You can go home again

I used to work at a store that sold the old L100s and only carried Dynaco A25s at a super low price to draw customers. If I sold the A25s I made no money. However the A25s were so much better than the L100s it was sick.

...mho....*blink*(...yeah, back 'atcha...*L*) is current taste and prefs are 'informed' by our past 'listening experiences'...

'Dorm racket' is one of many 'worst case' experiences, but it does give a reference as to what to avoid, if anything.

It can take a spell and the experience into what music can really 'be', 'sound like', 'closer to what is heard and felt 'live' and with a collection of equipment one has amassed to 'do so'.

Not all will require 'bleeding edge' items to do that, for whatever their rationale to abstain from that pursuit....

I liked the L100s'....then.  I came, I listened, l left.  Got to 'live' with a pair where I 'worked' for a time.  In an old small warehouse, you could thrash the 'ell out of them and not cook 'em.
Impressive in itself....'chamber music'?  mmmMaybe not so much.... *G*

JBL changed why? Did new companies replace "their" sound to capture that market? There are many who still listen to the vintage JBL's. Stands to reason that newer firms filled that void when JBL changed.

When I was a kid, I bought a mono Columbia of the Marlboro Festival under Casals, and first heard it on a Magnavox all in one record player with a built in amp and single cone mono speaker, and I remember being transported by the beauty of it. (I was a very odd 14 year old!) 
I still have that record and listened to it recently... and it still beautiful, and it took me right back there to my parents living room in 1967.
I think of course our first experience of something sets the bar, and of course I now have better sounding recordings, but none more meaningful.
For me, it's the gestalt. And to each their own.

This is a fantastic question.  I know it has impacted what genres of music I prefer. I absolutely think it has affected my preferences for music reproduction. I spent my childhood around unamplified musical instruments and choirs. I didn't attend my first real rock concert until I was a teenager. Everything live before that was simple ensembles and basic amplification. The first real "stereo system" I ever heard belonged to the older brother of a friend. It was a turntable set up with home made horn speakers with big woofers. He loved progressive music (Pink Floyd, ELP, Rush, etc.) and he played it loud. It probably explains my eclectic taste in music to this day.

The system I have put together works fantastic for simple acoustical styles in live settings. It also allows me to play heavier, faster, and more layered styles just as well (at least to me).

I favor a system that reproduces live instruments/vocals as I remember hearing them as a kid and yet allows me to play progressive music really loud.  

Cheers!