Need suggestions for new speakers under $5K

Not accurate, but musical?

A playback system is typically intended to hear the music that was recoreded onto the source material. If you do not want to do that 'accurately', how can you expect to hear 'musical'.

The system (or any component therein) that produces any sonic characteric at all of its own is inferior, and does add to the recorded material. It is called distortion.

How can anyone expect for the distortion to result in anything that could be characterised as 'musical', the magazine reviewer 'connesseurs of coloration' notwithstanding. But then they have the task of selling expensive equipment that is actually inferior at accomplishing the task it alleges to fulfill, usually depicted by lousy specs, so they must take the tact that this or that equipment makes your music sound 'better'.

Absurd, irrational, and illogical. Yet they have hooked many a self proclaimed audiophile into their unreasonable deception, and lined their pockets with the proceeds.

Sad, really.

Accurate is good. Always, and in everything.

The only rational criteria for a 'right' sound is 'true to the original'. That is, to hear what was recored on the source material as 'accurately' as possible: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Once you can hear what that is, you can be selective in the recordings you choose. Comprimising at will a favorite performance knowing the sonic quality is inferior.

Anything else is 'mixing' with your system. The problem being you cannot change the mix for each cut of each recording like an actual mixing console can. You are stuck (not wonder audiophiles keep changing components, which the market loves, by the way). And you will never hear the superior sonic characteristics of well produced and engineered recordings.

Hint: many audiophiles who aspire to 'true to the original' end up with dipole speakers. Hmmmm.