@bigkidz +1
(I don’t also think that room treatment changes the direct sound.)
What do you need to hear/see/know about your speakers to take the next step and build a 20 year system around them?
I think if you are near NJ, then you have a solid offer from BigKids.
If you are elsewhere, then there are other good places.
I have heard some great speakers at $5K, $10k, $20k and $40k.
I am, totally confident that I could put together a great system from any of them.
So it doesn’t matter a whole lot as they generally do not have much in the way of flaws at those price points.
I am really looking hard at a $5k set, in fact I am pretty committed, but it all went a bit sideways.
Yeah we still need front ends, and room treatments are seldom a bad thing. Minor treatments can sometimes even pass a WAF test.