Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

I have used and installed many Genelec's, I've always thought they are great sounding, low distortion, play very loud cleanly and are boring. They are pretty flat response and I guess they work well in a dedicated theater application which is where I have used them, even some of the big big boys with the outboard 6U rack mount amps, 1034B or something like that. The thing I was pretty disappointed is that the amps were made in china, I had to modify three of the 10 inch 2-way Genelec's so we took off the amp boards and sawed off the the MDF that houses them (we automated them on ceiling lifts to fit through existing openings behind a screen) the amp boards, power supply windings, are made in china which is only visible when you take them apart, and those are pretty expensive speakers back when we did this on 2005 or so.

I would use Genelec for a studio, dedicated theater, maybe PC speakers, but not for HiFi 2 channel playback, they are too flat, neutral and boring. They can play loud without distorting, but I like magic when I play music, I want to be in the room at the tip of the mic, I want to see the performers.

Honestly the best powered speakers I've heard in a while are the Heavenly Soundworks, they were at the Long Beach audio show and were pretty awesome, I do like the simplicity of just having 2 speakers and a source like a Aurender...

Regarding vibration control, it is everything, half the holographic, super detailed sound of my system I attribute to my ceramic cones, maple boards, sorbothane pads on the rack, carbon fiber pucks under the speakers, Schumann wave generator etc... and you cant use most of that stuff on a powered speaker system.

@kota1 +1 for Meyer Sound. I have had the great pleasure of taking their factory tour twice with great listening sessions. John Meyer is a genius.
They make their own speaker cones from pulp that they grow in their own forests to control the quality…they make their own magnets…each speaker is assembled by one person and thoroughly tested. All powers by internal proprietary designed amps. 
they only want the purest sound. The new Bluehorn Monitors blew my mind. I could hear the artist take a breath between versus. Only down side…I can’t afford it.

For HT, active speakers seem to make a lot of sense.  invest in a high quality processor vs. amps/receivers.  

But for 2 channel, there is no match.  In my (limited) experience, the active Focal speakers I heard were "clear" but completely lacked 2D or 3D soundstage.  Even my shitty Klipsch Forte IVs with my Krell amp can create the illusion of 3D staging where sounds are not only placed across the left to right stage, but have height and depth.  The depth part is when it gets fun!  

It really hit me the other day when I was listening to some studio Phish.  I've always been a critic of my favorite live band studio recordings, thinking their sound was jumbled and too center weighted.  But on this night, I must have finally found the sweet spot.  The sounds were staged like a set of waves rolling in from wall to wall.  Voice was a few feet in front of me with multiple layers going back 8 feet.  

On the powered focals, all I heard were 2 distinct speakers playing sounds, but no staging.  And my friend with the Focals had the exact same pre-amp and streamer as me.  

@fpomposo 

Regarding vibration control, it is everything, half the holographic, super detailed sound of my system I attribute to my ceramic cones, maple boards, sorbothane pads on the rack, carbon fiber pucks under the speakers, Schumann wave generator etc... and you cant use most of that stuff on a powered speaker system.

I have used Mapleshade Bedrock stands on my active speakers for years, stunning upgrade:

https://www.mapleshadestore.com/speakerstands.php

@gruvjet I have not heard Focals so can’t comment, but your friend lacked the same ROOM you had, so can’t really compare apples to apples.

FYI, did you see this: