Are active speakers worth it now?

@lonemountain 

Amp reliability is the same regardless of where it is.  If your amp fails whether its sitting on the floor or in a speaker you still have to send it in for reapir.  Of course you dont have to send the entire speaker in!  Would you do that with an outboard amp? 

Many as myself have had active subwoofers and speakers with powered woofers that failed and replacement parts are no longer available! That’s the #1 issue. The speaker or subwoofer becomes a heavy $$$$ brick. If the parts are not available, I need to know I can swap in a part from a different brand and it fits and sounds the same.

@bartsw wrote:

Many as myself have had active subwoofers and speakers with powered woofers that failed and replacement parts are no longer available! That’s the #1 issue. The speaker or subwoofer becomes a heavy $$$$ brick. If the parts are not available, I need to know I can swap in a part from a different brand and it fits and sounds the same.

Strictly speaking what's implied by poster @lonemountain is whether that of an amp being placed inside a speaker or not will see a disadvantage in reliability with the former scenario, and to his assessment it will not. I'd agree with that. 

What you're addressing of the (parts) quality of the amp itself that's built into a subwoofer, and in that regard I'd definitely agree it's in issue where reliability goes. Those caps go up in smoke all too frequently, and clearly points to low quality, cheap components. The more fitting context here though is active main speakers, and in that regard amp and overall parts quality is usually somewhat better than those placed in subs.

I take it ATC speakers aren't representative both in regards to reliability and a company that's likely to be around years ahead, not mention that they can service (from what I've heard) most any ATC speaker from decades ago.

My own active speakers by a dutch manufacturer are 35 years old and fairly newly refurbished by the official repair man/technician of the brand. You just don't see that very often. But then again here you see the use of (large) class A/B amps in their own compartment with larger than beer can sized RIFA output caps that last close to a lifetime, Sanken output transistors etc.; stuff that's built to last, and not some cheap components that will fail in a few years. 

I enjoy smaller powered speakers in first wave/near-field listening configurations and my go-to are my Cello Serafin. The best sounding config for these are using them double-stacked with a set upside down on top of the other bringing the Dyn Esotar tweeters together.  Have owned multiple Genelec and PMC models as well. ​​​​​​​

The older I get the less I  want my sound system to look like an engineering experiment and more I want it to vanish. 

Turn off the lights ;)

Over 5 decades of this hobby, I've experienced component failure in all but three things;  turntable, power cables and DAC.  Every other kind of component has failed. Sometimes in spectacular fashion, with smoke and everything.  Cool.

I cannot round the corner that an amplifier failure in an active speaker is going to cost multiples of an outboard amplifier failure and create more havoc.  Either failure may take out the connected transducers with them.  Tragic First World problem.

I've four pairs of ATC active speakers and no failure has happened.  Oldest pair (12 years) is the 19A.  Perhaps lesser quality brands of active present more problems. Cannot know that.  The narrative of possible in-board amplifier failure should not be the deciding factor of ownership regarding an active vs passive design.  They can all go very wrong.