ricred1, a thoughtful response, which I appreciate.
Newer speakers keep revealing their lovely attributes for quite some time, as long as it takes go go through one's demo play list or listen to most of the collection. One of the wonderful aspects of the hobby is the refreshing performances, the newness of each song, as ownership lengthens.
I didn't look closely to notice if you are keeping the Monitor speakers. If you are not strapped for money and have the space, it would be nice to have both pair. In my book I suggest that if possible, the audiophile should take steps to facilitate easy changing of speakers, i.e., using casters if necessary or furniture sliders to move about speakers to have additional experiences. When a person gets stuck on the idea that the only proper setup is spikes, then it tends to kill the thrill of easy changing of speakers to have different experiences.
I conducted comparisons between spikes, casters, and rubber hockey pucks, and the spikes did not pass my Law of Efficacy. In other words, I can safely ignore the received wisdom that spikes are required to have the best sound. I have speakers on stands, casters, footers - all kinds of bases. But the key is that I can switch them out at will without a headache. The ability to have variety in experiences is paramount.
Galen Gareis of Iconoclast Cable was one of the editors of my book. He has two speaker systems, and one was sitting. I told him to ignore the received wisdom of the necessity of spikes and to get the speakers mobile. He has had a wonderful time swapping the speakers. He also found out, as I suggested, that his preference would switch back and forth as each speaker was optimized. You might find a similar experience if you continue to use both speakers. Any given collection of gear in a particular setup of the speakers might captivate you. Speakers can achieve a wide range of performance, and most owners never take them to their limit but only relatively best performance.
That is not to say the one is not better than the other. But there is a scary/potentially unnerving phenomenon in audiophilia, when a "lesser" speaker in certain conditions seemingly is better than a much more expensive speaker. It can happen. However, it is usually only under limited conditions, i.e., one set of components. Most of the time, that one set of components is not realized. It could take 10 or more systems to find it, and most people don't have that much money or time to do so. But when the more capable speaker is given the same treatment, it distances itself from the other once again.
