The missing component in audio right now is consistency in the timbral quality of recordings. Recording facilities are not standardized, and not necessarily very good. So, the most "perfect" loudspeaker in the world cannot always sound good. In fact, we still need tone controls, especially a bass control, to compensate for easily audible spectral balance variations in recordings. Yet, many audiophiles seem to go through life thinking that recordings are flawless and that all problems are at the playback end. Wrong!