For me it's nearfield pro monitors. I just got JBL LSR 6328's, and my first impression of them is they are far superior to my R10 and HE90 rigs. They are self powered speakers, they cost approx $2.1K, and I sit 4 ft from them, and they are 4 ft apart. The effect resembles that of listening to a K1000 (which I owned for several years, and sold), but the sound is tremendously more full, more dramatic, more intense, more enveloping, more realistic, and therefore more satisfying to me. I've also listened to the new large Quads (i.e., the 2905s), and while they sounded great with some music (e.g., classical strings), they sounded really terrible with my Buena Vista Social Club CD. I was also turned off by the remoteness (i.e., distance) of music reproduced by them, as well as by numerous other high end consumer speakers, that are designed to provide full-room sound, and that I've heard. IMO, nearfield pro monitors provide an excellent compromise, at a really reasonable price, and there seems to be no need for special room accoustic treatments, designs, or modifications, since the ideal sound evelope, that is produced by the monitors, is located/projected/established in their immediate proximity (i.e., there's a minimum of alteration of their sound envelope by the room environment). It's as a direct consequence of postings by Lloyd297 that I've learned about, and listening to, nearfield pro monitors, and I'm very grateful to Lloyd297 for this.
