Passive vs Active...Again!


My wife and I have made the rounds and have listened to numerous speakers now, not as many as we'd like, but as many as we could within a 3-hour drive. We liked some both active and passive, but it seems most of the active speakers we saw are not that pleasing to the eye (eg: Genelecs).

Not having a dedicated listening room, our room itself is a big problem. We have lots of hard surfaces to deal with.

If we go with passive speakers and the associated gear to go with it, we will need to spend a whole bunch of money on acoustic treatments.

We have a ton of artwork as well and with already limited wall space, we would rather look at the art than a bunch of sound-absorbing panels.

So here's my question: Will active speakers, that may come in cheaper, with room correction software (DSP) be able to tame the sound to a pleasing level in my lively room, or do I go with passives and break out the Rockwool!

Just a side note, I had some Martin Logan Spires in a very similar style room, that was much larger with little acoustic treatments and they sounded pretty good. But in this house I don't have the room to pull the speakers 3 feet of the back wall.

I know there is no perfect answer here, but appreciate any feedback, thanks.

 

high-amp

Here's a couple of shots and some measurements of the place before I purchased it 

https://ibb.co/r4XZbWL

This is the back wall, wife would like to mirror the wall to the left to make the room look bigger plus reflect the view. I don't think she'll like acoustic panels on the mirror...UGH!

https://ibb.co/r4XZbWL

Far wall, showing all the widow and I think drapes are out.

Measurments:

https://ibb.co/4jVWLwy

 

 

I use a DEQX HDP 4 preamp/DSP with my fully horn loaded tri-amplified DIY speakers.  The room correction software in this component does an excellent job of producing a sound free of most room problems in the sweet spot, but I have to admit that it fails to provide as effective a correction well off axis.

I did include a picture as an attachment above of the room dimensions but lengthwise it's about 24 feet and it's a bit of an L-shaped it is 26 feet long into the kitchen and steps back in 10 feet into the great room and then that wall that is going to be mirrored eventually is 12 feet. I have a proximately 12 feet on the back wall for speaker placement from the corner to the door into the next room.