the big one: how do you choose speakers? By what features, data?

I agree that listening is truly the only way to accurately judge speakers. If not able to do so in your home then the dealers showroom might have to do. I have had/ have multiple speakers that I rotate in and out every few weeks, all that I personally think make music to my ears. You will know it when you find something that just gives you goosebumps when you listen, that makes your favorite music sound better than you have ever heard. Martin Logan CLS, Quad 63 and Wilson Watt Puppiesl are three that I love. The CLS’s I first heard at a shop when I was 18 and just couldn’t believe mysic could sound so good. Ditto for Wilson’s, excellent sound, accurate natural timbre and outstanding dynamics. Seek and you will find them eventually.

YOU have to decide what YOU like IN YOUR ROOM.  When I had my shop, I spent some time with a customer finding out what they listen to, where, etc.  I then asked them what hardware they had and worked with them on that.  THEN, I let them listen to various speakers in the shop to see what they liked.  Listening in a shop has NO bearing on how they will sound IN YOUR ROOM, so we then would pick a pair and set them up in your room at home and see what was what.

This is not an easy process as there are many speakers out there today.  Also, what you like the first few tunes may not be what you like long term.  SO, evaluate your hardware--high end tube gear is one thing; mid-fi solid state gear is something else.  Listening to loud rock (mostly) vs listening to classical or opera may require a different set-up to make YOU happy IN YOUR ROOM.

Take your time.  Demo a couple of pair and then decide since speakers are fairly expensive and you have to live with them after you buy.

PERSONALLY speaking, if you have high-end tube gear, I would suggest demoing Magneplaners in your room.  They may not work for you, but they are about the most accurate speakers around. Whatever you decide upon, best of luck!

Cheers!

So the common theme here seems to be go listen!

That is one thing we lost in the transition from dealer networks to direct sales - teh ability go simply go listen.  When I could first afford to actually go buy a system, I listened at several dealers and it became clear that one brand in my price range gave me the best combination of tone and dynamics that I was looking for.  I purchased a pair of ADS L810s.  Many years and systems later, after I had moved on from the L810s, I was frustrated with speakers I had purchased based on reading reviews, so I looked up one of the designers of those L810s and discovered Michael Kelly at Aerial Acoustics.  The Aerial line offered similar qualities that I liked about the ADS speakers, but better, and I am still using their speakers. 

So, don't read too many reviews but instead go listen at shows or at B&M dealers, if you have one in your area.  Get the speakers that provide the sound you like on the music you listen to.  After you zero in on the speakers, then work on getting the amplification that makes the speakers sound their best.

Speakers, amplification, and then you can play with whatever front end you want.

Go to an audio show.  So many speakers to see, and listen to.Believe me, it is worth it.

thank you all, I am learning a lot. I was looking for key quantifiable data that would give me a decision tree - aside from price.

I think for a novice like me it has to be a trade off between accuracy and warmth and brightness and listening fatigue. Which I thought is in how the speaker performs at various frequencies.

@larryi can you list a few examples for dynamic speakers? What makes a speaker dynamic?

I think besides the questions above, I determined that I need

• not a lot of low end due to the type of music I prefer.
• no floorstander due to size of room, furniture, listening height
• a lot of detail, clarity
• "scratchiness" - I don’t have a better word. It’s basically about sounds to stand out and "matter" more to the ear e.g. when a singer stresses a note, it’s pronounced, or a piano key fills the room. Maybe that’s dynamics? It may be the opposite of flat but I also know it add to the listening fatigue. Which is a lower priority for me, I don’t listen to music for hours, I have 20-40 min, one LP at a time.