Active is not ideal and never will be. Sorry, had to say it.
Passives are system dependent. Some people select surrounding components around them wisely. Some get lucky. Some, usually the most vocal about it, don't get lucky. Although, if you've seen the length of the Lightspeed thread, passive fanboys aren't exactly passive either. Don't get me wrong, passives are designed to be compatible in most systems. Very basically, the source has to drive the amps with a passive volume control.
With your long XLR's and limited flexibility, you're chance of luck is less than average. Off the top of my head, I can only think of Bent, Goldpoint and Promitheus offering balanced passive models and only one of those has remote control.
BTW, saw a PS Audio PCA-2, one of my favorites, for $800 on the listings.
Passives are system dependent. Some people select surrounding components around them wisely. Some get lucky. Some, usually the most vocal about it, don't get lucky. Although, if you've seen the length of the Lightspeed thread, passive fanboys aren't exactly passive either. Don't get me wrong, passives are designed to be compatible in most systems. Very basically, the source has to drive the amps with a passive volume control.
With your long XLR's and limited flexibility, you're chance of luck is less than average. Off the top of my head, I can only think of Bent, Goldpoint and Promitheus offering balanced passive models and only one of those has remote control.
BTW, saw a PS Audio PCA-2, one of my favorites, for $800 on the listings.