Looking for speaker recommendations that I can purchase on Amazon.com

@gnason

I am sure your meditation music would sound great on them, but they will really shine when you play acoustic music, which has more range and depth than what I heard on the YouTube link you posted.

FYI, that "meditation music", as you called it, is NOT what I listen to. (I think that might be rather boring after a while, right?) I listen to Indian Classical music (which is acoustic, with great range, depth and dynamism) as well as many other styles.

The link I posted was only one instrument called a "drone". It is an accompaniment instrument often found on sitar or vocal compositions. It almost never plays the main rhythm. It just produces a drone sound.

In my experience, the drone sound can produce harsh tones in poor quality recordings or with low quality speakers and audio gear. I found that playing any piece of music with the "drone" (aka tanpura or tambura) at louder volumes is a good test for whether a system can produce the smooth, non-fatiguing treble I'm after.

curious how you intend to make your final decision...

I would think Amazon would cut you off after too many free returns of large, heavy items...

@jl35

I would think Amazon would cut you off after too many free returns of large, heavy items...

Don't confuse Amazon as a platform (or a corporate entity) with the independent 3rd party sellers on the Amazon marketplace. I'm coming to realize that the Amazon marketplace is probably a lot like the marketplace on Audiogon. Since I started this thread, I have struck up email conversations with two independent Amazon sellers who have been very helpful. I have not shopped on the Audiogon marketplace yet, but I'm sure I will in the future.

One Amazon seller told me I could take more than 30 days to evaluate the speakers and they would still allow me to return them. He simply asked, "How long do you need?" This seller's return policy goes far beyond Amazon's default policy. I found that out by asking.

If I buy speakers from this seller, I will be dealing with him person-to-person, probably in the same way I would deal with a seller here on Audiogon's marketplace.

This might be the kind of seller I could establish a long-term relationship with. He seems knowledgeable and very experienced. He seems very fair and upstanding.

Certainly returning large heavy items is a hassle, regardless of the return shipping costs. I would not want to burden any independent seller on the marketplace with an unfair number of returns. And I'm sure they would stop selling to me if I abused the return process. That's why I am asking questions here, reading reviews and giving this very careful consideration. I would prefer not to have to return them.

However, I did return my Polk RTi A5's. I also returned my Yamaha integrated amp and a few other things.

I also have a feeling I may have to return the LS50's I ordered. They will be here next week. But after reading more comments here, I'm thinking I should have ordered B&W 705's for the monitor-size speakers. Anyway, I'll try the LS50's and find out how they sound. Might keep them, might not.

Of course, I have purchased a lot of stuff from Amazon I have kept. The percentage of stuff I return is very small.

It seems most people here would agree that we always have to deal honestly and never take advantage of a seller. This site is full of upstanding people, which is why I have continued to participate. This is a nice community. I assume most of us recognize that selling audio gear (or anything else really) is a hard game and that customer support is hard. Personally, I never want to be the abusive customer who takes advantage of a seller's good will. If you have ever been in retail or customer support, you know that there are customers out there who will seriously abuse a seller without a second thought.

I can understand the frustration that many people are facing in this thread. The OPs request to only and only limit suggestions to Amazon and Best Buy is very highly unusual, to say the least. So naturally, folks want to know why it is so. Some have asked politely and some directly, but the OPs behavior is quite elusive in this regard. I mean you are asking people to provide honest opinions but you won't answer a simple question. Come on, it's not as if Mueller is investigating you that you cannot share why you're limiting your choices. Whatever!