Interesting situation! Do we need this....

It will be interesting to see what his experience is with the intended combination, but he never said that the “lower expectation” speaker was better.

I did connect the KEF LS50 Metas to the Akitika Z4 amplifier, and gave a it a good listen. It is quite obvious that the Fluance speakers are simply no match for the KEFs......The KEF create a sound stage like no other speaker I've auditioned in my living room....on some recordings you'd swear there were two more speakers on the sides of you....It's actually spooky. The Fluance speakers have a rise in the 70hz and down range which gives the impression of deeper bass, but in reality it is just more bass. In my room it is rather plesant. The KEF's are an amazing speaker.....In 50 years of selling, installing, designing systems, only a couple other speakers ever impressed me like the LS50 Metas. (Any Magnepans, Dahlquest DQ10s, B&O Red Line series, and in the right room, Klipsch Forte)......But I'm here to tell ya, for $120 a pair, the Fluance speakers are remarkable....or maybe it is just my room and my ears that they have "synergy"...

wasn't a fan of the yellow drivers just based on looks. 

No YELLOW drivers..... Basic Black....I see the price has gone up $30!

I think Amazon read this discussion and realized a new market about to emerge...

I hate to tell this story. Years ago living in Huntington Beach, CA, my old stomping (and surfing) grounds. Had modded monoblock amps, tube pre, Museatex Meitner CDD transport and DAC, Triangle Antal speakers. Never a word when people would come and visit.

Monoblocks went down, so in the meantime packed it up and set up a Cambridge Soundworks by Henry Koss set of two small one way speakers with subwoofer, something like this

Hung those little squares up one on each side of the corner wall about two feet apart. Played one of those little darling Radio Shack DVD players that were all the rage through them.

Everyone who came in, all non audio people, comment how great it sounded. Funny thing is it was just a little bit incredible. However it happened, it was like the complete walls they were hung on disappeared, everything disappeared but the music.  Just one of those funny little things that happens when you least expect it.

High end gear is not required to get great sound that is truly a pleasure to listen to. At least for most of us. I’m finding now that I didn’t need to buy a 75" 4k HDR TV either. It’s nice and I’m not complaining, but when I didn’t have access to it while moving and had to use an older 55" LCD with some noticeable color issues I was still having a great time. You don’t need a high end road bike to enjoy bicycling either. When we got jobs in bike shops after high school me and my friends upgraded to top of the line bikes of the time. After a few months of riding my friend asked me, "Are we really having any more fun than we were on our cheap bikes?" The answer was clearly no. You couldn’t possibly have any more fun than we had in terms of riding. But the new bikes were fun to put together, and there was some pride of ownership, and the new bikes required less maintenance, so we were inclined to keep them. Since then I’ve limited my expenses on bikes even though I’m still super enthusiastic. I’ve done the same with audio equipment, and video equipment. If I could easily afford the very best then sure, maybe, why not? But I’ve got no fear of missing out on what I’m really after. Epicurus said something along the lines of "that which we really need to be happy is free or at least easy to attain."