$9000 speaker Orangutan or speaker + amplifier

"Anyone attending regular concerts and wanting a very true rendition of the instruments at home can find the sound getting old after a while."

I think this gets to the crux of the issue at hand. From my personal viewpoint there are two kinds of listeners', those that REALLY are searching for a presentation that mimics real music in the space it was played, in other words maximizing what is on the recording and then there are those that settle for a sound based on their musical tastes and preferences. If one has eclectic tastes and listens to ALL types of music including large scale, the upper frequency and bass range as well as the midrange MUST be reproduced accurately to convey the performance, any coloration in any of these areas will eventually be realized to the critical listener and ultimately lead to fatigue and diminished pleasure over time. Why do so many keep changing gear as frequently as they do I keep wondering?

Kidmann your point of listening to live music as a benchmark in what to listen for in an audio system can not be overemphasized. I am sometimes astounded by some of the systems I have listened to from VERY experienced, seasoned audiophiles and it has nothing to do with achieving the absolute sound, too each his own and I guess this is the bottom line. It is why it is SO difficult to recommend anything without having a real sense of what a particular listener wants to achieve.

Furthermore your point concerning "impressionistic" really drove home to me the difference between artistic representation of music versus realism, indeed it comes down to what do you prefer, art vs. reality?

Music is art. All art is impressionistic. Even the highest quality, highest resolution photography is not perfect. There are many other perspectives of teh same thing possible that the photo does not show.

Music is indeed art, but the reproduction of it is an entirely different issue, regardless of whether or not it is "perfectly" reproduced. The issue is what is the goal, to attempt to reproduce the recording as accurately as possible or to create a distorted view of reality based on personal taste without concern for the former.

Thank you for a considered, quality response, Tubegroover.

For me, the art was in the instrument design and evolution, the music writer, and the player. I want to feel and understand that combination of art and great human achievement as fully as possible....without distorting or changing it. I cannot, for instance, understand someone who would take a photograph of a Van Gogh and then photoshopping it, changing the texture, and darkening / lightening some sections of the work. Neither can I understand the same thing done to genius level performances of genius level music. I demand no less, and my customers deserve no less. Any change is distortion.

"Anyone attending regular concerts and wanting a very true rendition of the instruments at home can find the sound getting old after a while."

That quote of mine refers to the sound coming from a coloured transducer, in this case, the pleasant but coloured Harbeth.