Active speakers make the most sense on all technical levels. The audio community doesn't seek the best engineering principles to acheive this, they rely on sex appeal with a sense of pride and complication.
This link with Bob Stuart talking about active designs should really open peoples eyes in engineering terms.
http://www.cinenow.com/uk/news-2117.html
I'm afraid Meridian and B&O are some of the very few companies developing these systems which IMHO will be mainstream in consumer grade electronics in 10 years. Active designs in my opinion aren't supported as they should be because the typical music 'lover' is really a 'tweak' lover and therefore doesn't want to commit to a music system that he doesn't get to engineer himself (at least in his head) and play around with numerous variables (cables/pre's/amp's etc...). But that's just my opinion, what do I know?
This link with Bob Stuart talking about active designs should really open peoples eyes in engineering terms.
http://www.cinenow.com/uk/news-2117.html
I'm afraid Meridian and B&O are some of the very few companies developing these systems which IMHO will be mainstream in consumer grade electronics in 10 years. Active designs in my opinion aren't supported as they should be because the typical music 'lover' is really a 'tweak' lover and therefore doesn't want to commit to a music system that he doesn't get to engineer himself (at least in his head) and play around with numerous variables (cables/pre's/amp's etc...). But that's just my opinion, what do I know?