking at one today should expect a functional rack unit, not a museum piece, and should check the internal supply and the XLR connectors, since those are the parts that take abuse in a working rack. The 24 dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley filters and the mono sub output remain the reasons to seek one out, along with the $399 original price and the American-made build.
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