In one respect, they are the present. Check out the speakers hooked to your PC or Mac. However, I'm assuming that this isn't the part of the speaker market to which you refer:
Active, digitally corrected speakers from companies like B&O and Lyngdorff probably represent one of the few opportunities to get measurable benefits (i.e. flat in-room FR) from a big dollar speaker purchase. In this respect, they are IMHO actually a better mousetrap. However, it seems that most people spending this kind of $ on speakers (or at least the ones w/virtual systems posted on Audiogon) aren't convinced by this type of measureable benefit. It's just not the main focus for most audio hobbyists. Since I suspect that big $ purchases will come disproportionately from hobbyists, the answer to your question is no, it is unlikely that active speakers are the future.
They may be - in certain ways - measurably better, but for most people they're simply less fun.
Marty
Active, digitally corrected speakers from companies like B&O and Lyngdorff probably represent one of the few opportunities to get measurable benefits (i.e. flat in-room FR) from a big dollar speaker purchase. In this respect, they are IMHO actually a better mousetrap. However, it seems that most people spending this kind of $ on speakers (or at least the ones w/virtual systems posted on Audiogon) aren't convinced by this type of measureable benefit. It's just not the main focus for most audio hobbyists. Since I suspect that big $ purchases will come disproportionately from hobbyists, the answer to your question is no, it is unlikely that active speakers are the future.
They may be - in certain ways - measurably better, but for most people they're simply less fun.
Marty