Why do most audiophile prefer passive speakers?

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I think Audio Doctor pretty much nailed it. I have components that I already like, and speakers that I love that just aren't made with built in amps. If I were looking for a set it up and forget it system, I might consider active speakers.

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10 hours ago, jcbenten said:

Nowadays the active systems are obtainable.  While the Kiis and D&Ds are a bit rich for me, but if my system crashed tomorrow, I would look at the Dynaudio Xeo line.  May not have all the DSP the higher cost alternatives but I think I would be just fine.

As for myself, I am not convinced that the DSP applied to a lot of these speakers can overcome the small drivers that often accompany the actives.

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19 hours ago, firedog said:

One of the advantages of such a system is it allows the designer to maximize the output of the woofers without pushing them into distortion. So the same woofer in such a speaker can output significantly more bass (sometimes as even going 10 or20 hz lower) than the same woofer in a conventional setup. 

You might want to consider this assertion. The DSP likely creates more distortion as it attempts to force the smaller drivers to operate below what it is capable of. This might sound good to you, but there is little chance that the bass driver actually has lower distortion than if you were using a proper one - unless perchance it is servo controlled or something.