The prices were just off Amazon (Canadian) and a couple Canadian online retailers I found from a quick Google search. It seems they are market on 'sale' and the passives and actives are usually ~$2000 and ~$3000 CAD, respectively. I'd be a lot more comfortable buying the passives used than the actives of course, but don't mind paying for new ones at those prices I mentioned before.
I have actually never owned active speakers in my life or even used many bookshelf speakers admittedly. I was originally going to get the LS50 passives but as it is a gift for my elderly father with health problems I feel I may just go with the actives to keep things economical, because I would undoubtedly be tempted to spend more than double or triple the price difference on preamp, amp, streamer/dac etc. Many reviews I have heard mentioned it takes quite a bit of capable gear to get them on par with the actives, and even then the actives may still be better.
He is still using his reel-to-reel, TOTL Sansui Receiver, and speakers (
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sansui/sp-x7700.shtml - nothing special in today's day and age) from over 40 years ago. So I think that the actives may be a more simplistic setup he can just use with his phone, and perhaps CD player, and clear some clutter and space, and I am planning to get him a subscription to Tidal or Qobuz to go along with it. Only thing I am concerned about is because of their size, perhaps they will not sound as good off axis or when he is listening from another room?
Admittedly I have a bit of an ulterior motive though- if I like the sound I'll be buying a pair for myself as well