OK, so I don't pretend to know the answer to this question, but I can say that I'm a HUGE audiophile, but I'm also someone of limited $$ means, and I have a pair of Boston Acoustics A40s which I love and probably will never sell or give away. They were CHEAP and you can still get them for a good price, but they were also just plain good. So...I can only suggest you play around and find what works for you, then keep them for a while and see how you like them over time. (Note I also have a pair of Vandersteen 1cs which I'll also keep...)
The short answer is there is no one speaker nor system that works for one person for any length of time, so don't bother to seek perfection. Your tasttes are likely to change over time, so you will likely want to shift your system over time, and as far as I am concerned, that's just fine. That's the whole point of audiophilia.
For me, life is a trip of trying different things and focusing on what my current loves are. Try a bunch of options and get rid of what doesn't work for you at any point in time. If planar speaks or some ESLs work for you, try them and hang onto them while you try other options. I'll be trying planars soon I hope, and expect to hang onto them for a long time. Meanwhile take notes about what you like and don't like. Once again, note that I dont' have a ton of $$, yet I get a HUGE kick ouf of trying out different audio optons. Get it?
Carl
