...want "reality" in their livingroom night after night.

Ever been to a small venue with blatty horns and crash cymbals 10 ft. from you? Pretty harsh! Sure, in small doses it's fine... but my ears sometimes hurt when the gig is over. I know a few in here are from Long Island... check out "Paula Jean's" in Seautaket - a half-way decent attempt at 'Nawlins food with some great live Jazz and Blues.

Any recording (or stereo) will never approach reality, but sure, I tend to like neutral speakers better than colored ones. I think it's better to "tweak" after you found a speaker for you... which is why I'm going for that Prima Luna... I can't ignore the price/build quality! A bit of "tube warmth" should be a lotta fun for me...

I'll need a phono stage... I heard good thing about Channel Islands.

And, hey... a bit of honey poured over most of today's CDs probably ain't a bad thing!