When building a system or designing a new product, one must choose a path to go down.
For your system you might take path of planar speaker speed coupled with the warmth of tube electronics. Or, perhaps your path suggests you want to focus more on dynamics and slam at the expense of warmth and lushness.
Each path we choose has its ups and downs. You might want it all but when reality hits you simply cannot afford the costs in terms of dollars and/or real estate. And so, you compromise.
I wonder if a better path might be to choose your expected reaction rather than specific results. In other words, if you make your end goal one of foot tapping and smiles for the majority of your music collection, as opposed to 3-mile-deep-soundstage and slam that knocks you out of the chair, you might find more options for getting on the right path.
I think the more we focus on the end game of feelings and pleasure as opposed to specific milestones of performance the easier our choice of paths might be.
How do you want to feel when you arrive?
