Garfish my friend. No or yes, I forget exactly how you put it. I was being (or attempting it seems!) to be ironic or sarcastic. Fear not, I thought the Vandersteen 5s were probably the best speakers I heard. My only complaint, up here in Canada, with the Loony sinking daily, they retail for $18,000$. I don't know what they actually would sell for, I don't think the dealer carrying them has ever sold a pair. Maybe I can get the demos down the road for half! No, the point I was trying to make was based on a nasty exchange I got into with someone on AA, an apartment dweller who is in the market for Utopias, who did not like my tone or the tone it seems of Vandy 5s. I think some audiophiles come from a socio-economic strata that cannot be seen by the naked eye from where I stand. Briefly put: no you don't have to spend anywhere near 50 k for all the sound you will ever need; speakers that I consider beyond my means, but that sell for a fraction of the price of the Wilsons and Utopias etc.(such as the names I quoted) offer outstanding sound and a lot of speakers even at half or a third of the ones I mentionned, should not leave any half sane person truly wanting. There is a large selection but, at least in my world, money is always a concern. We all can't be Enron execs with wheelbarrowfulls of allegedly for now ill-gotten gain. From a very middleclass lawyer in a soon to be Third World economy. PBB