Most recent speaker you audited in room and returned? Why did you return it?

my list is not bought and returned but speakers I’ve been disappointed in and offloaded probably longer than I should have. So excuse me… little different than your question.

Dynaudio Contour 20. Tried for a while and really tried to like them. Maybe didn’t have the power they needed but just way too smooth and no real dynamics. Loved the little Dyn focus 140s years ago, they were super fun and refined enough.

Pioneer S-1ex. Man did I try to love these speakers! They did some things amazing. They are definitely not for a rock guy of any type. Great bass! …… 0 mid bass punch , like nothing.

Ahhh.. When I lived in Shanghai I bought a Chinese brand HiVi pair of towers that were toughted all over the internet as “ good as BW 800 series”, giant killer yada yada. What a piece of Sh.t that was. Tried to return them the next day but …. Yeah American probably overpaid for their POS speaker at the fancy mall they ain’t takin it back. Tried to sell them for penny’s on the dollar on the Chinese market and finally basically gave them away. Those were the worst.

Sent back Tekton Double impacts. That tweeter array was not for me. Instead ended up with Legacy

I think the short version of it is: every company wants to make and sell good speakers. So it's a bit harsh to single them out. But it's also constructive feedback.

btw Dynaudio Contour 20s are my dream speakers. Not for the foreseeable future though, it's about 5K over my budget. But I have heard them many times and they sounded fantastic to me.

Gale 301 back in the 80s. Too bright and sizzly.

Having enjoyed Klipsch Heresy IIIs for a while I had to try the IVs. The mids in the IVs (after plenty of break-in) had a peaky upper mid issue so off they went. Tried a pair of Sonist speakers that just paled when compared to the superb Silverline Preludes I had then so sold those away, and a pair of Zu "dirty weekend" speakers were just not close to my Heresy IIIs in coherency and tonal accuracy so back they went. The IIIs have earned their place and are staying...for now...Volti Razz...hmm