Is there a perfect speaker?

The only thing I'd add to what's been said is that as you move up the price scale, you're more likely to find speakers that do many things well, as opposed to just some. But even at that level, there are compromises, in part because technology is still limited and in part because the criteria for a good speaker aren't entirely unitary. For example, speakers interact differently with the room, and in some cases, there's no right and wrong to it; an omni, say, like the MBL's, might produce a wonderful sense of space with an orchestra, but too much ambiance for a folk singer.

Michaelkingdom,

I know what you're talking about. I've always tried to choose speakers that do justice to the range that I listen to, mostly classical, rock, and home theater. And I've found that some speakers are better than others at meeting my particular criteria.

But there's one respect in which I don't think that any speaker can be a good compromise -- namely, the difference between playing good recordings and crappy ones. A very revealing, accurate speaker will accurately reproduce all the artifacts on a crappy recording -- close and multi miking, commpression, distortion, presence and HF boost, splices, artificial reverb, etc. So in that sense, I don't think you can make a speaker that suits everything.

I go for accuracy with good recordings of acoustical music as my main criteria, and then accept that some recordings are going to be revealed for the messes that they are. But I think everyone makes his own compromises on this. You're fortunate that you have the room and cash to choose the best speaker for each job!

You forgot fits in your pocket. :-)