If the speakers don't sound any better and measure any better and look any better, why pay more?
ADTG, I think you're getting a lot of well due appreciation here. Maybe a bit of jealousy, too.
One thing I think you have absolutely the right idea on is the sound
plus measurement thought. Typically, we should only use measurements to filter speaker selection, I agree. A piano can play from mid-bass range to tweeter range. Now, we can assume that both your Phils and your Infinity's play relatively flat throughout that piano range. But if one of them sounds like a piano and one of them sounds like a trumpet (or a Yak passing grass gas), guess which one we'll like. A lot of people addicted to measurements tend to forget that, I think.
Accurate reproduction is still an art. (And if you listen to Claude Debussy, well, he'll tell you that the joy of music is the "space in between the notes". Hmmm, how do we reproduce space between the notes? ...one reason I like ribbon tweets, btw.)
And for certain price and aesthetics, too, play more of a role in our selections than we all care to admit...especially the looks part.
Congrats on your great speaker collection. Count me among the envious!
Try some Sibelius symphonies on those Phils!
