Why so few active speakers?
Given the technical advantages of active speakers I am surprised to see so few in the home market.
I like the look of Adam Artist but the USB input doesn't suit me because I have a Squeezebox.
There are plenty for sale in music mail order stores but matt black finish won't do.
Is it possible that more home friendly options will become available during the year?
'Home friendly' active speakers - to my mind - means that they would look ok in a family living room. That means a range of real wood veneer finishes (and maybe at least a black gloss option to match most black gloss edged televisions) and grilles to obscure drivers.
'Home friendly' also means the ability to operate with a remote and to have at least a couple of digital/analogue inputs that are compatible with what most people use. (Toslink/USB/RCA phono). I only know of one example that does all this and has real wood veneer and black - or white - gloss finishes and has grilles. However, they cost £1150 a pair.
Speakers (or should I say 'pro' monitors?) looking like refugees from a teenager's amateur studio/bedroom set-up, with 'hi-viz' yellow cones and industrial looking pro-style cabinet shapes (and no grilles) aren't going to succeed - aesthetically - in the living room no matter how good they sound. They also tend not to have built in DACs/pre-amps or remote control.
Instead of discontinuing the old Quad 11L Actives, IAG should bring out a new active version of their latest "11L Classic" range, in all the same veneer (and gloss) options, but this time with a built-in USB & optical DAC and a pre-amp (with at least one analogue RCA input) and a remote control. The passive "11L Classics" are £330. I can't see why an active pair, such as I described, couldn't be achieved for around £700 - £800.
I would also like to see B&W bring some of their MM-1/Zeppelin/speaker expertise to bear on one of their more traditional stand-mount/bookshelf speakers with either powered or active internals including a DAC/pre-amp and a remote. I am sure they could bring one in for less than a grand AND it would look good in a living room.
Most would look horrendous in the living room. A few straddle the boundaries of domestic acceptability (Genelecs spring to mind) and a couple - AVI and Meridian - can cut it with ease in the home. Then again, that's £1100 for AVI (add a further £800 for the sub if you find the 9.1s too lightweight) and substantially more for the Meridians.
Onkyo TX-8050 / Tannoy Revolution DC4 / Denon DVD-3930
Sony PS3 320Gb
these active adam floorstanders don't look too bad, built in pre-amp and dac too, only 4.5inch woofers but one would assume they'd be pretty bassy compared to the likes of the AVI's? £1200..
as some of the others have said, they need to look like 'normal' speakers, and a built in pre with a few inputs and remote control would really help. not so sure an inbuilt dac would be a deal breaker, although when one is included it makes for a very neat system. i think i'm in the minority who would put up with studio actives in their livingroom.
another stumbling block is the hifi dealers themselves, also, the hifi mags don't really mention them, i guess because the products aren't there, so consumer demand isn't there, so the manufacturers don't make them.
The Rock Actives at the Bristol show looked nice and sounded great.
these active adam floorstanders don't look too bad, built in pre-amp and dac too, only 4.5inch woofers but one would assume they'd be pretty bassy compared to the likes of the AVI's? £1200..
I'd seriously look at them if the finishes were better.
To a degree its a matter of what you have already. Because I have my speakers I think I would consider a DAC a deal breaker, for example.
It's really interesting to have a problem & find that others have been discussing the same issue before. I have passive ATC SCM20s coupled with AVI power amps. AVI pre-amp, AVI tuner & AVI CD player. I like my system enormously. We also have an old CRT TV, which we have decided to replace (probably with a Panasonic TX-P42GT30 which will be connected to the internet & my workstation). It occured to me that if I had some active speakers (like the active ATC SCM20s) connected to my TV & my workstation, I wouldn't need any of my power amps. pre-amp, tuner or CD player? I could listed to various sources of radio from the TV, the internet or my workstation & I could listen to my CDs from my workstation. At worst, I could connect my laptop to the speakers & play my CDs directly from that? I wouldn't then need a pre-amp, nor DAC. Or is all that just too simplistic?
Also, I was very interested in the comment about lack of depth. I listened to a pair of AVI ADM 9.1s last weekend. Or they might have been 9.1Ts. The voice reproduction was incredible but I found the full orchestra a bit thin. Am I going to find the same with other active speakers, or was my experience because the 9.1s are in pretty small boxes?
4 times now? Reported.
Chill out buddy. There' s no fire. 
I've offered an answer on one of them. Maybe the OP can delete from the others.
I asked myself exactly the same question as the OP in 2010 when I was looking for an active 'domestic' speaker. I too was after an elegant active floorstander in a choice of veneers. and the choice was ... very limited, to say the least. it is still very limited 2 years later, no new models since then, I think. AVI is readying their ADM40s but that's about it...
many things make sence but are under-represented on the market: active speakers, hi-rez downloads...
why manufacturers of passives do not make them active? why manufacturers of actives do not make them 'look good'? Why iTunes do not sell 16/44 or 24/96 tracks?
there are some threads on other forums rounding up active speakers manufacturers and links to their sites, if that helps.
I've offered an answer on one of them.And I offered an answer on the first one but no sign that he's even looking at replies at the moment.
Hi The_Lhc
Perhaps he's just being active 
All the best
Rick @ Musicraft
AHAHAH - no.
Hi The_Lhc
Perhaps he's just being active
All the best
Rick @ Musicraft
Or Inactive if his posts are anything to go by.
Probably not, the market is yet to be convinced, for no good reason.
No signature worth mentioning...