Interesting situation! Do we need this....

High performance counts not Hi-End.

Any correlation between the two is usually tenuous to say the least.

Perhaps also in this case the Fluance's benefitted a little from being placed right next to the LS50s?

Or maybe this is another example of the benefits of listening 'blind'?

@jeffseight

@rbertalotto 

I'll repeat....It is NOT about what was better.....It was all about the satisfying experience listening to a set of speakers that certainly are NOT as good as the KEFs, but none the less, for six hours I was very well pleased.....I reiterated this above so we don't get side tracked....

That's fair enough, but the intriguing point is that you thought you were listening to the Kef's through your brand new kit amplifier, the AKITIKA Z4. 

As you said:

For six hours I was simply amazed at how great the AKITIKA kit amp sounded. Massive sound stage, tight, well defined bass, some of the best vocals I've heard, the "AIR" around jazz instruments was fantastic!.....a system to behold...playing through my KEF LS50 Metas...

It was only when you decided to end the session did the reality of the situation dawn on you.

Six hours later, after all types of music, it was time to call it a night (or early morning)....As I go to shut down the system, I realize that all night I was listening to the Fluance speakers!!! They were placed side by side with the KEFs.
 

Do we really need any of this high end equipment to really enjoy the music!

It seems as if you've already answered your own question.

In certain situations, such as yours where you were able to put the music before the equipment (albeit under a misunderstanding) a situation most of us audiophiles say we aspire to, the answer is a clear NO.

Perhaps we can therefore conclude that when it comes to audio playback there is not only no clear relationship between price and performance, there is no clear relationship between performance and enjoyment either.

Many, many people (musicians included) seem to enjoy music systems that we here might find objectionable.

They don't even need a pair of Fluance SX6 speakers.

@thespeakerdude

When it comes to cycling I’m a fan of the Rega philosophy - lightness.

Seriously, some lightweight bikes seem to ride themselves, whilst others not so light are a real slog.

And yet, I’ve known people who could ride those horrible heavy mountain bikes without complaint.

It goes without saying they would dismount and walk whenever they came to a challenging incline.

@thespeakerdude 

You have to have your priorities straight.

You do.

Even, if like me, after years of resistance, you're eventually forced into a reduced sugar/ carb diet. You don't have to give up sugar/ carbs, just reduce them and burn off the rest.

Apparently there's already over a billion people walking around in the insulin resistant phase.
 

An awful lot of future suffering could be avoided if more people followed your example.

more calories burned  

That's the heart of it I think.

We all slow down metabolically, but we don't have to stop altogether. 

Music also has healing qualities and a good system can certainly improve mood.

@thespeakerdude 

I often find it hard to find the time for a healthy ride so my "thing" now is a modified version of HIIT. A couple minutes flat out on the rowing machine several times a day. Consider it 10 minutes a day of a whole body flat out sprint.

I'm a great believer in High Intensity Interval Training too. I know people who spend hours in the gym, and they seem to like it, but I prefer to settle down to listen to music and watch films etc.

Just 5 minutes on the exercise bike to get my heart and lungs pumping faster here and there when I feel like it keeps me going.

It's a pity more people don't know about HIIT.

@asctim 

I’ll bring up another point that’s similar to me - perfect blacks on OLED TVs.

Unless everything else is "perfect" too, tis just another example of chasing the wrong thing.

Perhaps the real problem is in our genes?

We men especially have evolved over countless millennia as hunters.

Looking around it's not too hard to see aspects of this in much of present day male behaviours.