How competitive are you with your system?

You might be right. Tho whether dubbed or live recording, Thiel - FINK sounds really grainy and rough. Listen to  Thiel - FINK for 2 minutes. And listen Wavetouch audio - FINK . I can hear WT forever w/out hurting ears.

toddalin   I don’t agree.  I can hear the room.  I can also hear a resonance in the room not on the original.  But it is well treated compared to most..

I gave these YouTube clips another listen, on my system this time.

We all have different tastes but to me, the Thiel and Avantgarde systems are clear front-runners. I have little doubt the Montemar would sound fantastic in the right room, whereas the Focal seem confused and overwhelmed by theirs. The PMC's bass sounds surprisingly flabby, although they may have a physicality in real life that's absent from the video but might tip the scales in their favor.

@kennyc 

i admit my question about why people respond to this thread is somewhat specious.  But I still think a good many people compare their systems to others’.

Who told you masking the issue is a priority?