Sorry this is going to be so long and probably dense based on past reactions.
Basically would be for listening to classical music and other genres of music. Budget $400-$600 CAD
Tight budget even before everyone attempted seeing what the market will bear. CAD does not improve this outlook.
Correct any wrong assumptions here that listening will primarily take place in the nearfield at below concert dB levels, you are willing to apply yourself towards a thoughtfully improved outcome for better sound quality, and have arrived at a preferred type of sound you would like to recreate.
For the sake of conversation I'll suggest powered 2.1 both for common sense and musicality. In the physical world small speakers cannot accurately reproduce a wide range of frequencies. Add to this packing all of the electronics into one of the cabinets requires a lot of jiggery pokery to have a balanced sound output out of both channels. Even if you completely turn off reinforcement by the sub it is creating better sound.
If you have space for something larger than any sane person would consider suitable for a desk there is not a single reason to avoid passive. Used with your budget. Denser cabinets and larger driver air movement allow a much better starting point. Obviously this is the more expensive route requiring some luck and expertise. Amp/speakers/DAC for under $600 CAD involves too many tradeoffs for what I would consider playing classical through. Plus cost of peripherals (wires, connectors, bits and bobs).
Honestly for anything approximating tonal and lifelike (Classical and other acoustic music) output $600 for DAC alone will be tough. Below quote only signifies we have a similar outcome in mind. Trusting your ears and then improving where measurements assert something is being left on the table. Problem you are going to keep encountering is most music is mastered for radio and cheap cell speakers/wireless earbuds. Thus most powered speakers are voiced for low DR music and boomy bass.
Not sure. I tried one before and it sounded worse. When I say worse I mean worse than my headphones and speakers directly plugged into analog vs through optical connected dac. maybe it was a dud or I did something wrong.
Continuing...
Passive speakers are cheaper so could reallocate funds to dac and amp.
Au contraire mon frère. Passive only get more and more expensive. Even the ones that have a built in powered bass amp/crossover. There is economy of scale putting amp/preamp/dac in one box or placing amp/crossover/dac inside speakers. "Cheaper" flea market 70's speakers won't sound good even after a full recapping/refoaming/resoldering/....
Where my own experimenting lead in this price range will be hard to recapture.
KORG DS-DAC-100M was US $75 before being discontinued.
HiVi Swans M10 speakers were US $80 (+shipping/taxes/etc bringing them near $100).
US $5 thickest best isolated USB-A to mini USB I could find
US $10 better product line Acoustic Research 3.5mm to RCA cable
Sounded pretty awful. Speakers/amp needed a lot of running in and so did the DAC. Where the biggest improvement beyond settling in arrived making Classical listenable?
100 hours testing/refining and around US $30 constructing matching isolation speaker platforms placing them at correct height for my ears.
M10 are pretty sterile speakers with some comparison to monitors common. This goes for the sub as well. As compact powered speakers go it is on the low end of flabby boomy bass. It was still almost intolerable to me. The best compliment that can be paid to a separate bass enclosure is not being able to tell if it is on. Everything up to the highest highs seems more enjoyable without intrusion or noticeable mechanical separation. Outside of industrial processes I employed nearly every trick in constructing multi-layer platforms. What I did not do was mess with the electronics or make any modifications that would allow changing cables/terminations.
At this level of hardware claims they sound very different from simply being plopped down on a flat surface shouldn't come off as specious. The basic principles and decisions apply broadly across anything you are likely to purchase. Spend some time on the acoustics, the distance and angle speakers are at relative to your seat, then make increasingly smaller adjustments from there while expecting complete failure numerous times. Pushing one thing producing better sound often leads to another nullify it. Especially across the wide dynamic and tonal ranges explored in Classical instrumentation.
Where new from the factory speakers are involved there is no getting around putting them to work daily until they have fully made the physical changes required to be reactive and sensitive!
Sound is non-fatiguing and neutral with ample bass for any closeted Prog ambitions that poke their way out in dark moments.