To a von Neurnann algebra
A and a set of
linear maps
ηij:
A→
A,
i,
jI such that
a(
ηij)
ijI:
A→
AB(
l2(
I)) is normal and completely
positive, we associate a von Neumann algebra
Φ(
A,
η). This von Neumann algebra is generated by
A and an
A-valued semicircular system
Xi,
iI, associated to
η. In many cases there is a faithful conditional expectation
E:
Φ(
A,
η)→
A; if
A is
tracial, then under certain assumptions on
η,
Φ(
A,
η) also has a trace. One can think of the construction
Φ(
A,
η) as an analogue of a crossed product construction. We show that most known algebras arising in free probability theory can be obtained from the complex field by iterating the construction
Φ. Of a particular interest are free Krieger algebras, which, by analogy with crossed products and ordinary Krieger factors, are defined to be algebras of the form
Φ(
L∞[0, 1],
η). The cores of free Araki–Woods factors are free Krieger algebras. We study the free Krieger algebras and as a result obtain several non-isomorphism results for free Araki–Woods factors. As another source of classification results for free Araki–Woods factors, we compute the
τ invariant of Connes for free products of von Neumann algebras. This computation generalizes earlier work on computation of
T,
S, and
Sd invariants for free product algebras.