I hope I made good choices with new gear. Comments?

@toddsyr The PSU backup units with battery backups (the batteries are 6V and easy to replace) are not robust like a whole house surge protector put in at the electrical panel(S). Typically they are used for computers as you know. They are not power conditioners like a Puritan Audio Laboratories, AudioQuest Niagara series, Shunyata Research, Furman or one of many others. 

When your power goes, your standby generator is great but using with big batteries requires some special electrical hooking up. Batteries are expensive. No rebates currently available. 

lol!  I’m a huge fan of certain vintage speakers.  Indeed, I’ve got a pair of 50 year old resto/mod Altec Santiagos in my system #2.  But there’s a reason why you can get a pair of JBL L100 t3s in excellent condition for $1k.  That’s what the market values them at.  A cool system would be to pair them with a ‘70s era receiver for nostalgia.   But they’re probably not gonna be the foundation of a serious SOTA system.  

OP, Hospital or audio grade outlets a great addition. All kinds of info on these fora about that and dedicated lines too. You got the rabbit hole/sink hole  bit right but it’s a fun journey with results.

+1 @wsrrsw , Upgraded outlets are a definite plus, being frugal I bought a few Hubble medical grade outlets they grip like a vise. @toddsyr , you have a weak front compared to your quality of gear. I strongly suggest adding a DAC after you have a couple months on your gear. This will take your CD player to a new level. It’s the alternative to buying a better CD player. All you need is to add a digital cable. Get a DAC and a cable with a return policy and audition them in your system. FWIW I have a Morrow digital cable and another one with silver that brightens up the sound, it’s like tube rolling. In regards to trading in my Morrows , I hear you. The problem is im setting up bigger gear that’s balanced IC’s and my Morrows are single ended. I like the 5’s enough to keep them. I’ll probably hit a 50% sale and buy the balanced 6’s outright. If I understand correctly you only play CD’s no turntable ? I have CD, DVD, TT and a streamer. FWIT with the added DAC down the road you could add a streamer for a few hundred to get a taste. With all I have I stream about 95% , guess I’m getting too lazy. 😆 Regards , Mike B. 

@toddsyr - I’m a bucket-list audiophile who started from scratch about 10yrs ago. Since I was 55 I didn’t want to start at the bottom. So for years of intensive research, trying to demo the best sound I could find at audio shows and audio stores then try to duplicate the sound at home within budget. I find component comparisons invaluable in making  price/performance value judgments. I constructed a ridiculously large spreadsheet with many tabs. 

From demoing many speakers, there are many that sound great, but very few “resonates” with me - makes you stop, sit down, and the music pulls you in.  This is what I meant when I say the preferred Sonics is subjective, that it’s best to demo yourself to find what you like at your price point.