I was enchanted by a set of Acoustat 2 + 2 before I knew anything about high end audio. Immediately found out they took massive power I did not have. I spent over thirty years trying to recreate that sound and never really did. But I found I was pursuing a sound that enhanced electronic and small venue music at the expense of all others.
I started regularly attending the symphony and accidentally heard some Sonus Faber speakers… slowly completely pivoted to all tube with Sonus Faber… they sound natural, all music sounds better.
So for me, the sound (which what I was looking for changed over time)… but to fully get the sound all other components must be optimized.