Have you ever tried a pair of speakers and said this Is the last thing I will ever need.

dave b...*L* Sarcastic, yes...twit, hardly.  But thanks for the poet laureate thought. ;)  I strive in my way...

After various iterations of speakers, and the lust for some beyond reach, it dawned on me that 'chasing the bleeding edge' in speaker tech had become the playing field of those more well-heeled than I.  That, and having more pressing issues for the income I've managed to rise to and the 'disposable element'  of it to apply to my hobby....which, at the end of the day, is what it is...

Don't get me wrong, dear sir.  I applaud those who can apply themselves to 'the chase', and have the means, the will, and the desire to do so.  Some collect stamps, exotic cars, 'luxury wives', whatever floats one's boat.  If drawn to spend Xk$ on exotic cables and the trappings of 'hi-end audio', have at it with a vengeance.  I might be drawn towards that as well, given different circumstance.

IMHO (and it is, ultimately), the configurations of equipment in a given space and how it sounds to one's ears becomes so complex that arriving at an agreement as to it's 'perfection' becomes so personal an issue that there's never going to be total subjective acceptance of 'perfection' having been reached.  Coupled with the fact that, sadly, our ears decline with the rest of the organism....although the entity between them will still argue that point. ;)  Twas always thus...

For myself, I've a odd collection of audio this 'n that, things that amuse me.  My current activity in the 'hobby' is DIY'ing Walsh speakers....the Real Ones, not the versions offered by Ohm.  I could discuss that at length with you and anyone else for that matter, but this is not the time or place to engage in that.  But that's what 'floats my boat', instead of endlessly discussing 'speaker cable qualities' and which is 'best'...

But in terms of the OP's original question, YES, I have an opinion.  It's just not what y'all might expect or see at the next audio extravaganza...*S*

Hmmm....sarcastic, well, yeah....opinionated, definitely...poet, no.  This is not poetry.  Words like the foil used in fencing, Yes. *G*  En garde...;)

It doesn't go like that so much for me. My biggest problem is moving ever 2-4 years, and then ending up in a completely different listening environment. I'm afraid the average apartment is just not that conducive to a wide range of gear.

My speakers must remain small, but full-range. Sometimes no place for  surrounds. Gear must be musical, but small. Fit on racks that are not very deep.

While I'm happy with what I have, man, the cables... the cables!!! I wish I could just hook up 1 cable to each piece of gear and be done with it. Or that I could find an affordable HT pre/processor that had a truly great DAC.

Sigh...


E

Problem solved...Totem speakers sound great anywhere because they are musical instruments.  You can drive them with a Powernode 2 integrated $799!  

Some days it doesn't pay to go out without your waders on.

I used to live in Richmond Hill, Ontario and there were three stores that carried high end systems within a 30 minute drive.

When I was bored, i’d go around to them all and try systems and speakers just to get an appreciation of how good my system was performing.

Yes - I think my system is extremely  good, but I always found there were things I liked in those other systems. Whether it was the smoothness and classic sound of the big Tannoy’s or the details, clarity and dynamics of the Avant Garde Horns (my current favorite).

I guess which speaker I preferred depends on the day and my mood. Perhaps (ideally) we should all have 2, 3, 4 or even 5 rooms each with different systems, so we can opt for the system that best suites our mood?

In my case, budget tends to be the main thing that constrains my insanity. But that aside - even if I had many SOTA systems I’d have to agree with Randyhat - and "Stay Curious"

Cheers