Active loudspeakers are IMO long overdue for penetration into the consumer marketplace - there's virtually no aspect of amplifier, loudspeaker, or crossover performance that isn't improved by using a separate amp for each frequency range with the crossover being performed before amplification.
The main reason that it isn't more common is both cultural and economic. For starters . . . loudspeaker companies and electronics companies have different resources and abilities - speaker companies are usually mainly woodshops, and electronics companies stuff circuit boards into sheetmetal enclosures. Most of the companies that build active speakers rely on an outsourced "plate-amp" module (either off-the-shelf or custom) that's easily incorporated into their conventional design/manufacturing methods, and most electronics companies that have loudspeaker lines outsource the cabinetry from a woodshop.
In an economic sense, if you're going to integrate two things together, the receiver/passive-speaker has some clear advantages over the tuner-preamp/active-speaker combination -- putting like things together affords considerable savings. (Look at a cheap mini-system with biamplified speakers - the amps are always in the main unit, with two sets of speaker wires.) For custom home installation, it's also much cheaper to run low-voltage speaker wire everywhere, than to use a high-quality balanced line-level distribution system, plus AC power at every speaker location.
And there's also the cultural difference in the distribution side - it takes much more thought and effort for a salesperson to convince somebody to replace their amplifier(s) (that they may be attached to) when they're looking at making a speaker purchase. And in the high end, there are many symbiotic relationships between amp and speaker companies, that share resources at shows, and serve the same dealer network -- an active speaker product can upset these relationships.
But although I feel that the active speaker approach is in general a better way of doing things, I still think that there are a LOT of really poor products in the "professional" ranks, even some very high-priced ones . . . i.e. I feel passive ATC SCM20 or SCM50 (or even the old JBL 4435 running passive) absolutely smoke the now-ubiquitous active Genelecs. And don't get me started about the cheap "active monitors" (really overgrown computer speakers) that mail-order music stores ship by the truckload . . .
The main reason that it isn't more common is both cultural and economic. For starters . . . loudspeaker companies and electronics companies have different resources and abilities - speaker companies are usually mainly woodshops, and electronics companies stuff circuit boards into sheetmetal enclosures. Most of the companies that build active speakers rely on an outsourced "plate-amp" module (either off-the-shelf or custom) that's easily incorporated into their conventional design/manufacturing methods, and most electronics companies that have loudspeaker lines outsource the cabinetry from a woodshop.
In an economic sense, if you're going to integrate two things together, the receiver/passive-speaker has some clear advantages over the tuner-preamp/active-speaker combination -- putting like things together affords considerable savings. (Look at a cheap mini-system with biamplified speakers - the amps are always in the main unit, with two sets of speaker wires.) For custom home installation, it's also much cheaper to run low-voltage speaker wire everywhere, than to use a high-quality balanced line-level distribution system, plus AC power at every speaker location.
And there's also the cultural difference in the distribution side - it takes much more thought and effort for a salesperson to convince somebody to replace their amplifier(s) (that they may be attached to) when they're looking at making a speaker purchase. And in the high end, there are many symbiotic relationships between amp and speaker companies, that share resources at shows, and serve the same dealer network -- an active speaker product can upset these relationships.
But although I feel that the active speaker approach is in general a better way of doing things, I still think that there are a LOT of really poor products in the "professional" ranks, even some very high-priced ones . . . i.e. I feel passive ATC SCM20 or SCM50 (or even the old JBL 4435 running passive) absolutely smoke the now-ubiquitous active Genelecs. And don't get me started about the cheap "active monitors" (really overgrown computer speakers) that mail-order music stores ship by the truckload . . .