Problem with audio dealer, if he is not your friend, is they don’t follow fiduciary principles. They want to sell the best (often the priciest) they have and usually trash talk (politely) when you talk about the products they don’t have, even if it is in your top list. One dealers best product is other dealers worst (may be I am exaggerating) just to get sale. It is like going to BMW dealer who gives negative comments on Audi or Merc. In the end you are on your own. I am not an an engineer to understand the complex compatibility, but agree with getting a right amp for right speakers. I found that talking to speaker company directly always has helped me. They give their unbiased recommendation to get right gear for your speakers. Just to comment on the spouse approval: if I had taken my wife, she would just select some good looking, less expensive SF speakers: usually they enjoy “music” regardless of source. We enjoy “sound” from high frequency to bass. And in doing so dissect every frequencies, sound stage, clarity, dynamic, etc etc and start hunting for right combination. This is the point where our wallet starts hating us. Like my wife says: why don’t you just enjoy music, rather than using “knife and fork” to dissect his vocal cords with expensive gears. Don’t know the answer to that. But I love this hobby and enjoy the “infinity shades of music”.