Musicians?

I have yet to find a system (that I can afford) that reproduces drums with the visceral impact of the real thing

That is quite normal with consumer speakers. You really need to look into pro main monitors. The kind of speakers you see built into walls in this site AAA Group Ltd.. And as Learsfool mentions - you'll see horns as well as other designs but you'll most often see at least one if not two 15" woofers per channel. If you look at the client list you will see some familiar names.

These systems do not simply play louder - they are able to convey the dynamics of real instruments - something most systems cannot do.

My axe is a 1927 Luigi Mozzani. I've never heard a music reproduction system capable of producing the actual timbre, depth, power and lush sound of a violin.

There is a good explantion about this problem from Dr. Floyd Toole in his recent book about loudspeakers. Violin is devilishly directional as a function of frequency - different sounds go different directions....this instrument is a tough one to record - perhaps near impossible!!

FWIW - it just so happens that on this very page right now - there are comments on four systems all with Evolution Acoustics MM3's. I haven't heard one yet but I 'd hazard a guess that drums sound pretty good on them (they have what it takes...)!

Unless you've got financial issues or a tin ear, I can't imagine not getting the piano tuned every 6 months.

Perhaps you play regularly. None of my family does - although the wife and daughter did for a while about 8 years ago. The wife has decided to start back at it with lessons, which is why we got it tuned. Embarrassing to have a piano that a piano collector thinks is amazing in a house of full of philistines...well not completely, as myself and the daughter play drums...

I am rather embarrassed to say that our piano just got tuned after roughly 8
years. The good news is we have a gem. The guy who came collects pianos and
owns a piano museum and was simply floored - he said our upright sounds like
no other upright he has ever heard or played. He compared it to a Steinway for
goodness sakes. We knew it was good sounding but had no idea. The guy was
so puzzled he took down all the details and is checking it out. It is German, of
course, built around 1910. We got it in Scotland, second hand of course from an
old concert pianist who was too old to play but apparently loved it! (The wife and
daughter play)