Hi AJ, could you elaborate on "variable" and "active" as they apply to this speaker?
Ta 
Hi John,
The polar (and thus room) response can be varied at mid to high frequencies by a rear firing driver, with shaped/controlled/narrow enough directivity that it does not affect the frontal response, but will perceptually add spatially to the soundfield (pardon the pun). The intensity can be varied (including off) if the program material warrants it. I'm sure you are aware of the tradeoff of spaciousness vs "precision" etc, so I leave that up to the end users whims. Of course, unlike a dipole or traditional bipole etc, this "effect" can be varied at the source (rather than via external passive damping etc).
Ditto at LF, where the amp gain and low pass frequency can be varied (again, including off). So one could go (polar wise) from a monopole (there is a first order electrical filter on the midwoofers, but very low) to a cardioid(ish). The subs are damped, but do not fully remove the asymmetry of the rear response, which of course you know, grows up to the dipole peak. thus by varying the low pass, you can shift the upper limit of the cardioid radiation.
Yes, I know, for the "set and forget" crowd, this isn't the speaker.
Maybe I'll add a remote option for the true couch potatoes.
cheers,
AJ
