"There is alot of debate here and elsewhere about the differences
between
equipment. I truly believe that reproduction equipment cannot
reproduce a
live
performance due to the many compromises in recording both artistic and
electrical. Therefore, I propose that the only criteria that should be
used by
any music lover in buying equipment should be these:
Within your personal budget for said equipment, does the reproduced
music
1.
involve you? (meaning do you want to listen for long periods of
time?)...
and
2. does listening produce an emotional reaction? If the answers to
these
questions are yes, then you have found your system. All other
considerations
that do not add up to the foregoing are spurious. -Bob Bernstein."

And we can add:

3. knowing that a great many bits of gear sound alike using listening
alone as a criteria, then finding that system is a no brainer.

4. knowing that speakers provide the greatest range in reproduction then
placing almost all one's effort to finding them does the trick.