Speakers: What's MOST important to you?...

Musical engagement (i.e. does the music engage me or not, is my toe a tappin' or not, does it give me goosebumps or not). That type of thing. Not necessarily accuracy to the source until such time as all recordings are "musically" engaging and satisfying. Not until all recordings become accurate to the live event (which, IMO will never happen) will I want a perfectly "accurate" system.

BTW I have often found I realize more when I am engaged in conversation with a friend when 'listening' within reason. I think it is a good thing to engage the subconscious mind, ala Tim Galloway's INNER GAME OF GOLF book etc...

1) Transparent tweeter - Feels like a breath of fresh air after being inside a conjested room to hear transparency.

2) The right amount of tension in the woofer - the spring. If you get it just right, the sound becomes round and 3 dimensional - sounds like a ball bouncing. Hard to explain, but every piano student heard that remark before - make the notes round and focused. Sonus faber, and Tannoy got it right for me.

3) Decay - gives a luxurius feel.

4) Harmonically rich and detailed - love to catch all the subtle nuances of a beautiful voice.

5) 3 inch mid ! The best size for a clear mid. Very few of the modern speakers have this.

I like small settelites and a sub sound - like klipsch quintets. They capture the pretty female vocal sounds that pierces your heart in the most satisfying way.

Since we like different music, different characteristics are important for others. I listen to many genre, but classical is my main.