Very interesting Mash. My first wife helped me to get away from most of the "audiophile" merry go round. She loved my Magneplanars (MG-1's, then 2's then 3's) and became upset when I traded them in for a pair of Acoustats. She said the "stats" weren't as warm as the Maggy's. She eventually grew to like the ESL's. I was sure of this when I received a call at work that the system had abruptly shut down. It turned out that she had blown the 5 Amp power supply rail fuses on a power amp through loud continuous playing of music. It's interesting that I never blew those fuses.
I still have and use ESL's. My current lady friend while not a music lover like the first wife always asks for music. She also likes it reasonably loud.

Listen up fellows; If your wife likes the sound of your system it probably sounds very good. If she doesn't maybe you should try some other gear, especially speakers.