I don't know why active loudspeakers haven't caught on in the consumer market, but there are many examples in recording studios. I have some active Genelec monitors which sound great as nearfields although they won't be to everyone's taste.
Technically the benefits are compelling, but I understand why people might be sceptical given the enormous amount of BS in the audiophile world. Siegfried Linkwitz' LXmini speakers can be paired with Nelson Pass designed active crossovers... admittedly not that mainstream but I'm yet to read a bad review - and they're designed by two people with some 'audiophile' kudos.
I agree with @erik_squires that active crossover design isn't that intuitive but it really isn't much more difficult than passive as long as you don't try to iron the frequency response completely flat with endless filters.
If you're starting from scratch then it would probably be best to reverse engineer the existing crossover (or get someone to do that for you) and model it in DSP to use as a starting point. You can then make adjustments in software before re-creating the filters using analogue components (or getting someone to do that).
Technically the benefits are compelling, but I understand why people might be sceptical given the enormous amount of BS in the audiophile world. Siegfried Linkwitz' LXmini speakers can be paired with Nelson Pass designed active crossovers... admittedly not that mainstream but I'm yet to read a bad review - and they're designed by two people with some 'audiophile' kudos.
I agree with @erik_squires that active crossover design isn't that intuitive but it really isn't much more difficult than passive as long as you don't try to iron the frequency response completely flat with endless filters.
If you're starting from scratch then it would probably be best to reverse engineer the existing crossover (or get someone to do that for you) and model it in DSP to use as a starting point. You can then make adjustments in software before re-creating the filters using analogue components (or getting someone to do that).

