Mapman,
In Germany a chap called Matthias has been customising Ohm speakers for some years now and he does an active version of the "5000" series (with John’s approval). In Germany, this is a good idea because their Omnidirectional market is much stronger than anywhere else and the competition prices can take your breath away (German Physic, MBL etc).
Looks like John has fully embraced the idea and is scaling up. ;^)